By
Larry Laibson

Introduction
Historically, Jews have been Liberal and in the U.S. associated with the Democrat Party. Other than Blacks, Jews historically have lopsidedly voted Democratic. Why? What is the Jewish political perspective? Is it changing? How has the U.S. Israel relationship, especially under President Obama and the current Iran Nuclear Deal, affected the Jewish voter? Are the Demographics changing for the 2016 Elections?

I am a Conservative Jew. Until 2000, I had generally voted for the candidate and his/her positions with economy, foreign policy, national security, America’s Exceptionalism, Constitution, and Equal Opportunity for All being predominant factors. Social issues were certainly important factors. I voted for President Clinton for his second term but became a committed Republican since that time as the Democratic Party continued its migration further to the Left.
Many have asked me “Why are Jews Liberal and why have they historically supported the Democrat Party?”

This has always been a difficult question and I have personally found that many Jews when questioned will show many of the same “conservative” values that I have, but portray other characteristics that have kept them “left of center”. Some, who voted for Obama in 2008, are unhappy with the results but still will vote for a self-proclaimed socialist, Bernie Sanders, or Hillary Clinton who served under Obama and will carry out his policies (or Biden if he enters the race).

In this paper, I will address this question based on relative historical and current perspectives from both noted Jewish writers and my personal understandings and observations.
I’ve broken this paper into two parts. Part 1 will address the Jewish Political Perspective through the eyes of history of our forefathers who migrated to America and succeeding generations. Part II will address where we are today in the wind down of the Obama Administration, the Iran Nuclear Deal and the 2016 Elections.

Historical Perspective
To understand the historical Jewish perspective, we need to understand the historical differences of “Left” and “Right” Politics.
“Far Left” of “Liberals” seek equality of outcome, dismantlement of all forms of social stratification, abolishment of all forms of hierarchy, distribution of wealth; equal economic/social opportunities and outcomes. Examples are Communism, Socialism, Black Panthers, SDS, Progressivism and Nazis (German National Socialist Party). (it is ironic that, as will be discussed later in this paper, some liberal Jews see “Nazis” as “Far Right” and thus a reason to support the Democratic Party and even their self-avowed Socialist candidate Bernie Sanders.)

“Far Right” or “Conservatives” seek freedom of the individual with very little government control, Capitalism, Liberalism, Constitutionalism and KKK.

The extreme on the Left would be “Totalitarianism” while the extreme on the Right would be “Anarchy.”

Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state holds total control over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible. Hitler and Stalin certainly immediately come to mind as progressing in this direction.

Anarchy is a state of society without government or law.
Remember Benjamin Franklin’s statement “We are a Republic, not a Democracy, if we can keep it.” A Democracy is government by the people where the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents; i.e. in the extreme it would be “no government”. This was clearly addressed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

As a general statement, I suggest that Liberals see America through the lens of “injustice and oppression in the economic, social and political worlds” while Conservatives see a “Nation shaped by tradition principles and institutions that have offered freedoms and prosperity to more citizen than any society in history.”

If you look at the Jewish faith and the Torah, the traditional values lean more Right and in line with the Republicans. Obviously from historic Jewish voting support for the Left and Democrats, there is an obvious disconnect between Politics and Religion. Some Jewish writers have postured that there are two types of Jews…those who believe Judaism is social justice and those who know Hebrew.
Much of this can be traced to Jewish history.

Jews have felt like outsiders for three millennia. They have felt wealth for a relative brief time. They have had feelings of estrangement as a natural human condition.

Over the last 150+ years in Europe and Russia, anti-Semitism reached the crescendo of WWII and the Nazi Holocaust with the Diaspora of Jews to America, Israel and elsewhere to escape these ravages.
Jews have an inherited memories of a Europe in which significant numbers associate anti-Semitism and Nazism with the Far Right and emancipation from the Left. Why?

Generally in Europe and Russia in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Jews were Socialists even through the concurrent extremes of anti-Semitism increased under the rise of Marxism and Communism starting in the late 1800s, accelerating in 1920s and culminating in the atrocities of the German National Socialist Party, the Nazis, in WWII.

Again, why do Liberal Jews (and other hard core Leftist Democrats like Hillary Clinton) ignore these facts and consider Nazis, German National Socialist Party, to be Far Right? Hillary Clinton called the GOP Nazi’s last week ignoring the fact that her Democrat opposition, Bernie Sanders, was a Socialist and she was courting his supporters.
Massive Jewish migration to the United States from these areas occurred during this period. Throughout the 1900s, there was significant anti-Semitism .Republicans were considered ‘white shoe’ as opposed to members of the ‘union class,’ so to speak, and were exclusive. Jews were the object of their prejudices and were barred from country clubs, corporations, Ivy League Schools and various professions, most particularly in the medical field.

My grandparents escaped Russia and Poland in the early 1900’s. There are very limited descriptions of their life in the old country but all wanted to start new with the freedoms that America offered. My wife’s father and grandmother escaped from Hungry. Again, their hardship was never clearly articulated but they came to American to escape the anti-Semitic hardships there.

Anti-Semitism followed them and their succeeding generations to America though certainly not to the same level as the “old country.” Grandpa worked in the garment district in NYC and became a union leader and likely had socialist feelings as are so prevalent in today’s Democratic Party. Through the 1900s anti-Semitism existed both abroad and in the United States and while great strides have been made, still exists today across the United States and Europe.

Jewish loyalty to the Democratic Party certainly intensified after WWII when the most lethal enemy in Jewish history was ultimately destroyed by an alliance led by a liberal Democrat, President Roosevelt, who also brought forth vast social programs that fit the Jewish social philosophies.
How does the Jewish religion fit into the today’s Liberal versus Conservative discussion?
There are interesting dichotomies between the degree of Liberalism and Religion of today’s Jew. The principles of the Democrat Party and its liberalism are generally against the teachings of the Torah and the Orthodox Jews tend to be Conservative, on the Right, Republican and most supportive of Israel.

Jews today are the least religious community in the United States. According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, only 16% of Jews attend religious services at least once a week compared with 39% of Americans generally. Just 31% say religion is “very important” in their lives vs 56% of Americans

Looking at the Jewish Community, one can see the range of religious beliefs, adherence and attendance at Synagogues. Very religious or Orthodox Jews are very strong adherents to the teachings of the Torah and attend Synagogue regularly. On the other extreme, the last century saw the birth and growth of Reform Judaism which, while following the traditions of Judaism, is much more secular in beliefs and characterized by reduced Synagogue attendance. In-between of course are Conservative Jews.

The majority of Jews have supported the liberal, Democratic Party with a slow but increasing movement of “Jews coming out of the closet” and moving to the GOP as evidenced by the increased strong and vocal groups which have emerged and grown with increased influence, over the last 10-15 years. These include the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Christians United for Israel (CUFI) and Evangelical groups such as John Hagee Ministries. AIPAC consists of both Jewish Democrats and Republicans who strongly support Israel. CUFI, has both Christian and Jewish leadership and members with over 2 million members. John Hagee’s Ministries has about 40,000 members and a large following on his TV broadcasts. All four of these organizations are strong Israel supporters.

Why do Liberal Jews so strongly condemn the GOP and Conservative Right for religious reasons? Why was a counter Jewish group, J Street, started by a far left Jewish liberal, George Siros?

I’ll discuss these questions later in this paper.

Liberal Jews
Liberal Jews beliefs can be summarized by the following:
1. Social justice can be achieved through leftist policies
2. Nazis were National socialism but Liberal Jews regard them as Far Right
3. Liberals fear religion due to anti-Semitism
4. Substitute liberalism, socialism feminism, environmentalism for Judaism
5. Fear Nationalism… seeds of the Holocaust

There are general characteristics that represent Liberal Jews as postured by Jewish writers/commentators Norman Podhoretz, Michael Medved, Dennis Prager and other writers:
Norman Podhoretz wrote in his book “Why Are Jews Liberal”, “It is the historical experience of the Jewish people that turned them into liberals”. Liberals tended to favor Jewish emancipation and equality, while conservatives preferred the old status quo that kept Jews restricted and confined.

Michael Medved wrote that, tying back to long history of anti-Semitism, “Jews fear the GOP as the “Christian Party: so reject Republicans and conservatism.”

Denis Prager “Judaism, like every great religion, is essentially conservative: Judaism demands obedience to a judging God and to a moral code set forth thousands of years ago. That is why the more orthodox a Jew is religiously, the less likely he is to be a liberal politically; and the more likely he is to vote Republican………both the Jews’ fears and the blacks’ anger are a result of their respective collective memories. The Jewish memory in question is of Christian anti-Semitism and the Nazi Holocaust. Even Jews who know little about either Jewish or Christian history know by high school age that for nearly 2,000 years, Jewish communities suffered from anti-Semitic persecution at the hands of Christians, that Christians massacred Jews during the Crusades, that there was a Spanish Inquisition, and that the Holocaust came from Nazism, a far-right doctrine. Because of this deeply ingrained memory associating Jewish suffering with Christianity and the far right, most Jews have a primal fear of Christianity (and even of religion generally, including Judaism) and of conservatives. Jews therefore vote for the party that opposes the party associated with anything even remotely connected with public religion or the right.”

Other generalities regarding the question of why Jews are Liberal can be captured by the following general statements which have been extracted from other writings of the aforementioned commentators:
– Conservatism has long historic ties to anti-Semitism. Jews reflexively recoil from it; “The Torah of Liberalism.”
-Jews do not vote their self-interests….they vote their self-conception….they identify with those who see themselves as on the margins: Blacks, immigrants, minority interest groups, gays, labor, unions, etc.
-Jews have consistently supported increased government spending, expanded benefits to the poor and lower classes, greater regulation on business and power of organized labor. Newer issues are abortions, gay rights, school prayer, and gun control.
-“Liberalism supersedes Judaism and has become a religion on its own….Being a Good Jew is being a good liberal….Liberalism leads to a popular commitment to equality, tolerance and social justice.”
-The liberal belief that Jews should be pro-choice and pro- gay marriage has nothing to do with connection to Jewish tradition (these are not supported by the Torah) and everything to do with disassociating from Christian conservatives.
-“Catholic and evangelical attempts to “impose” their values on social issues represent a theocratic threat to American pluralism that has allowed Judaism to thrive.”

Jewish Voting Statistics
Let’s look at some statistics of the Jewish voter, which as indicated earlier in this paper, has been the most consistent supporter of the Democrats second only to the Blacks for more than 50 years.
Jews have consistently supported increased government spending, expanded benefits to the poor and lower classes, greater regulation on business and power of organized labor…..newer issues are abortions, gay rights, school prayer, and gun control
Since 1928, Jews supported the Democrats by 75% average….highest of all groups. Let’s look at the Jewish vote in the last 5 Presidential elections. One can see a constant level of support for the Democrat candidate including the 2008 election and then a significant drop of 9% between 2008 and 2012

1992 Clinton 80%
1996 Clinton 78%
2000 Gore 79%
2004 Kerry 76%
2008 Obama 78%
2012 Obama 69%

I don’t have the statistics readily handy but a similar trend occurred for Black voters with Obama’s approximate 95% support in 2008 eroded by about 15% in 2012.

Blacks now vote overwhelmingly Democratic having long since abandoned the politics of the Republican past. Jews in the United States, meanwhile, still largely vote the way their parents and grandparents did. It is noted that this Jewish plurality does not exist abroad where the Jewish vote is more normally distributed among the political Left and Right.

Summary:
Jews in America historically have supported the Democrat Party in very high percentages (70-80%) not seen in other Countries where their support is more evenly divided between the Left and Right Parties.

Jewish Religion and the Torah is more “Right” than “Left” with the correlation of degree of religious adherence similarly correlated; i.e. Orthodox Jews more strongly support the GOP and Israel.
Jewish history has been characterized by anti-Semitism through the millennia with this facilitating the migration of so many Jews to America. Jews in the “old country” were generally socialists and brought this with them to America. Anti-Semitism in America was associated with wealth Christians. A Democrat, President Roosevelt, was responsible for the destruction of their most severe enemy, Hitler and the Nazis.

Since Jews have been subjected over history by religious and ethnic persecution, they are justifiably leery of anything that threatens them.

In America, the answer to the Jew had been a turn away from the Far Right, which they associated with anti-Semitism and Nazism. Again, “Socialism” is Left and the logic of Nazis, the German National Socialist Party, being considered by Liberal Jews, to be “Far Right” totally escapes me.

Liberal Jews, fear that a large part of the Republican Party’s social message has been identified with extremist thinking when it comes to religion, abortion etc. and the Jews prefer the pursuit of Liberalism: “war is not needed, crime is caused by guns, humanities biggest problem is global warming, compassion can be achieved by passing the right laws and big government can create prosperity and that healing the world can be achieved.”