"Is it good for the Jews?" That question was asked in many Jewish homes in post-World War II America.
It's time we ask, and answer, that question again.
Jewish Americans are largely Eastern European.
The first great migration went from 1890 to 1920.
It brought my grandparents and parents to America.
The second migration occurred more recently.
Holocaust survivors, my wife's parents included, made their way out of Europe, mostly to Israel and America. The migration took many years as the Soviet bloc saw Jews as bargaining chips and not as war victims.
By 1968 the international pressure to free the Jews grew too great for the Soviet Union.
Even Jewish gulag prisoners were released.
By the time I was old enough to focus on public policy, one thing became perfectly clear: For Jews, America was the Promised Land.
Why build Israel out of the desert when you could lead a life in America beyond anything the global Jewish community could imagine?
Clearly, America was good for the Jews.
We could achieve anywhere in America; Wall Street, Main Street, New York, Hollywood, even Washington, where Henry Kissinger could be lauded as Nixon's foreign policy guru and Sen. Joe Lieberman could be nominated for vice president of the United States.
Who knew?
Politically, Jews were on the left.
A Jewish baby was presumed to be a Democrat.
For life.
A typical presidential election would be an 80 to 20 Democrat advantage.
Living in Brooklyn in the 1950's and 1960's was easy.
My public-school classes would have 33 students, 31 Jews, and two Catholics.
Those students became doctors, lawyers, accountants, teachers and just about anything they put their minds to. Jewish communities had low rates of crime, divorce and unemployment.
Yes, America was good for the Jews. And, yes, the Jews were good for America.
The earliest clouds on this sunny horizon were the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Rev. Jackson made unnecessary anti-Semitic comments.
Rev. Sharpton made anti-Semitism a foundational building block of his brand.
All of a sudden there was a chunk of the Democratic Party that was hostile to their Jewish friends, the same Jewish friends that were at the core of the civil rights movement.
Clearly, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were bad for the Jews and, in my opinion, bad for America.
Worse times were coming.
Fifteen years ago, this week, we elected Barack H. Obama president of the United States.
The optimism this country felt soon soured.
Obama governed from the far left.
He promised to "fundamentally transform" our country.
But . . . who needed that?
Certainly, not the Jews.
Soon Obama was publicly insulting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu.
Then Obama's closest supporters were meddling in Israeli elections.
But, beyond anyone's imagination, President Obama sought to normalize relations with the terrorist-supporting Iran; the same Iran who continued to shout: "Death to America. Death to Israel."
Obama released embargoed Iranian funds by sending pallets of cash to Teheran, like mobsters. Iran publicly acknowledged using these funds to become a nuclear power, on the way to wiping out Israel.
The politics shifted, slightly. Jewish Americans went from 80 to 20 Democrat to 70 to 30.
I stated then that any Jew who voted for Obama's second term would never again be pro-Israel. Obama was bad for the Jews but the Jews continued to support Obama.
And then came Biden. We look at the wreckage of Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israelis call it their Pearl Harbor. Netanyahu has proclaimed that this is their "Never Again" moment.
The war rages on.
The Palestinians have received many billions of Western (mostly American) dollars over the years. It went into building tunnels, passages for the terrorists to use to kill the Jews.
Iran received new unembargoed funds of six billion dollars which they proudly proclaimed would help kill more Jews.
The rise in oil prices, a goal of Bidenomics, gave Iran a 25-billion-dollar bonus; moving them closer to becoming a nuclear state.
Global anti-semitism has come out of the darkest shadows.
Jews are threatened everywhere in America. Harvard, Cornell, Cooper Union; these are no longer safe places for Jews. Nobody thinks this is good for the Jews, except the Jews.
Remember the 70% of the American Jews who voted for Obama's reelection? And against Trump? And for Biden?
This I can say with great confidence: Every single American Jew who voted for Biden in 2020 will vote for the Democrats in 2024.
Clearly, Biden is not good for the Jews.
He won't sign on to a bill to send 14 billion dollars to Israel unless it also includes money for Ukraine and the Palestinians.
New question: Are the Jews goods for the Jews?
The answer: 70% of American Jews are part of the problem and a hindrance to the solution.
Sid Dinerstein is a former chairman of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. Read More — Here.
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