Over 100 Jewish leaders and officials offer ‘enthusiastic’ support for Biden
‘We bring this spirit of unity to our endeavor in the hope that we can help solidify the progressive coalition that is needed to face the challenges of combatting antisemitism and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’
Gage Skidmore
More than 100 Jewish American community leaders and former national security officials leaders have signed onto a joint letter of support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
In a letter sent to the former vice president and his foreign policy advisors and obtained by Jewish Insider, the group accuses President Donald Trump of “fanning the flames of hatred, extremism, and antisemitism” and converting “legitimate concerns about antisemitism into political weapons designed to create rifts within our own community.”
Citing Biden’s plea last month at the Democratic National Convention to “choose hope over fear,” the group declares, “Those words sum up why we look forward to the day that you will be inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States… We know that, under your leadership, these divisive and dangerous efforts will ultimately fail because there is far more that unites us as Americans than divides us. We stand ready to support your administration’s agenda of social uplift and national healing. We are with you, we believe in you, and we enthusiastically support you.”
The signatories say they plan to offer the Democratic nominee “specific policy recommendations to address the challenges related to the nexus of Israel and antisemitism” in the coming months.
Former National Security Advisor and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who was rumored to be on Biden’s shortlist for vice president, told JI she welcomes “this timely and important letter from such a distinguished group of American Jewish leaders who understand clearly why Joe Biden is the leader we so badly need to heal and unite America while standing up for U.S. interests and values overseas.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, a surrogate and advisor to the Biden campaign, added that this group “clearly believes that politicizing antisemitism does an injustice to the Jewish people and to all Americans and does nothing to help us advance the cause of peace.”