US Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is shedding support from Jewish constituents faster than Hillary Clinton loses computer data, due to his growing negativity toward Israel, as per former newspaper, the New York Times.
Jewish community leaders and donors initially became disillusioned with Ossoff after the lawmaker voted to implement a partial arms embargo against Israel and lambasted the Jewish state’s conduct in its war against Hamas, the Times reported over the weekend.
Well, here we are again, aren't we? The great dance of political disillusionment where principles meet practicality. You see, Ossoff, in a fit of moral clarity or perhaps political naivety, decided to take a stand against Israel. He voted for what was termed a "partial arms embargo", and didn't hold back in critiquing Israel's actions in its ongoing conflict with Hamas.
The newspaper noted that a coalition of Jewish organizations subsequently sent a private letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, encouraging the Republican to challenge Ossoff in the 2026 Senate race.
And oh, how the winds of politics blow! [Just ask Kamala Harris.]
The backlash was swift, as if someone had just turned on the proverbial fan. A coalition of Jewish organizations, feeling the sting of betrayal, decided it was time to rally. They penned a letter, not to Ossoff for some sort of dialogue or debate, but directly to Brian Kemp, the Governor of Georgia. The message was clear: challenge Ossoff in 2026. It's a fascinating, if somewhat predictable, turn in the saga of political chess where every vote and every critique can lead to a gambit or a checkmate. This isn't just about policy or morality; it's about power, loyalty, and the complex interplay between community support and political ambition.
“As a bipartisan group of leaders in the metropolitan Atlanta Jewish community, we humbly ask you to consider running for the United States Senate in 2026,” the letter read.
“Should you decide to run in the 2026 election,” the letter continued, “you would find no better friends, more loyal allies, or stronger supporters than us and our community.”
Last November, Ossoff, along with 19 other senators, joined a failed effort spearheaded by comrade and anti-Zionist Sen. Bernie Sanders (Communist-VT) to block the transfer of certain heavy-duty arms to Israel. They would rather see a defenseless Israel than a successful Jewish state, because somehow this is their perverted version of virtue signaling.
Ossoff, failing to take into account how Hamas uses Palestinians, young and old, as human shields, accused the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of behaving with “reckless disregard” for the lives of Palestinian civilians. He slammed the Jewish state for supposedly failing to “provide safe passage for food and essential medical supplies” in Gaza and criticized Israel for engaging in “conduct” that allegedly undermined American interests. Lamenting the arms embargo’s failure to pass the Senate, Ossoff stated that Israeli officials needed a “message” that the Jewish state must “have mercy for the innocent.”
The good Senator must have missed the video evidence of the Palestinians taking part in the October 7, 2023 Israel invasion and massacre of Israelis, and how they keep electing the Hamas government. He may also be unaware of Gazan civilians harboring Israeli hostages taken that day; 251 to be precise, because why would anyone of good conscience, particularly a Jew, take the side of the terrorists?
One begins to wonder, in this era of finger-pointing and moral grandstanding, what the true aim is. Ossoff, in his critique, seems to have taken the stage as a sort of modern-day Cassandra, warning of dire consequences should Israel not adhere to his vision of mercy. But one must ask, in the theatre of international politics, is this call for mercy an act of compassion or one of political positioning?
Following the Hamas-led slaughter of roughly 1,200 people and kidnapping of those 251 hostages throughout southern Israel, relations between the Democratic Party and Jews have become increasingly strained. Many supporters of Israel have become outraged at what they perceive as growing anti-Israel animus if not outright anti-Semitism within traditionally left-wing institutions.
The October 7th massacre was a moment that should have united us against barbarity, yet here we are, watching the fracturing of alliances, the questioning of loyalties. The Democratic Party, once a sturdy pillar for Israel, now seems to have cracks running through it, as the narrative shifts from an alliance to ambivalence or worse.
Leftist lawmakers such as the reprehensible Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Summer Lee (D-PA) have spent the past year launching attacks against Israel’s character, accusing the Jewish state of committing both a “genocide” and an “ethnic cleansing” campaign in Gaza. Even nominally moderate lawmakers such as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) have sharpened their criticisms of Israel over the past 16 months, calling into question the Democratic party’s support of the Jewish state among some pro-Israel advocates. They would like to see Israel lose the war that Hamas started because deep in their core, they hate the Jewish people.
The rhetoric from the left has grown not just bold but bold-faced. Terms like "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" are thrown around with a casualness that belies their gravity, much like the term "racist." It's as if we've entered a time where the loudest voices on the left have decided that the only narrative worth telling is one where Israel is always the villain. Even those considered moderates, like Van Hollen, seem to be sharpening their pens, not for the sake of balance but likely for political gain.
This shift, this narrative, isn't just about policy disagreements; it's about a fundamental questioning of what it means to support Israel. And in this political theatre, where every word is a performance, one wonders what the final act will look like for the relationship between the Democratic Party and the Jewish community.
The Times‘ report on Ossoff came after the latest Economist/YouGov poll released last week. The poll indicates that Democrats in the US
widely sympathize with Palestinians over Israelis.
That is sick.
In another survey released last week, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) found that American Jews see the Republican Party as
handling antisemitism better than the Democratic Party and that 81% of American Jews stated that they cared about Israel because it was “important.”
Ossoff, who once draped his senatorial campaign in the cloak of his Jewish identity, now stands on the precipice of a political cliff. With 2026 looming, the winds of competition are stirring, and they're not gentle. His campaign, once buoyed by personal heritage, now faces the harsh realities of electoral politics.
One can't help but ponder the irony here. He built his campaign on his Jewishness; now not so much, and it's going to bite him where the sun doesn't shine.
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