In the Senate runoff, Georgia’s Jews have no one to vote for.
Photo by Getty/Forward Montage
All eyes are on the state of Georgia, where two senate races are currently in a runoff. Should the two Democrats — Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock — prevail against Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the U.S. Senate will be controlled by the Democrats, making it an extremely high-stakes election.
Unfortunately for Georgia’s Jews, none of the candidates reflect our values.
Let’s start with the Republicans. The Georgia GOP has spent this election openly appealing to the antisemitic and racist tendencies in the electorate. In July, we received in the mail large 11 x 8 postcards from Perdue calling Ossoff a radical, and in case we didn’t get the point, another ad featured Ossoff with elongated nose, accusing him of “trying to buy Georgia.”
But on the other hand, some national Democrats have bought into the “Squad” view of the Middle East, which casts Israel as racist. Reverend Warnock himself signed a letter that said the West Bank was “reminiscent of the military occupation of Namibia by apartheid South Africa,” for example. That angers many Jewish voters, even if they agree with the progressives on other issues. And we do: Jews are more liberal than the average American, and unsurprisingly, the Jewish vote traditionally goes to Democrats. Polling suggests President-elect Joe Biden got 77% of the Jewish vote.
Still, there are many issues Jews vote on. Some Jews focus on Israel’s security when they go to cast their ballot, while others might think of the shattered Iranian nuclear deal, national economic disparities, or even the poverty and suffering of the Palestinians. Still others are more concerned about climate change, or preserving their financial security. Finding a common thread that binds “the tribe” politically is like looking for the bits of beets in a jar of supermarket shelf borscht.
But perhaps the common thread is antisemitism, which is clearly on the rise, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC found that 953 of the 1,521 reported religion-based crimes in 2019 “were directed against Jews and Jewish institutions — a 14% increase and the highest reported since 2008.”
Being made to be “the other,” the scapegoat, the shylock, the Christ killer by the extremist white-power types has clearly bound Jews together in the past. And yet, for our children, grandchildren and the younger generation of Jews, brought up in an increasingly diverse America as opposed to the “Jewish neighborhoods” of their fathers and mothers, this thread may be less binding.
Despite the increase in antisemitic incidents, will Georgia’s Jews feel safer with the Senate controlled by conservative Republicans who have not stood up to white supremacists that chant “Jews will not replace us” while believing that “there are good people on both sides?” Will we be safer with GOP leaders who don’t denounce the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory and its GOP followers, like incoming Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, and the senators who accept her endorsement, as did Senator Kelly Loeffler?
Which political party is more likely to tamp down synagogue shootings, Jewish cemetery vandalism, and support separation of church and state? For certain, it’s not the new Trump GOP, despite admonitions by the Republican Jewish Coalition to vote for them.
But the Democratic Party seems guilty of not standing up for Israel enough, while Trump’s GOP has made clear whose side it’s on. Their policies may be questioned, but their intent is clear: They are pro-Israel.
From what we two Georgia Jews can tell, our community recognizes President Trump’s Israeli/Palestinian agenda as a major positive. Trump is credited with preventing Israel from annexing the West Bank by conditioning the Abraham Accords on this, preserving the possibility of a two-state solution, and encouraging the UAE and Bahrain to recognize Israel. Plus, he has recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and Jerusalem, moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and cut aid to the Palestinian Authority to pressure it to stop funding terrorism and return to the bargaining table.
Georgia’s Democratic Party would be wise to think about these issues before January.
Jack Bernard, a retired corporate executive, is the former Chairman of the Jasper County, GA Republican Party and County Commission. Dr. Arkin is the former University of Georgia – Griffin Campus, Assistant Dean/Assistant Provost and Director.
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