LA Times: Pittsburgh Shooting Exposes Rift in Israel, Which Doesn’t Recognize All Jewish Denominations

October 30, 2018

By Noga Tranopolsky

Saturday’s mass shooting at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue drew widespread expressions of outrage and sympathy from many countries struggling with a surge in anti-Semitic violence.

But in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has a role in the fight against anti-Semitism, no matter where it occurs, official denouncements of the crime quickly devolved into a political squabble that reveals the growing rift between American Jews and the Jewish state.

Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life congregation hosts communities representing three streams of progressive Judaism. Most American Jews with a religious affiliation belong to one of those branches, butnone of the denominations is recognized as properly Jewish by Israel’s Orthodox religious authorities.And so the response to the shooting from Israel reflected some ambivalence — not about the victims, but about the Jewishness of the site.

Netanyahu quickly posted a video in which he said he was “heartbroken and appalled by the murderous attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue.”

But David Lau, Israel’s Ashkenazi chief rabbi, who is both a religious authority and a public servant, engaged in linguistic acrobatics so as to avoid referring to the site of the massacre as a synagogue, or Jewish house of worship.

Interviewed by an ultra-Orthodox newspaper, Lau said the victims “were killed because they were Jews … in a place that for the killer was a place of clear Jewish character.”

Lau’s remarks sparked a firestorm, with opposition leaders calling on the government to break a decades-long unwritten agreement with ultra-Orthodox religious parties whereby other denominations of Judaism, principally the Reform and Conservative wings, have no legal standing.

One result of that agreement is that Israel does not recognize the Jewishness of people who converted under the authority of progressive Jewish rabbis — a significant detail since Israel offers citizenship to all Jews. Also, the few Reform and Conservative congregations in Israel don’t qualify for public funding, as do Orthodox congregations, and their rabbis cannot perform officially sanctioned marriages or funerals.

Still, most Israelis were horrified by the shooting, and didn’t parse their grief. Yair Lapid, who hopes to replace Netanyahu as head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, tweeted, “If you are murdered because you are a Jew, then you are a Jew. The Conservative and Reform are our brothers. They are our family.”

As Israel enters an election year, the country is fragmented by doctrinal rifts that seem only to worsen, and the breach between American Jewry and Israeli Jews has never been so acute.

Neither side seems inclined to paper over the gaps: Last week, the annual general assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, hosted by Tel Aviv, was headlined: “We Need to Talk.”

In one flashpoint in the conflict, Netanyahu last year buckled to ultra-Orthodox threats and broke a historic 2016 agreement brokered with progressive Jewish leaders to expand and upgrade an egalitarian area of the Western Wall plaza, which is run by state religious authorities.

But the differences are not limited to internal Jewish matters.

Netanyahu’s embrace of far-right European leaders who have more than a nodding relationship with anti-Semitism has alienated American Jews and worried even some of his political allies in Israel.

In the last year, Netanyahu has enthusiastically welcomed to Jerusalem fellow right-wingers such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who campaigned for reelection by defaming the Hungarian-bornJewishAmerican  billionaire George Soros , and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who once famously  compared himself to Adolf Hitler.

Netanyahu believes alliances with nationalistic leaders will buffer him from Western European criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.

But no political friendship has proved as provocative or as problematic as the one Netanyahu has nurtured with President Trump, who has low levels of support among American Jews.

A survey released last week by the Mellman Group and the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 23% of American Jews support Trump, and despite some enthusiasm for his pro-Israel policies, 74% plan on voting for his Democratic opponent in 2020 regardless of the candidate.

Despite claims by some American Jews that Trump’s nationalistic and anti-immigrant stances are fueling anti-Semitism in the United States, Israel’s embrace of Trump only strengthened in the aftermath of the Pittsburgh massacre.

In an interview with MSNBC, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer praised the president for his denunciation of anti-Semitism. Asked whether Trump might have emboldened anti-Semites with some of his language — particularly his remarks last year that there were “fine people on both sides” when neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Va. — Dermer said that while he didn’t agree with Trump’s statement, “The people we should blame for anti-Semitism is the anti-Semite.”

He also said: “I see a lot of people on both sides who attack Jews,” he said.

“To simply say that this is because of one person, only comes on one side, is to not understand the history of anti-Semitism or the reality of anti-Semitism,” Dermer said. “One of the big forces in college campuses today is anti-Semitism. And those anti-Semites are usually not neo-Nazis, on college campuses. They’re coming from the radical left.”

Dermer was the first person to greet Trump as he arrived at the Tree of Life Synagogue and he walked him into the building as if welcoming a foreign dignitary to Israel.

As protesters chanted “President hate, leave our state,” Naftali Bennett, Israel’s minister for diaspora affairs, whom Netanyahu dispatched to Pittsburgh in a show of solidarity one day after the massacre, posted a robust defense of Trump that appeared to criticize local Jews.

“President Trump is a true friend of the state of Israel and to the Jewish people,” Bennett declared, adding that criticism of him was “unfair and wrong.”

Bennett exemplifies the head-turning complexity of Israel’s reactions to the massacre in Pittsburgh.

He leads the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party, and is also a Netanyahu rival gearing up for elections in 2019. His base consists of religious supporters of Israeli West Bank settlements, who do not generally consider progressive Jews properly Jewish.

With that in mind, Bennett on Sunday issued a carefully worded statement about “the shooting incident against the Jewish community in Pittsburgh,” avoiding the word “synagogue.”

After two days in Pittsburgh, and as the controversy in Israel expanded, Bennett acknowledged in an interview with The Times that “this was a brutal murder of Jews because they were Jews in a synagogue.”

Antisemitism is a warning sign. Are we listening?

By Eileen Filler-Corn • July 3, 2025
In the nearly two years since Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, American Jews have watched a disturbing rise in antisemitism take place across America — and crucially, among some of our longtime allies. For decades, Jewish Americans stood at the forefront of progressive causes, marching for civil rights, fighting for reproductive freedom and advocating for immigrants and the marginalized. My Jewish faith is what first drove me to public service. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam — our responsibility to repair the world — is not just a religious tenet but a moral call to action. It’s why we’ve always shown up to defend others. Yet now, as antisemitism surges to record levels, many progressive organizations and leaders who once stood with us have gone quiet; or worse, turned their backs entirely. It’s no longer just about Israeli policy. The line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has been crossed so many times it’s barely a line at all. “Zionist” has become a stand-in for “Jew,” and the message is clear: Unless you disavow the world’s only Jewish state, your place in many progressive spaces is no longer welcome. The picture is sobering. There have been calls to ban “Zionists” from Pride events. Many women’s groups have shrugged at Hamas’ rape of Israeli women. And the Democratic nominee for mayor of America’s most populous city has a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric and has refused to condemn the hurtful call to “globalize the intifada,” a rallying cry that has been used to incite violence against Jews. This didn’t happen overnight, but the silence from many who claim to fight for justice has been deafening and deeply painful. I know what it feels like to be targeted for who you are. In January 2020, shortly after I became the first woman and the first Jewish Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, the FBI uncovered a plot to assassinate me. Two members of a neo-Nazi domestic terrorist group had targeted me. It was the most serious of many threats I received during my time as Speaker. Thankfully, law enforcement intervened in time. But the threat was real, and it reminded me that hatred knows no single party or ideology. We’ve long seen this kind of extremist hate on the right, but today that same danger is rising on both extremes of the ideological spectrum. Antisemitism spreads under different names but with the same devastating consequences. Now, with the recent war between Israel and Iran, we’re likely to see a fresh wave of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. It is already giving rise to a new round of dangerous conspiracy theories laced with antisemitic tropes: accusing American Jews of dual loyalty; suggesting we control foreign policy; and portraying Jewish political engagement as part of a shadowy cabal influencing Washington. This is a moment of moral testing. Will our leaders speak clearly and forcefully against antisemitism, even when it’s politically inconvenient? Will those who champion diversity and inclusion apply those values to Jews as well? And will we be honest about how bad actors have exploited division, stoked extremism and enabled those who traffic in hate? Just as many Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s leadership while still loving this country and believing in its promise, the same is true for Israel. You can criticize or reject Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government and still support Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself and to thrive as a Jewish and democratic state. That distinction matters. Criticizing a government is not the same as condemning a people; but when it comes to Israel, that line is too often deliberately blurred. We must be able to hold leaders accountable without fueling hatred or questioning a nation’s fundamental legitimacy. Antisemitism is not merely a problem faced by Jews — it is a bellwether for the health of our democracy. When a society tolerates hatred against one group, it gives license to hate others. When threats against public servants go unchallenged, violence becomes normalized. I was reminded of that tragic reality when my friend and former counterpart, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, was executed in her home along with her husband, Mark. Authorities say her killer was a politically motivated extremist who had compiled a list of Democratic lawmakers. Melissa was a principled leader and a friend. Her death was a heartbreaking loss and a flashing red warning sign for the tolerance of hate in our democracy. We cannot afford to treat this moment as normal. It is time for our allies to rejoin us. To speak up when we are threatened. To see antisemitism for what it is: a growing, dangerous force that must be confronted head-on. Because if we wait until it affects everyone, it will already be too late. Eileen Filler Corn is a JEI Board Member and Former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and the only ever Jewish speaker in VA
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Letter to House Judiciary Committee on Anti-Semitism

July 1, 2025
July 1, 2025 U.S. House Committee On The Judiciary 2142 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Now in our ninth year, the nationally and internationally recognized Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization, continues to serve as the barometer for the Jewish electorate. We are therefore honored to submit the following Comments for the Record to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee in support of its June 24, 2025, hearing on antisemitism - Rising Threat: America’s Battle Against Antisemitic Terror. This hearing, punctuated by the moving testimony of Matt Nosanchuk, reminded us that Jewish safety in America is not a political football - it is a national imperative. Nosanchuk, a former senior official in both the Obama and Biden Administrations and a lifelong advocate against antisemitism, laid bare the stark realities we face. The murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were attending a Jewish community event just blocks from his home, brought the crisis home - literally and painfully. It also underscored a chilling truth: this could have been any one of us. Antisemitism today does not discriminate based on geography, profession, or even political identity. Nosanchuk rightly challenged both ends of the political spectrum. From the right, we've seen rising indulgence of white nationalist rhetoric, normalization of Nazi imagery, and an embrace of conspiracy theorists. When antisemitism is tolerated—or worse, weaponized—by public officials and influential institutions, it emboldens violence and undermines the rule of law. The example of the pardoning of the person wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt at the riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not just shocking to the Jewish community – it was symptomatic of a deeper, corrosive tolerance for hate. From the left, antisemitism also too often masquerades as political critique. When Jews are asked to renounce their ties to Israel to participate in coalitions, or when pro-Palestinian activism turns violent against Jews, with intimidating targeted rhetoric and violence, that’s not solidarity – it’s exclusion and scapegoating. Our Jewish identity should never be a precondition for political participation. What we need is not partisan grandstanding, but comprehensive action. That includes implementing the Biden Administration’s well-thought-out National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, restoring funding for civil rights enforcement at the Justice Department, and condemning hate, regardless of its ideological source. Nosanchuk’s call for education, prevention, and cross-community solidarity is exactly right. In closing, it’s our view at JEI that using antisemitism as cover for draconian immigration or university policies erodes the democratic institutions that have allowed Jewish life to flourish. Fighting hate must not become an excuse to violate civil liberties - ours or anyone else’s. Our safety as Jews has always been linked to the safety of others. In this perilous moment, we must demand more than soundbites. We must demand seriousness, solidarity, and above all, solutions. We are grateful to the Committee for having held this vital hearing at a perilous moment for American Jews. Sincerely, Barbara Goldberg Goldman Chairperson The Jewish Electorate Institute

JEI Statement on escalation and Support on Israel Security

June 18, 2025
Washington, DC — As hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify, the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), a nonpartisan political nonprofit, is calling on Congress to take all necessary measures to support Israel’s security, halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and help bring the hostages home.