My Fellow Conservatives: We, Too, Have an Antisemitism Problem | Opinion

It's been two weeks since hordes of Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, entering the homes of Israeli civilians and slaughtering innocent men, women, and children. Only two weeks since the greatest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, and already, many people seem ready to move on. With every passing day, the horror and brutality of October 7 recedes from the general consciousness, while rallies for a "cease-fire" abound, with millions across the globe denying Israel the right to prevent another such massacre.

The message is clear: For too many people, Jewish lives just don't matter.

It's why so many people, in video after video, can bring themselves to take the heinous step of ripping down signs with pictures of children being held hostage in Gaza; to them, the Jew is an Untermensch, and they cannot allow something to exist that might humanize Jews and, Heaven forbid, allow people to identify with their plight.

It's why "misinformation" is the death of democracy—unless you can just run with the daily fictions handed to you by the very terror organization that killed over 1,400 Jews.

It's why "Silence is violence"—unless you can't speak out unequivocally about a mass murder which would be the per capita equivalent of 60,000 American lives in a single day.

But it's not just on the Left. Anyone paying attention will have seen too many in the America First camp who suddenly dropped their central political philosophy when the Americans killed and being held hostage are Jewish. The sad truth is that even our allies who have traditionally stood by our side now seem much more focused on their own narrow interests and how they can be applied here than on the simple fact that 1,400 Jews were butchered on a single day for the crime of being Jewish.

On the Left, there is an outright refusal to denounce the torture, murder, and kidnappings of innocent civilians for the crime of being Jews. Yet in some corners of the Right, I've been dismayed to discover an invisible line to supporting Israel—and that line is when there might be some personal cost involved.

I've been shocked by the inaction, indifference, and even denial on the part of significant figures on the Right when it comes to the events of October 7. For example, a Turning Point USA ambassador sought to cast doubt about the horrors of October 7, perpetuating modern-day Holocaust denial. Tim Pool alleged a picture of burnt Jewish babies "might just be AI," while his staff has continuously denied the barbaric actions of Hamas.

Even Tucker Carlson has been demagoguing the Israeli response like a pyromaniac in a field of straw men, demanding that we stop a ground invasion because, in his mind, it can only end with an American invasion of Iran, which is really the neocon plan... or something? Just two days after the slaughter of over 1,000 Jews, Carlson downplayed the brutality; his denunciation amounted to proclaiming it a "crime" to "shoot people at music festivals." He called Nikki Haley's full-throated defense of Israel and call to "finish" Hamas "the tantrum of a child—ignorant, cocksure, bloodthirsty." And as he wrapped up the episode, which featured presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as a guest, the two of them agreed that the only reason why these "neocons" aren't putting American interests first "comes down to money."

That's not a dog whistle, it's a foghorn.

These are significant names on the Right when it comes to following and influence. And from all of them and too many more, there has been a decided lack of moral clarity and a refusal to simply stand against Jew hate in its most bloody, brutal form.

To be clear, there is no comparison between Democrat members of Congress actively propagating a modern-day blood libel, explicitly insisting Israel unilaterally disengage while Hamas is allowed to remain in place—and the softer antisemitism of the Right, characterized by inaction, indifference, and denial on the part of less powerful but still noteworthy figures with significant reach within the conservative movement.

And yet, conservatives who wish to point out the genuine and dangerous antisemitism of the Left cannot do so credibly if we are blind to it when it comes from within our own house.

Unfortunately, for too many conservative influencers, what happened in Israel might seem like a game. But it is real to us. And for people like me who grew up on the laps of survivors of the Holocaust, those horrors are not just ancient history. They are a real part of our lives.

My own father had four siblings he never knew, all killed by the Nazis in 1944. How could the world have reached a point where that could happen? Now, after decades of wondering, I can finally understand.

I have a grandmother, herself a survivor, who I try to visit whenever possible. Some years ago, she sat with her great-grandchildren and told the stories of her survival—stories which seemed almost fantastical to me until now. She was a child during those years, and a non-Jewish family hid her when her family was rounded up and her mother and older sister ultimately killed. The family that hid her did so at great personal cost; if they had been found out, they would have certainly been killed.

I'm not asking for that level of sacrifice. I'm just asking you to recognize that truly caring about Jews means not abandoning us the second there is a bit of difficulty.

Is it really too much to ask?

Eli Steinberg lives in New Jersey. You can tweet the hottest of your takes at him @HaMeturgeman.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.