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The Democratic Majority for Israel called out Nancy Kaufman, seen in January 2019, then retracted its tweet while acknowledging its error following a maelstrom of outraged calls by liberal Jewish groups. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
JTA Tensions among Jewish groups allied with the Biden administration blew into the open this week when a Democratic, pro-Israel group briefly called a longtime Jewish leader an enabler of antisemitism a sign of how potent a debate over a definition of antisemitism has become.
Nancy Kaufman led Boston’s Jewish Community Relations Council for 20 years, from 1990 to 2010. She has also led the National Council for Jewish Women. Many progressive Jewish leaders have said she would be a good choice for US President Joe Biden’s antisemitism monitor, a position she has said interests her.
Democratic pro-Israel group exposes rift among liberals over anti-Semitism envoy
In a now-deleted tweet, the Democratic Majority for Israel wrote that Nancy Kaufman, the former head of the National Council for Jewish Women, has too often “enabled, rather than battled, anti-Semitism.”
Nancy Kaufman, former CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, speaks at women s march in New York at Central Park West in 2018. Credit: Lev Radin/Shutterstock.
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(May 6, 2021 / JNS) A Democratic pro-Israel group exposed a rift among liberals over who should be the Biden administration’s choice for the next anti-Semitism envoy.
In a now-deleted tweet earlier this week, the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) wrote on Twitter that Nancy Kaufman, the former head of the National Council for Jewish Women, has too often “enabled, rather than battled, anti-Semitism.”
The IHRA then appended examples as “illustrations”, with which to guide its work. These have never been part of the official IHRA definition.
These examples focus largely on the idea that any criticism of Israel is antisemitic. This would make recent publications by Jewish Zionist writers and Israeli human rights organisations “antisemitic”.
For example, Peter Beinart, a prominent liberal Zionist, recently published an article in
The New York Times titled: “I no longer believe in a Jewish state”. The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem issued a paper in January that declared Israel to be an apartheid state.
The IHRA definition is innocuous, but it is imprecise and useless for legal purposes. Indeed, one of its authors, Kenneth Stern, has strongly criticised its weaponisation to suppress the free speech of Palestinians.
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Photo artwork by Arthur Schreibman
American Jewish organizations should avoid the hyper-partisanship sweeping our country and instead articulate clear-eyed, balanced, objective assessment of our government’s performance. They should applaud sensible actions while also voicing criticism of troublesome decisions. They should judiciously avoid political bias knowing that their opinions telegraph to American leadership important perspectives about domestic and international policies affecting Jews, Israel and the nation at large.
A Democratic pro-Israel group calls a longtime Jewish leader an enabler of antisemitism, exposing a fault line in the party May 5, 2021 11:10 am The Democratic Majority for Israel called out Nancy Kaufman, seen in January 2019, then retracted its tweet while acknowledging its error following a maelstrom of outraged calls by liberal Jewish groups. (Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images)
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(JTA) Tensions among Jewish groups allied with the Biden administration blew into the open this week when a Democratic pro-Israel group briefly called a longtime Jewish leader an enabler of antisemitism a sign of how potent a debate over a definition of antisemitism has become.