When Miriam Calls

1. When Miriam Calls

“Miriam has me working hard here,” said Donald Trump, midway into his Thursday night speech at the annual Israeli-American Council (IAC) conference in Washington, DC. “Miriam” is Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson, and by “working hard,” the Republican presidential nominee was referring to back-to-back events sponsored by Adelson: first, a convening of mostly conservative Jewish leaders to discuss countering antisemitism; then the opening night of IAC’s conference.

Come to think of it, working four hours for a $100 million donation to your campaign isn’t such a bad deal.

Along with his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s meeting in Las Vegas on September 5 (where his remarks were shown live via satellite), the former president spoke at three other Jewish events this month, all organized by Adelson-backed groups.

Thursday’s IAC address, in front of a cheering crowd estimated by organizers at 4,000, featured all the characteristics of a classic Trump-Jewish event. It elated and energized the audience, while simultaneously driving the rest of the Jewish-American community into a frenzy. Many felt the speech only validated their concerns that the Republican nominee poses a danger to Jewish Americans.

Both of Trump’s speeches on Thursday were made up of concentrated attacks on his rival Kamala Harris as an enemy of Israel and the Jewish people. He zigzagged between politics and policy, arguing with real and imaginary critics and presenting a vision for his future policy in the Middle East. One line, which began with a review of Israel’s enemies in the region, from Hamas to the Houthis, somehow ended with Trump stating, “I won that debate by a lot. I walked off the stage and I said: ‘Man, did I beat her.’”

But the comments that stirred anger were those relating to Jewish Americans’ voting patterns.

As always, Trump took issue with the Jewish community’s tendency to vote Democratic and with his underperformance among Jewish voters.

“I wasn’t treated properly by the voters who happen to be Jewish, I don’t know. Do they know what the hell is happening?” Trump complained in both his speeches, noting how, despite actions he had taken in favor of Israel (or at least of the Likud government in Israel), Jewish Americans showed no gratitude, and fewer than 30 percent voted for him in 2020.

The underlying premise, that Jews should vote based on the interest of Israel, is not new, nor is the outrage it causes among Jewish Americans when they hear a prominent political leader question their loyalty to the United States.

But this time Trump went further.

“If I don’t win this election—and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens—because at 40 percent, that means 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy,” he said—not once, but twice. Basically, Trump preemptively put the blame for his loss, if he indeed loses, on Jewish-American voters.

2. How Bad Was It?

It’s pretty rare to get a near-consensus within the organized Jewish world. It’s even harder to find any kind of agreement when the issue has to do with politics.

But on Friday, a day after Trump’s speeches, organizations seemed to come together in expressions of concern and warning about his comments.

With some, there was no surprise. Such was the case with the Jewish Democrats, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Reform Movement, all known for their liberal views.

But to see the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a fully mainstream organization that avoids partisanship at any cost, issue a statement calling Trump’s allegations “outrageous and dangerous” was quite unusual. As was the post on X by Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, who has been accused at times of taking the group too far to the right. Greenblatt wrote that Trump’s words increase the sense of alienation Jewish Americans feel right now, and “likely will spark more hostility.”

So how bad was the speech? Bad enough to cause mainstream Jewish groups to speak out against a presidential candidate six weeks before the elections. And that’s saying something.

3. Emerging Jewish Constituencies

Politically speaking, this communal oy vey should not pose a problem for Trump. The Jewish Americans who care about this issue were probably not voting for him anyway.

But will it prevent Trump from making headway with new Jewish constituencies?

His addresses to the Jewish community are directed at three groups: Jewish Republicans, the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, and Israeli Americans.

The first group is obvious. A reliable 25 percent of American Jews who vote in presidential elections support Republican fiscal policies and the party’s tough stand on support for Israel and the Middle East.

The other groups are less stalwart. While Modern Orthodox Jews are seen as motivated by the issue of Israel and therefore lean Republican, the Haredi community wasn’t always a Republican stronghold. But decades of focusing on the community’s specific policy preferences, such as funding for private education and religious needs, has turned the GOP into a home for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Israeli Americans are hard to gauge. IAC, the Adelson-funded group Trump addressed last week, represents an unusual combination of diehard Trumpist leaders, with a large following of members who have nothing to do with politics. At its core, IAC is a network of branches and programs aimed at making Israeli expats feel at home by helping them build bridges to the established Jewish-American community while keeping their Israeli heritage, language and roots. Most members are there for the sense of Israeliness IAC provides them, not for the politics. But the group’s top donors, led by Adelson, are staunch Trump backers. This led to the scene on Thursday night, where Trump gave a political stump speech to the gathering and was met by hundreds of mostly student-age activists chanting “Four more years!” and “Trump, Trump, Trump!” Others, mostly older, sat aside, some visibly uncomfortable.

4. Could Trump Be onto Something?

By making Trump the keynote speaker at the event, Adelson might have hoped it would take the Israeli-American community one step closer to the Republican camp. And this may indeed be the case. But electorally speaking, the potential isn’t huge. There are an estimated 200,000 Israelis living in the United States (though some estimates put the number at double), and most are concentrated in solid Democratic states: New York, California and New Jersey.

And yet, with polls suggesting a razor-thin election, even a couple of hundred Israeli Americans who may have been inspired by Trump’s speech could make a difference in Pennsylvania. 

(And an important note: IAC organizers rejected claims of partisanship and said they had extended invitations to President Biden and Vice President Harris to speak as well, but they declined. This is at best a weak argument. Perhaps there would be a basis for comparison if IAC’s top donor had given $100 million to the Democrats too, and then cried foul when they did not show up to her confab.)

5. Trump’s Long Road

The year was 2016 and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) held its annual policy conference in Washington. The since-discontinued event was the pro-Israel community’s top gathering, one that no politician could afford to miss.

Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, took the stage at Washington’s packed basketball arena, and in front of thousands of stunned pro-Israel activists, he delivered an unprecedented smackdown of then-president Barack Obama. “He may be the worst thing to ever happen to Israel, believe me, believe me,” Trump said. “And you know it and you know it better than anybody.”

At the time, such comments to a mainstream Jewish audience were seen as outrageous. And just as outrageous was the fact that some in the audience applauded Trump’s attack on the sitting president. The following day, choking with tears, AIPAC’s president Lillian Pinkus addressed the conference. “There are people in our AIPAC family who were deeply hurt last night and for that we are deeply sorry,” she said. “We are deeply disappointed that so many people applauded a sentiment that we neither agree with or condone.”

Fast forward to 2024. What a change.

Donald Trump can now address a Jewish audience, call the vice president of the United States an enemy who would lead to the destruction of the State of Israel, and no one even thinks there is a need to apologize.

Trump, while still widely unpopular among Jewish-American voters, is no longer a pariah with many on the right. And this process of legitimization could translate into votes. Not many, not a movement, but, as noted, this year every vote counts.

Top image: Donald Trump and Miriam Adelson speak at the Israeli-American Council Summit in Washington, D.C. (Credit: Gage Skidmore / David Azagury/U.S. Embassy Jerusalem).