For Some Democratic Jews, Heightened Worries About Antisemitism

For many American Jews, the prospect of Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as a running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris prompted elation — a balm for the feelings of alienation and anger they have harbored amid a wave of anti-Israel sentiment and rising antisemitism.

But the process ended as abruptly as it began, leaving many Jewish Democrats with a heightened sense of anxiety. Their concerns were not with Harris’s choice — Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, an affable Midwesterner who has warm relationships with the Jewish community in his state — but with an activist-driven campaign against Shapiro, who is Jewish.

For some, it confirmed or inflamed simmering fears about antisemitism on the left.

Jews have been a loyal Democratic constituency dating back at least to the 1930s. But after an extraordinarily challenging 10 months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Israel’s devastating military response in the Gaza Strip and an explosion of antisemitism, some are warning that in corners of the Jewish community, close ties to the Democratic Party may be fraying.

The worries intensified during the vice-presidential search process as left-leaning activists pilloried Shapiro, considering him too sympathetic to Israel and overly and unfairly critical of campus Gaza-war protests, among other concerns unrelated to foreign policy. But Shapiro’s defenders noted that he holds mainstream Democratic views on the Middle East that were generally seen as in line with the other — non-Jewish — top contenders.

“There’s a kind of suspicion that was in the back of our minds, and it’s creeping more to the center of our minds, that maybe it had something to do with the Jewishness of Gov. Shapiro,” said Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, who leads the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on Manhattan’s liberal Upper West Side, stressing that he was not making any critique of Harris. (As a clergy member, he declined to discuss his personal views of the election.)

“Even if it didn’t,” he added, as he detailed concerns about antisemitism and anti-Zionism, “that perception is not healthy for the Democratic Party, and it is not healthy for the well-being of the American polity.”

Shapiro, who declined an interview request, told The Washington Examiner last week that “antisemitism had no impact on the dialogue between the vice president and me, period,” and he has promised to campaign strongly for the ticket.

Charles Lutvak, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, stressed in a statement that “antisemitism and hate have no place in the Democratic Party or in our country.”

“Gov. Shapiro is a tireless and extremely effective champion for the people of Pennsylvania, and our campaign strongly rejects the attacks, rooted in his faith, that he has endured,” Lutvak said, also noting that former President Donald Trump has for years been accused of drawing on antisemitic tropes.

While speculation about Jewish voters moving toward the Republican Party is a perennial exercise, public polling has shown that a large and durable majority of Jews vote for Democrats — roughly two-thirds align themselves with the party, a figure that has been consistent in polling this year.

The Harris campaign is also in the process of hiring a Jewish engagement director, and is expected to bring that person aboard in coming days, according to an aide.

So far the biggest political challenge for Democrats related to Israel has come from the left. Outrage over the Biden administration’s support for Israel, amid staggering civilian deaths in Gaza, has sparked a broad protest movement led in part by young left-wing Jews.

Harris cannot afford erosion in support among progressive and Arab American voters angered by U.S. policy toward Israel — even as some Democrats are also increasingly worried about the loss of more centrist, strongly pro-Israel Jews.

In a statement relayed by the Harris campaign, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who is Jewish, said that “the antisemitic attacks on Gov. Josh Shapiro were disgusting and completely unacceptable.”

“Democrats can never tolerate that kind of discourse, and Vice President Harris will never let it fly on her watch,” she added.

Mark Mellman, president of Democratic Majority for Israel, said there were anecdotal signs of potential electoral impact tied to the “disquiet in the community about the antisemitism” from the far left and the far right.

But, he added, there is “no solid quantitative polling evidence that shows Jewish voters are abandoning this ticket.”

Yet in a race that is likely to be won on the margins, Mellman said, Jewish voters in a handful of battleground states could make the difference.

Republicans seem to agree: The Republican Jewish Coalition has launched a campaign to engage the Jewish community, said the group’s CEO, Matt Brooks. He said the $15 million effort included a focus on Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan.

Although Republicans attempted to cast Harris’s choice of Walz over Shapiro as evidence of the party’s antisemitism, few Jewish Democrats criticized the decision itself. Some even let out a sigh of relief, fearful that having a Jewish vice-presidential nominee could further stoke antisemitism.

And there is little evidence that Walz has clear policy differences with Shapiro on Israel — a fact that only fueled discomfort and dismay that Shapiro was the target of so much public vitriol from the left, most sharply encapsulated by the label “Genocide Josh.”

“After Oct. 7 there is no question that being a Democrat who was supportive but not uncritical of Israel has become a precarious identity,” said Micah Lasher, a New York City Democrat who is running for the state Legislature. “There was an inescapable sense the selection had been made into a referendum over Israel, even though there was no difference on policy.”

Harris’ consideration — and rejection — of Shapiro marked an extraordinary moment for American Jews, who have reached the highest echelons of power in the United States but have yet to ascend to the White House. And it is a markedly different era from 2000, when Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut became the first Jew on a major-party national ticket.

“This is an undeniably fraught time. The culture of political polarization and position of the Jews are both in a worse moment, and into that vortex walks Josh Shapiro,” said David Myers, a professor of Jewish history at UCLA. “It may be a Rorschach test for divisions within American Jews and American politics and the left.”

Simone Zimmerman, a founder of IfNotNow, a Jewish organization that advocates for a cease-fire in Gaza and Palestinian rights, and that has been intensely critical of the Israeli government, dismissed the idea that the criticism of Shapiro was antisemitic.

“There are many of us — including many Jews — who were opposed to Shapiro specifically because of his hostile positions toward campus protesters — which included many Jewish students,” she said, referencing Shapiro’s strong criticism of some anti-war demonstrations.

For nearly a year, President Joe Biden was dogged by pro-Palestinian protesters who opposed his support for Israel in the war, helping fuel a campaign to vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary. Many of those activists believe that Harris so far has been more open to their pleas, but a campaign stop in Michigan on Wednesday suggested that there may not be a major policy shift in the immediate future.

Just before her rally, Harris spoke with leaders of the “uncommitted” campaign, who wanted to discuss an arms embargo for Israel. While the leaders believed they had her agreement, a top Harris adviser later clarified that Harris does not support an embargo. And when protesters interrupted her during the rally, Harris shut them down. “If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that,” she told them. “Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

A number of Democrats who expressed concerns about what they see as antisemitism on the far left said they thought general election implications would be muted given the Republican alternative.

Trump has repeatedly attacked Jews who support Democrats, suggesting they are disloyal. “If anybody I know is Jewish and they would vote for Kamala over me, they should have their head examined,” Trump said during a news conference Thursday.

State Rep. Dan Frankel of Pennsylvania, a Democrat and Shapiro ally, represents the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh that is home to the Tree of Life synagogue, the site of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history.

He predicted enthusiastic Jewish Democratic turnout, and said he expected Shapiro would help on that front, noting the rousing speech the governor gave at a rally in Philadelphia on Tuesday for Harris and Walz.

There, Shapiro noted the role of faith in his life and referenced a Jewish code of ethics; he is a rare nationally recognized Democrat who regularly quotes from religious texts.

“I lean on my family, and I lean on my faith, which calls me to serve,” Shapiro said.

“And,” he continued, his voice rising with emotion, “I am proud of my faith.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .