Democratic Party has turned its back on Jews and Israel.
Former New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who currently heads the Americans Against Antisemitism organization, has officially announced that he is leaving the Democratic Party and changing his affiliation to the Republican Party.
“IT’S OFFICIAL: My wife and I have switched our party affiliation from Democrat to Republican! People have long been asking, ‘Dov, when are you gonna leave the Democratic Party? Well, the time has come because the Dems have turned their back on Jews & Israel, so it’s officially done!” Hikind wrote.
Hikind also posted a video of him and his wife, Shani, explaining their decision to join the Republican Party.
“I have been a lifelong Democrat, my family, my parents, but that’s over. That’s finished. I have decided to register as a Republican,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the Democratic party has become so radicalized, so radical, run by the radicals, that people who are moderates or conservative Democrats are not welcomed in the Democratic party.”<
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“And I’ve had enough. The Democratic party turns its back on its friends like Israel, the Biden Administration right now in policy after policy. I’m just tired. I’ve had enough,” Hikind said. “It took a long long time but I am delighted to join the Republican Party.”
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In recent years, Hikind has been critical of some of the radical elements in the Democratic Party, such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.<
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He also criticized President Joe Biden when Biden delayed calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he officially took office.
Sebastien
No one.
Primaries are a healthy test of leadership’s position in the leadership, but there was never any real contender which could equitably challenge Trump for exactly this reason you raise, and this was true not only on the issues of Israel and the rights of Jews.
@Sep we agree again. Trump really was the best POTUS to Israel ever. Though I do not like things about him, I am grateful and appreciative of what he did for Israel.
Jerusalem capitol recognition, Golan recognition………..etc.
Your list is very good and there are other things like selling Israel weapons Obama had denied to Israel. Interestingly Biden has been pretty good on selling Israel weapons or allowing them to obtain them via the grants provided by Congress. So he is super horrible on the one hand and on the other he is helping Israel. A very mixed bag, like many US Administrations.
@Bear
We are in agreement. The rest of your last post was redundant because I had already conceded the point, at least unless and until I read something that refutes it.
The point is that Trump really was different in this regard. He was the first president to recognize that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria was not “illegal per se” and, though he later withdrew it at Kushner’s behest, he was willing to consider recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the 30 percent of Yesha where Jews currently live. He recognized Jerusalem and moved the embassy, enforcing the Jerusalem Embassy Act more than 20 years after it was passed, he recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He passed and enforced the Taylor Force Act and another one with a number that enabled him to cut aid to UNRWA, he extended Title VI civil rights protections to embattled Jewish and pro-Israel students on college campuses by executive order when every single Democrat opposed the legislation. The list is long and I’m sure you know it. Do I need to go on? Who else can say as much, lip service aside?
@Seb, yes Israel has been bashed by US administrations GOP & Dem about settlements. That is accurate. Your statement about the Gaza pullout was incorrect I was pointing out. Gilad Sharon claim is that limit that pressure in Judea/Samaria and put further withdrawal in formaldehyde he came up with the Gaza disengagement conditioned on the Bush Administration stopping putting pressure on Israel for further retreats from Judea/Samaria unless the PA does a whole bunch of things which they never would do.
Others claim Dov Weissglass came up with the idea and coerced Sharon into it.
My following comment went into trash but the gist was that every President since 1967 has given Israel a hard time about settlements and in general. Republicans, Democrats. No difference. Carrots and sticks. Trump was the best of them. He has a record. And, he was overthrown in a coup. There is a historical wrong here that ought to be righted and one that needs to be prevented in Israel.
And I say this despite my concern for the economic safety net which most Republicans would shred but which I adamantly defend. (This has been the central conflict between Democrats and Republicans for the last 100 years, in the North, anyway during the days of Jim Crow though Democrats and Republicans were mostly in agreement on the kinds of hot button issues that divide them today and many still are but we’re talking bread and butter issues.) Still, he wasn’t able to shred it last time, and in fact, during the pandemic, the U.S. became something like Europe or Israel for a while thanks entirely to him, God Bless him. That’s the one area I hope he is unable to succeed so I might vote a split ticket if there were ever any Republicans on the ballot for the House in my district which there never are, however, making it a moot point.
And his father, President George H.W. Bush:
“…With a possible peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians in the air, the 41st U.S. president refused to approve $10 billion in loan guarantees to help Israel cope with a wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union, and subsequently demanded that Israel freeze its settlement building before agreeing to the request….”
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2018-12-01/ty-article/.premium/how-an-ultimatum-from-president-george-h-w-bush-transformed-u-s-israel-relations/0000017f-f3fa-d223-a97f-ffffa2c20000
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“In fact, Obama was much more willing to veto UN resolutions condemning Israeli violence than the Republican presidents who preceded him, including Reagan and the two Bushes. President Reagan, for whom I had the honor of serving for four and a half years, actually allowed 21 UN resolutions that directly or indirectly condemned Israeli behavior and actions to pass. These included condemning Israel for the bombing of Lebanon, Iraq, and Tunisia. George H.W. Bush allowed nine UN resolutions, including one that criticized Israel for deporting Palestinians that it perceived as anti-Israel to pass, while George W. Bush allowed six more, including one that called on Israel to stop demolishing the houses of Palestinian civilians. Obama allowed only one UN resolution against the expansion of the settlements to pass before leaving office in December 2016.
In addition to not vetoing UN resolutions, Reagan took several actions that many in Israel and the United States perceived as anti-Israel. For example, on June 7, 1981, less than six months after Reagan took office, Israel launched a surprise bombing raid on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak, and, in so doing, violated the airspace of Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Reagan not only supported UNSC Resolution 487, which condemned the attack, but he also criticized the raid publicly and suspended the delivery of advanced F-16 fighter jets to Israel. Moreover, over the strident objections of Israel and the pro-Israel U.S. lobby groups, Reagan approved the sale of advanced reconnaissance aircraft (AWACS ) to Saudi Arabia, which Israel then viewed as a hostile state.
A year later, in August 1982, when Israeli forces advanced beyond southern Lebanon and began shelling the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Beirut, Reagan responded with an angry call to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, demanding a halt to the operation.
In addition, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Reagan intervened directly when Israel threatened to blow up the Commodore Hotel in downtown Beirut, which housed more than 100 western reporters. As David Ottaway, who was then the Washington Post Middle East correspondent and was in the building, pointed out, the Israeli defense minister did not like the media coverage the invasion was getting and wanted to close down the media center. ”
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/05/24/ronald-reagan-wasnt-afraid-to-use-leverage-to-hold-israel-to-task/
“Ford, Carter Slam Israel’s Settlement Policy As Major Obstacle to Middle East Peace Process”
https://www.jta.org/archive/ford-carter-slam-israels-settlement-policy-as-major-obstacle-to-middle-east-peace-process
I’m sure you know about Nixon and the Rogers Plan
The point is all of these American Presidents, Republican and Democrat alike have been a problem. Johnson was also opposed to Jewish settlement though he didn’t demand Israel return the territories.
Trump was the best of them. In 2016, the all sounded good. I actually changed my registration from independent to Republican just for that primary election so I could vote for Huckabee and when he dropped out, and it was between Trump and Cruz, I voted for Cruz in the primary.
Trump and De Santis are the only serious candidates so far and besides being very behind, Peloni’s comments about the big donors backing him and his flip flopping on issues are of concern. Trump has a proven track record.
@Bear I had no idea. But, still, I’m sure you recall Bush’s Secretary of State, Condaleeza, Rice publicly badgering Israel about settlements in much the same manner as Hillary Clinton would.
“Rice says Israeli settlement activity ought to stop – USDOS press release/Non-UN document (excerpts)”
“…Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called upon Israel to stop its expansion of settlements, saying the Bush administration is “particularly concerned” over “any kind of activity that would prejudge the outcome of a final status agreement” between Israel and the Palestinians….”
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-193395/
@Seb, you stating or claiming that Bush got Sharon to pull out of Gaza is NOT accurate. There was a book written in Hebrew by two reporters In Israel point what really occurred. Short version here, Sharon and son’s were in serious legal jeopardy about illegal land purchases in Greece I believe. Sharon was scared.
He had a longtime advisor a confidant and his personal lawyer (Dov Weissglass) said he needed to change the subject and the unrelentingly pressure of the media. His lawyer hatched the plan to leave Gaza and said he would get the White House to go along to make it look Israel got something out of the deal. It did the Bush letter which says …………………
Dov Weissglass had threatend to wash his hands of Sharon and leave him on his own. Sharon was now old and mentally weak. This Gaza pullout and the whole Bush letter was the lawyer’s creation and not George Bush.
Gilad Sharon wrote a different book claiming the idea of disengagement was his idea to freeze all the talk of withdrawal from Judea/Samaria. Bush went along with it.
In any case the idea came from Israelis and NOT Bush.
@Bear
Something more on this. Trump is not a litmus test. Primaries are an important part of any democratic process of choosing leaders, and Trump must stand the test of having a record on which to be held accountable. The problem for Trump’s opposition is that Trump’s record revealed, on whole, little for which his opponents could easily challenge him. This is apparent from the fact that Trump alone dominates, on both sides of the aisle combined, the small dollar donors. The only ones placing their money on Trump’s opponents are the mega donors which actually reduce their appeal to the voters who gained for Trump his 2020 and 2016 election victories. The secondary consequence of this reality is that Trump’s opposition is so obviously managed by these Globalist and corporate interests that there is even less choice in 2024 than there was in 2016 from which even the most discerning Republican voter might choose. Even though the primary is far from over, it would seem that the primary is very much over. Time will tell how this will turn out, of course, but I would actually suggest that the litmus test for Trump’s victory is more to be found in the lack of independent candidates who can offer the voting public a real choice between the independent president who accomplished so much and his opposition which is well financed (bought and paid for by their donors) by the forces which actually repel Trump’s supporters.
Going into the primary Trump was not completely invulnerable, though he held a strong support from many who would never vote for anyone else. But even among those who were actually interested in a choice or open to a choice, his supporters would need a reason to choose anyone else over Trump – Trump’s opponents simply failed to offer any reason for them to do so.
@Bear
@Seb & Peloni:
Maybe Hikind joined the GOP because it is the party that supports Israel and the DEM party does not. There are many political offices people run for and not just POTUS. To me the world does not revolve around Trump, I understand there are many who would be aghast by such a statement. Trump has many good points and some not so good.
He will have to answer your question for himself, as I am not his spokesman.
@Bear
@Sebastien
I agree with Sebastien. I know Hikind made that statement previously, but I seriously doubt that he would withhold his support from Trump given his newly transitioning to the Republican party. It really wouldn’t make sense for him to join the party and snub the obvious choice for the head of the party.
@Bear Well, in my mind, joining a party means being willing to campaign for the party’s candidate for president in the general election otherwise why bother?
@Bear I suppose it doesn’t really matter. The last time a Republican Presidential candidate carried New York was Reagan in 1984 and before that Calvin Coolidge in 1924, the year both of my parents were born. Oh, and Eisenhower. Forget it. I’m deleting this post. But, there are virtually no elected Republicans from New York City.
@Seb, I have no clue what Hikind will do as voting for Trump or not. I doubt if he would campaign for him.
In my mind joining the GOP is not the equivalent of liking Donald Trump. Some believe so I understand. Anyone runs for POTUS in the GOP is denigrated by those people in one way or the other. Anyone who provides any critique of Trump is attacked in one way or other. They are following his style. He confuses loyalty to the Kingdom with loyalty to the King.
@Bear So once the fat lady sings, if Trump is the candidate, do you think Hikind will support him?
@Seb, I am aware of what you wrote. I read the polls regularly and Trump is clearly ahead of a distant DeSantis.
Nothing is over however until it is over. What is going on with the charges against Trump is unprecedented, so I personally do not have a crystal ball to see how the future unravels including the current any possible future criminal charges against Donald Trump. Also the reaction of the GOP party in the event he is convicted.
@Bear Trump is the likely nominee. Even if he were impeached right before the election, he could still run as an independent write-in candidate. He has the overwhelming support of the Republican base. De Santis is trailing far behind and nobody else is even in the running, though, of course, a popular dark horse candidate could appear at the eleventh hour, but, in this case, that’s unlikely.
“NBC News poll: Nearly 70% of GOP voters stand behind Trump amid indictment and investigations”
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nbc-news-poll-nearly-70-gop-voters-stand-trump-indictment-investigatio-rcna80917
“Trump has 47% support among Republicans; DeSantis at 19% – Reuters/Ipsos
July 19, 20236:23 AM EDTUpdated 3 days ago
…The rest of the Republican field remains well behind the two front-runners, with Vivek Ramaswamy, a former biotechnology executive, at 9% in the poll, followed by former Vice President Mike Pence who had 7% support.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-has-47-support-among-republicans-desantis-19-reutersipsos-2023-07-19/
By the way, it’s Sebastien, not Sebastian, French not Armenian and certainly not Sebstian. . I just don’t have an accent egue on my keyboard for the first e. Why not just call me, Seb, like Ted and Edgar.
@Sebstian you are assuming Trump is the nominee. Maybe he would vote third party? Is Trump a litmus test or are positions and policies a litmus test?
He said he would never support Trump again in December of last year. Will he say “a plague on both your houses” and sit the general election of 2024 out?
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/363979
Dov Hikind a good Jew, Israel supporter and good man.
Hopefully more Jewish Democrats will see the light and follow Dov into the GOP.
Wow. I never thought I would see this day come. Quite surprising. Well Done Dov!