Kelly Loeffler Releases Offensive "Open Letter to the Jewish Community"
After photos of Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) posing for photos with neo-Nazi Charles Doles and a leader of his white supremacist organization emerged, Loeffler released an “open letter to the Jewish community.”
Rather than address the increase in far-right extremism, antisemitism, and white supremacy that greatly endanger Jews, Loeffler’s letter focused almost exclusively on the State of Israel.
“One of my most important priorities from the start has been to stand with our country’s strongest ally – Israel.”
Polling of American Jews has repeatedly shown that Israel is a low priority issue for Jewish American voters. Rather, healthcare, the economy, and gun violence have long been among the top two issues for this voting bloc. Combating terrorism is also a growing priority, with just under 50% of American Jews specifying that combating white supremacists and the far-right is among their top issues.
Given this data, which has remained consistent for a decade, Loeffler’s decision to focus on Israel in a letter targeting American Jews is suspect. Loeffler’s campaign may very well have not bothered to look into what issues Jewish voters prioritize before writing an open letter to Jewish voters — instead relying on stereotypes rooted in the antisemitic idea that Jews’ primary loyalty is to Israel.
Republican politicians facing accusations of antisemitism regularly profess their staunch support for Israel, as if this specific foreign policy position compensates for offending and endangering American Jews. On the contrary, assertions of support for Israel as “proof” of having no anti-Jewish bias are deeply offensive, and the idea that Jews and Israel are one and the same is antisemitic.
Loeffler’s letter stated that criticizing Israel“disparage[s] the Jewish people” and “pos[es] a significant threat not only to America’s longstanding relationship with Israel, but to Jewish communities across our country.” In the letter, she even goes so far as to falsely claim that her opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, “imperils the lives and livelihoods of the Jewish faithful across this nation.”
“The Jewish faithful” is not a phrase used by Jewish communities, the majority of whom are clear on the fact that the Donald Trump holds responsibility for ‘imperiling’ the lives of American Jews. Trump is not alone among Republicans who have endangered Jews — Loeffler herself has promoted antisemitic tropes, and associated herself with antisemitic QAnon supporters and known white supremacist collaborators.
Even worse, Loeffler’s letter states: “Inflammatory positions like these are exactly why we’ve seen an exponential rise in anti-Semitic [sic] attacks across this nation over the last few years - and I won’t stand for it.” The “inflammatory positions” Loeffler was referring to include criticizing the State of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians, and partnering with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)” — a civil rights organization Loeffler smears as a “hate group.”
In reality, violent antisemitic attacks have overwhelmingly been perpetrated by neo-Nazis and white supremacists — with the deadliest carried out by a man inspired by conspiracy theories Loeffler allies like Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene have promoted.
An open letter to the Jewish community that professes concern for Jewish safety, yet refuses to acknowledge the real reason Jews are in danger, is disingenuous at best. At worst, it’s a calculated insult. And either way, it’s a denial of the violence — including the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history — American Jews have faced at the hands of white supremacists.
Jews responded with outrage to Loeffler’s letter, and two days following its release, the Jewish organization IfNotNow released a video highlighting Loeffler’s antisemitism:
It is also noteworthy that Loeffler, along with her fellow three Georgia Senate candidates, was invited to submit a letter to the Georgia Jewish community by the Atlanta Jewish Times (AJT). Loeffler declined, opting instead to publish her letter on her campaign website, where it would inevitably be read by fewer Jews than if it were published in a Jewish outlet. All three other Senate candidates accepted AJT’s invitation to publish letters. Some Jewish activists have speculated that Loeffler’s letter was not even intended for Jews, but geared towards Evangelical Christians — a reference to Trump’s admission about the primary audience for his decision to move the American embassy to Jerusalem.