The Christian Evangelical community responded with unusual speed to recent remarks by US Vice President JD Vance – before the Jewish community even had the opportunity to formally organize a response. That sequence matters. It reflects how unmistakable the danger was to those who recognize antisemitism early, even when it is carefully repackaged as intellectual skepticism or foreign-policy debate.
In a recent interview with UnHerd, Vance dismissed concerns that growing skepticism toward Israel reflects a broader rise in antisemitism, framing it instead as a legitimate debate over the US-Israel alliance. In another era, such framing might have been plausible. Today, it is profoundly disconnected from reality.
This is not an abstract conversation. Antisemitic rhetoric is no longer confined to opinion columns or online echo chambers. Words have translated into physical action.
Antisemitism in action
Jewish students are being harassed, assaulted, and intimidated on American college campuses. Orthodox Jews have been beaten in the streets of Brooklyn. An Orthodox Jew was stabbed during Hanukkah. On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews were murdered in Australia in an act of antisemitic violence that shocked the world. These are not metaphors. They are facts.
To describe the current climate as a mere “policy debate” is to ignore what Jews are experiencing in real time. Antisemitism today is not theoretical – it is kinetic. It moves from rhetoric to fists, from slogans to knives. Any political leader who cannot see this is not exercising nuance; he is demonstrating dangerous blindness.
Antisemitism has never announced itself honestly. It evolves. It disguises itself as “just asking questions,” “anti-globalism,” or “non-interventionism.” History teaches that it often gains legitimacy not through explicit endorsement but through minimization and excuse by those in power. When leaders blur the line between legitimate debate and the normalization of antisemitic actors, they provide cover for violence downstream.
That is what makes Vance’s posture so troubling. By insisting that what we are witnessing is simply skepticism toward Israel, he ignores the ecosystem in which that skepticism is being weaponized.
The responsibility of leadership
Leadership is not measured solely by personal statements. It is measured by judgment – by whom leaders elevate, tolerate, or bring close to power. In that context, the presence of individuals associated with openly antisemitic narratives in the political orbit is not a minor staffing choice. It is, to many, a red blinking warning light. To others, it feels like a siren blaring at full volume.
The swift response from Evangelical leaders underscores this point. Many of them understand that antisemitism, once normalized, never confines itself to Jews. They recognize that support for Israel is not only strategic but moral.
Vance should understand that this moment is not only a moral test – it is a political one. History is unforgiving to leaders who believe they can flirt with extremism, excuse bigotry, or dismiss communal fear without consequence.
In that sense, Vance is digging his own political grave. Not because Jews reject debate, and not because criticism of Israel is forbidden. He is doing so because he is aligning himself with a worldview that consistently underestimates the danger of antisemitism and overestimates the public’s tolerance for leaders who excuse it.
The United States has long recognized that antisemitism is not merely a Jewish issue – it is a civilizational warning sign. When antisemitism rises, democratic norms erode.
This is not a call to silence critics of Israel. It is a demand for honesty. Criticizing Israeli policy is not antisemitic. Normalizing antisemitic actors, minimizing their influence, and dismissing real-world violence as “debate” is.
History will remember this moment. It will remember who recognized the warning signs – and who dismissed a blaring siren as background noise.
The writer is founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce.