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Republican Jews Slam Democrats for Anti-Israel Tone at Convention

By Nathan Guttman July 29, 2016

Jewish Republicans were watching the Democratic convention in Philadelphia very closely — and they didn’t like what they saw when it comes to Israel.

A 60-second video ad put out by the Republican Jewish Coalition Friday derided the Democrats as Israel-hating radicals.

The RJC’s recap of the week’s highlights include Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson calling Israeli settlers termites, the waving of a Palestinian flag on the convention floor, and the burning of Israeli flag outside the convention.

“Anti Israel voices are all around Philadelphia,” the RJC ad states. Expressing what could be seen as nostalgic longing to a time when, apparently, Jewish Republicans were sympathetic toward Democrats, the ad concludes:

“Sadly, this isn’t the old Democratic Party’ it’s today’s Democratic Party.”

Watch the full RJC ad, here.

RJC executive director Matt Brooks said in a statement that the Democratic convention was a hotbed of anti-Israel sentiment.

“While strong support for Israel was once a bipartisan issue, after this week it’s clear a vocal and growing number of Democrats no longer believe in our crucial alliance,” Brooks said.

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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