Times of Israel: Genocide, apartheid? A poll Israel cannot allow itself to ignore

July 15, 2021

By David Horovitz

According to a new  poll  of US Jewish voters, 25 percent consider Israel to be an apartheid state, and another 22% aren’t certain one way or another. In the same survey, taken two weeks ago and published Tuesday, 22% said “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians,” and a further 16% weren’t sure if we are or not.

Commissioned by the Jewish Electorate Institute, a group led by prominent Jewish Democrats, the survey was carried out against the background of May’s 11-day conflict between Israel and Hamas and other Gaza-based terror groups, which triggered a major spike in incidents of antisemitism in North America and elsewhere.

We can agonize and argue over the value of opinion polls in general and this one in particular, which  questioned  800 people with a 3.5% margin of error, and posed what might be termed leading questions: “Israel is an apartheid state,” it  stated , for instance, then asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed.

But the findings should not be nitpicked away. That more than a fifth of US Jews in the poll accuse Israel of genocide cannot be shrugged off.

The survey was taken in the aftermath of a conflict against Hamas, an Islamist terrorist organization that is not engaged in a territorial dispute with Israel, but rather avowedly seeks our state’s destruction; that killed its own people in seizing power in Gaza after Israel withdrew from the territory; that has a despicable history of carrying out suicide bombings throughout Israel directed at civilians; that uses Gazans as human shields against Israel’s efforts to thwart its rocket fire and assault tunnels, and that redirects any and every relevant Gaza resource to its war against Israel at the expense of its citizenry.

Weeks after Israel faced off against this blatantly amoral terrorist army, a sizable proportion of the world’s largest Diaspora community, citizens of our closest and most important ally, has nonetheless apparently drawn a radically skewed picture of what is going on here.

Understanding the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does require a little bit of effort. You have to care enough to look deeper than headlines that highlight relative death tolls and maps that display tiny Gaza alongside larger Israel. There’s history and context and dueling narratives and hitherto irreconcilable claims to the same territory.

For all my concerns about where we may be headed if we cannot find a secure means of separating from most of the Palestinians, I find it hard to believe that anyone with genuine intellectual honesty can definitively brand Israel an apartheid state — though I know people who do. And I truly do not see how anybody who has invested the smallest modicum of effort in understanding our realities can determine that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. Yet that’s what lots of American Jews apparently now consider to be the case.

A multitude of factors, some of them far beyond Israel’s control, have led to poll findings such as these. But self-evidently, Israel would help its standing if it explained itself more effectively. It’s no panacea; there are limits to even the most adept public diplomacy. But Israel appears to have given up even trying, as highlighted by its staggering ineptitude in the course of the latest conflict and its aftermath.

Hobbling Israel’s public diplomacy

Israel’s abiding inability to articulate its own case to the global public is so entrenched, and has been so long a cause of despair to its supporters, that many who agitated over the years to prioritize this second battlefield have long since given up. But the seeming determination by successive governments to undermine Israel’s cause by neglecting and hobbling the country’s public diplomacy, notably but not exclusively in the United States, would appear to have plumbed new depths of late.

The latest conflict found prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longtime former spokesman Mark Regev, back on the media frontline after his term as Israel’s ambassador to the UK, bolstered by “volunteers” including ex-ambassadors Ron Dermer and Michael Oren. Ostensibly complementing this effort to explain the war and its context was the IDF and its Spokesperson’s Unit.

But the IDF’s prime focus was not on detailing for an international audience the context in which Israel had resorted to a widescale response to Hamas’s initial rocket barrage at Jerusalem and the subsequent barrages of thousands of rockets at much of the country. Rather, it was seeking to deter Hamas and Gaza’s other terror groups, by impressing upon them the IDF’s might and potentially devastating capabilities.

Its fundamental unfitness for the purpose of international outreach was emblemized both by its attempts to deceive world media, and thus Hamas, with false information about a ground offensive early in the conflict, and by its inability to quickly produce compelling public evidence of why it was deemed necessary to destroy an entire Gaza high-rise that it said was a Hamas military asset but where the world’s largest news agency, the Associated Press, also had its offices.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Israel’s two main, immensely demanding diplomatic posts — ambassador to the US and ambassador to the UN — were filled, absurdly, by one man, Gilad Erdan, who avoided almost all of an avalanche of interview requests, apparently because he was concerned that his English, though serviceable, is not entirely up to the task. The office of consul general in New York was unfilled (a new appointment was made in late June). Other major international diplomatic posts, including the ambassadors to Canada, France and Australia, were also vacant.

Netanyahu’s governments for years marginalized the Foreign Ministry as part of the prime minister’s centralization of control and, most recently, were so preoccupied with survival and electioneering as to widely neglect international public diplomacy — ironically so, given Netanyahu’s articulacy and worldliness. Preoccupied with endless domestic bickering, Israel’s political leadership did not internalize and still does not seem to have internalized how problematically the most recent Gaza-Israel conflict played out internationally, notably including the wave of antisemitism it unleashed.

The bickering and point-scoring has, sadly and unsurprisingly, continued into the era of the new, Naftali Bennett-led coalition — with the PM and his predecessor trading blame and accusations over Iran, COVID-19 and just about everything else — and so too, thus far, the neglect of international public diplomacy. A month in office, the prime minister has no English-language spokesperson. Erdan has announced plans to step down as ambassador to the United States but a replacement has yet to be named, and other key ambassadorial positions have yet to be filled.

Taking charge of his ministry last month, Foreign Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Yair Lapid  lamented  that, in recent years, Israel had “abandoned the international arena. And then we woke up one morning to find that our international standing has been weakened.” The Jewish Electorate Institute survey offers alarming evidence of this process, this crisis.

The poll indicates that a substantial proportion of even our own worldwide Jewish nation is reaching false conclusions about the modern Jewish state. The Israeli leadership must urgently help provide the tools for a better understanding of what goes on here — with a properly staffed and resourced public diplomacy establishment. That won’t produce an immediate sea-change in international public sentiment, but it will help. As May’s mini-war dismally showed, currently, in the space where Israel should be setting out its case, there is mainly a vacuum.

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.