For November 2024, the Choice is as Clear as the Contrast
By Nanette Fridman and Jill Goldenberg
In exactly five months, Americans will go to the polls in the most important election of our lifetime. For Jewish Americans, the contrast between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is crystal clear on the issues that are paramount — Israel, democracy, antisemitism, abortion rights, and the economy. At the same time, we have seen a dramatic uptick in disinformation aimed at muddling this clear choice. Those who spread misinformation are wrong, but even the false image of Biden they portray is better than the real version of Trump.
Israel: Trump vs. Biden: Donald Trump has never been — nor would he be in a second term — good for Israel and or Jewish Americans. In the aftermath of the horrific Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Trump mocked Israel, criticized its leaders, and praised terrorists. He has refused to prioritize the release of the hostages, including Americans held by Hamas, and advocated for transforming U.S. foreign aid into loans — with no exception for aid to Israel.
John Bolton, Trump’s former national security advisor, recently said in the New York Times, “Trump’s support for Israel in the first term is not guaranteed in the second term because Trump’s positions are made on the basis of what’s good for Donald Trump, not on some coherent theory of national security.” Do you want to entrust Israel’s safety and security to the whims of Donald Trump?
In October, President Biden proposed the largest emergency aid package to Israel ever, and for six months, Republicans delayed this vital aid. Since October 7, Biden has approved over 100 arms sales to Israel, including an additional $1 billion in arms in recent weeks.
No president in American history had described himself as a Zionist until Joe Biden. No president in American history visited Israel during wartime except for Biden, ten days after October 7. No president in American history deployed U.S. troops and military assets to directly defend Israel except for Biden, when in April, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel. Biden’s military support, planning, and diplomatic efforts saved countless Israeli lives and prevented a larger regional conflagration.
On May 13, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan distilled President Biden’s policy on Israel and Gaza to ten key points that prove Biden’s actual policies differ from the misrepresentations circulating in our community. Sullivan clarified that the Biden administration is “continuing to send military assistance, and will ensure Israel will receive the full amount” pledged by the United States. Despite pausing one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs, the Biden administration has confirmed it has sent — and will continue to send — “a massive amount of military assistance to Israel to defend itself against all threats, including Hamas, Hizballah, and Iran and its other proxies.”
President Biden has repeatedly reiterated that Israel has the right to defeat Hamas, that Israel is not committing genocide, and that the hostages (including Americans Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Keith Siegel, Omer Neutra, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Itay Chen, Judith Weinstein Haggai, and Gad Haggai) must come home. He recently revealed a plan that Israel had accepted for an end to the war, which ensured Israel’s security and demanded a release of all hostages, placing the onus on Hamas, where it belongs.
Abortion and Women’s Health: Trump vs. Biden: Donald Trump brags that he overturned Roe v. Wade and recently affirmed that if reelected, he will enact extreme anti-abortion laws nationwide, including a national abortion ban. He recently threatened to monitor women’s pregnancies to enforce abortion bans and has suggested he would support banning contraception.
We marched and fought for these rights years ago, and we want to ensure our daughters are not left with fewer rights than our generation. President Biden will protect women by codifying Roe and appointing justices who will defend reproductive freedom. President Biden will ensure that politicians are not in the rooms when doctors and women make these decisions.
Democracy: Trump vs. Biden: Donald Trump is a 34-time convicted felon and twice-impeached former president threatening to weaponize the U.S. judicial system against his political opponents. Trump has embraced a campaign of fascist rhetoric unlike any we have seen before in the United States, at times mirroring the language of Adolf Hitler. His campaign recently posted a video promoting a “unified Reich” if he wins the 2024 election. Trump is a self-proclaimed aspiring “dictator on day one” who has repeatedly assaulted America’s democracy and its institutions, including by inciting a deadly insurrection on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. As we head into the 2024 election, Trump has refused to accept the results if he doesn’t win and, even worse, threatened a “bloodbath” if he’s defeated.
Antisemitism: Trump vs. Biden: Donald Trump repeats antisemitic stereotypes and disparages the vast majority of Jewish Americans, accusing us of hating Israel and our religion because we will not support him. Too many Republicans echo Trump’s antisemitic canards, and nearly all remain silent as he continually targets the vast majority of Jewish Americans.
By contrast, in May 2023, the Biden Administration released the most ambitious and comprehensive National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism in U.S. history. The strategy mobilizes over two dozen federal agencies and contains over 100 specific, actionable steps to end this scourge of hate.
Recently, President Biden announced new actions that directly address campus antisemitism and strongly condemned incidents at Columbia University, calling them “antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous.” In May, President Biden said, “There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.”
The Economy: Trump vs. Biden: Remember four years ago when we were scrounging for toilet paper and 1 million of our friends and neighbors died? Thanks to Trumpnesia, many voters don’t. We cannot let anyone forget.
Trump’s economic legacy is defined both by his failure in leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic that exacerbated the financial downturn and his domestic policies benefiting only the wealthy. Trump was the first president to leave office with fewer jobs than when he entered since Herbert Hoover in the Great Depression.
President Biden has lowered the costs of everyday expenses by passing the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Act, resulting in 15 million new jobs–a record for any president in his first term. He has capped the cost of insulin. Unemployment is low, inflation is down, wages are up, and the stock market has hit record highs. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Biden economy is the “envy of the world”.
This election stands as an unprecedented moment of historic magnitude, transcending mere hyperbole. The stakes have never been higher, resonating profoundly with every individual across generations. For Jewish voters, pivotal concerns such as Israel’s security, defending reproductive rights, safeguarding democracy, combating antisemitism, and fortifying the economy delineate a stark dichotomy between the leadership of President Biden and the alternative.
Reelecting President Joe Biden emerges not just as a choice but as an imperative for the well-being of America and the Jewish community. His steadfast commitment to these critical issues underscores a pathway toward progress, unity, and resilience, ensuring a future that aligns with our shared values and aspirations.
Nanette Fridman is the Founder of Effect Collective, providing consulting, training, facilitation, and coaching to nonprofit and corporate clients. She is a community and political activist based in Newton, MA. Nanette is a member of the New Leadership Council of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
Jill Goldenberg is the President of Goldenberg Solutions Group, providing national nonprofit executives and teams with counsel to maximize their impact. She is a local and national political activist and serves on the Board of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and on the Core Leadership Team of Jewish Women for Joe.
