Vance’s JD now stands for ‘Jews’ Demonizer’
Imagine what would happen if a known antisemite like Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan or white supremacist David Duke mocked Israel’s right to self-defense when attacked.
There would be a legitimate uproar.
But such an outcry and feather-ruffling have been conspicuously absent since one of the most antisemitic and outrageous comments ever made was uttered on June 18. Perhaps because they happened to have been said by the man who is the vice president of the United States, JD Vance?
I understand why Jewish organizations would be reluctant to challenge such a powerful man, who could become commander-in-chief in a heartbeat if something happened to the 80-year-old president.
Listen to what Vance told the New York Times when asked how he would respond to Israeli cabinet ministers who oppose the memorandum of understanding he reached with Iran. “I guess my response to them would be: What is your exact proposal?” he said. “You’re a country of 9 million people. You can’t just kill your way out of solving every single national security problem that you have.”
Excuse me? That is pure antisemitism. Jews are not killers. Israelis are not killers.
The world’s greatest experts on urban warfare have concluded that Israel has done more to avoid civilian deaths among its enemies than any army in the history of humankind on this earth.
W
e want peace more than anyone. But to achieve it, we are not willing to lay down our arms, surrender, drop dead and disappear without a fight.
Our low numbers are not a coincidence, and they should never be ridiculed. We have endured pogroms, plagues, a Holocaust and a massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, that our enemies have pledged to repeat again and again with the support of their sponsors Vance met at a summit in a Swiss castle.
This was not the only outrageous statement uttered ahead of the summit.
“If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world,” Vance said during a White House news briefing.
That is not true. Israel maintains many alliances with many countries, especially those threatened by the prospect of a nuclear Iran.
“The other thing that I would say is that over the last three months, two-thirds of the defensive weapons that have protected your homeland have been built by American hands and paid for by American tax dollars,” he said, forgetting the strong cooperation between the Israeli and American allies in Iran during “Operation Epic Fury/Roaring Lion.”
The Culture for Peace Institute that I head seeks nothing more than a just peace. But the vice president’s memo does not and will not promote or advance peace.
What Vance said should still be slammed by every Jewish organization, or he will believe he could get away with his antisemitism.
After Oct. 7, Vance’s initials changed. They became “Jews’ Demonizer.”
Former Lawrence Mayor Martin Oliner is an international tax lawyer and president of the Culture for Peace Institute.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
