I am Jewish. I am an Israeli American. I am gay. I am a progressive. In a typical election cycle, I vote Democrat up and down the ballot. But this November, I cannot confidently say that I will support the party I have always believed in.
The Democratic Party has amplified the voices of elected officials who are doing everything in their power to alienate me and millions of people who share my values, ethnicity, culture, religion and identity.
The Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas and the antisemitism that has ensued across the country and the Western world, served as a wake-up call, forcing lifelong liberals and progressives to band together, double down on our Jewish identity, and embrace our communities in order to survive.
For many in the Democratic Party, Oct. 7 did the opposite, it served as a rallying cry to sow hate, and division and stoke fear into the hearts of millions of Jews across the country.
“Protesters” have taken to the streets to threaten Jews, shut down Jewish businesses, interrupt Jews and prevent Jews from having a presence at public events, desecrate statues and monuments, and amplify terrorist propaganda all in the name of attempting to erase the Jewish connection to Israel.
Students on college campuses barred their Jewish peers from using libraries, classes were postponed and commencement ceremonies were canceled because of protesting student bodies.
All the while, numerous Democratic members of Congress endorsed these protests, and some went as far as pushing their antagonistic messaging in the mainstream media. Some even visited encampments that Jewish organizations denounced as spreading antisemitic rhetoric, such as “go back to Poland.”
I have experienced antisemitism within LGBTQ spaces, even throughout Pride Month in various cities, where Jews have been targeted, teased, heckled and even physically attacked. The progressive movement, which the LGBTQ movement is part of, is supposed to be all about diversity, equity and inclusion. Apparently, that does not apply to Jews.
So here we are today. Just months away from Election Day. Jews are having a “here-we-go-again” moment. Our safety, security and existence are in our hands, and we find ourselves politically homeless.
We no longer recognize the party we once knew. Now, is this the year we support the same Republican ticket that we just voted against four years ago? If the current administration continues “leading” in the way it is now, the latter may become a certain reality for many Jewish voters — and a nightmare for the Democrats.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had an opportunity to outright condemn antisemitism, whip their party into supporting Israel, and take action from the day after Oct. 7 to keep Jewish Americans safe. Other Democratic leaders had that same opportunity.
Instead, they made a political calculation that abandons this constituency, Israel and decades of American foreign policy precedents to court a radical fringe minority within their base.
The president’s camp, and now Harris’s camp by extension, is grossly underestimating the power of the Jewish coalition and our allies, which they are very clearly taking for granted. We have been an overwhelmingly left-leaning voting block, but we are increasingly concerned about our safety and future in America, and this will directly impact the way we vote.
Harris recently said something quite scary about the violent campus protests. The protesters, she explained, are “showing exactly what the human emotion should be.”
Excuse me? But Jews on campus are afraid to walk around and have even been blocked from walking to class. They also must hear the shouting of genocidal Hamas slogans like “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” and “There is only one solution — Intifada revolution.”
How does this intimidation exactly show what human emotion should be?
We are closely looking at which politicians are outspoken and have taken action to support us, just as we are closely watching the politicians supporting calls to destroy us, starting at the very top of the food chain.
This administration, and the Democratic Party by extension, have done very little to convey they remotely care about my safety, along with the security of Jewish Americans nationwide.
We know that, as a whole, the Jewish vote won’t be voting majority Republican this time around. But as we have seen support for former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump triple in recent months amongst African Americans, similar trends can and will be seen amongst Jewish voters. All it will take is a couple thousand votes from historically Democratic Jewish voters in swing states like Michigan to determine the outcome of this election.
I am not an outlier. There are millions of Jews, and millions of Democrats, who think just like me. Our existence is at stake. We know we — the fighters of a society that refuses to allow others to be intimidated daily based on their religion, ethnicity or culture — are going to win.
Yuval David is an actor, filmmaker, news commentator and activist.
