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American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt
Years ago, I went to a therapist who practiced Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — popularly known as ACT — which asks patients to interrogate what their values are, and whether their behaviors are aligned with those values. This therapist had me use a little matrix. In one block, I would write down what really mattered to me; it was then my responsibility to figure out the particular behavior or choice that would help me accomplish it.
For a while, I had that matrix pinned to my fridge. I have thought of it again while following the increasingly vocal concerns raised by some Jews about Hasan Piker, the leftist, anti-Zionist Twitch streamer whose presence on the campaign trail with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has caused great consternation.
Piker’s profile has been on the rise for some time, and his rhetoric about Israel in particular — which he has accused of advancing “Jewish supremacy” — has drawn allegations of antisemitism. But his appearances alongside El-Sayed, who has said he believes Israel’s government is as evil as Hamas, have brought particular scrutiny. El-Sayed’s opponents have seized on Piker’s presence to, essentially, accusing the candidate of not taking antisemitism seriously enough.
Rep. Haley Stevens said that Piker “is not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state.” State Sen. Mallory McMorrow said Piker is “not entirely different from somebody like Nick Fuentes,” a far-right Holocaust denier. The Anti-Defamation League has accused Piker of denigrating Jewish people, and its leader, Jonathan Greenblatt, has said El-Sayed’s decision to campaign with him reflects “the dangerous normalization of antisemitism in our politics.”
Some of this may be political opportunism. But I do not doubt that there are many American Jews who are sincerely concerned about the normalization of antisemitism, and who are worried that Piker’s increasing prominence plays into that trend. I would ask those American Jews: What is it that really matters to you in this situation, and what are the behaviors and choices that can help you achieve your goals?
A flawed strategy for fighting antisemitism
If pushing back against antisemitism is the top priority for our community, I suspect that writing Piker off as an antisemite with whom engagement simply can’t be countenanced will do more harm than good.
There are plenty of things that Piker has said that I, too, find offensive.
I agree with him that Hamas’s horrific actions on Oct. 7, 2023, including acts of sexual violence, don’t justify the slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. But I think saying that it “doesn’t matter” whether rape happened amid the Hamas attack, as Piker has, is a cruel and callous way of making that particular point.
And while anti-Zionism is not categorically antisemitism, I think that Piker’s statement that anyone who has exhibited “positive feelings about the state of Israel” should be barred from consideration from any position of import, including “the fucking local dog catcher,” runs the risk of creating a litmus test for Jewish participation in civic life. That’s a concern I hope people running to be elected officials in a pluralistic society take seriously.
But to say that Piker, whose fervent anti-Zionism can cross over into potentially damaging and derisive territory, is akin to Nick Fuentes — a Holocaust denier whose entire worldview is underpinned by the idea that Jews are evil and exploitative — is to make a claim that there is little evidence to support.
This distinction matters. Fuentes’ antisemitism is so extreme and all-encompassing that his fans and followers will never be allies to American Jews. There is little evidence to believe the same is true for Piker. To successfully fight antisemitism, American Jews need a broad base of allies. In that context, Piker’s audience — including nearly 3 million followers on the streaming platform Twitch — is one that it would be a mistake for us to wholly write off.
Many people who follow Piker may agree both with his condemnation of Israel’s government and his condemnation of the deadly attack on a 2025 hostage solidarity walk in Boulder, Colorado. Those people can help in the fight against American antisemitism — but not if we completely refuse to engage with them.
Building alliances on the left
If American Jews’ goal is to discourage antisemitism, and to encourage people to speak thoughtfully and empathetically about Jews, then treating Piker as someone too extreme to engage with risks sending a message that Jews don’t want allies on the left.
This echoes a problem that arose during last year’s New York City mayoral race. Some Jewish groups discounted now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s substantial efforts at Jewish outreach, instead focusing wholly on his criticism of Israel. In practice, that choice risked suggesting that there was no reason for Mamdani to bother trying to support New York Jews, because given his stance on Israel, no positive actions he could take would ever be enough.
Thankfully, Mamdani hasn’t stopped making an effort. There’s no guarantee, however, that others on the left will do the same.
There are other ways to approach the ACT matrix on this issue. But in all the ones I can think of, treating Piker as persona non grata seems like a poor strategy for success.
This is true, as well, if concerned American Jews decide that what really matters to them is the opportunity to push back on increasingly negative views of Israel in the United States. Trying to do that by punishing any public figures who associate with Piker is unlikely to pay off. Negative views of Israel have risen since 2022, particularly among Democrats. In that time period, many American Jews have tried to call criticism of Israel antisemitic; the trends have nevertheless continued.
Is blaming or trying to silence or sideline people who speak critically of Israel the thing that’s going to get people to change their minds? That former therapist taught me to think more clearly about the connections between my actions and what I wanted. It was sometimes an uncomfortable experience; change often is. Piker’s popularity is one of the many signs that there is no going back to a past U.S. in which Jews could assume non-Jews (or even other Jews) supported Israel or Zionism. Given that reality, we will need to think about how to bring ourselves closer to the country we want to live in — without ignoring the practical realities of the country we have now.
The post American Jews have a Hasan Piker problem. Solving it is going to hurt appeared first on The Forward.
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Trump Safe After Being Rushed from White House Correspondents Dinner, Shooter in Custody
U.S. President Donald Trump is escorted out as a shooter opens fire during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026, in this screen capture from video. REUTERS/Bo Erickson
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner by Secret Service agents on Saturday night after a man armed with a shotgun tried to breach security, officials said.
A man armed with a shotgun fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told Reuters. The agent was hit in an area covered by protective gear and not harmed, the official said.
All federal officials, including Trump, were safe. About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”
“Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump added.
Shortly afterwards, he posted, “The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition.” He said he would be holding a White House press conference on Saturday night.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the service was investigating a shooting near the main screening area at the entrance to the event.
After the sound of shots, dinner attendees immediately stopped talking and people started screaming “Get down, get down!”
Hundreds of guests dove under the tables as Secret Service officers in combat gear ran into the dining room. Trump and the first lady had bent down behind the dais before being hustled out by Secret Service officers.
Many of the 2,600 attendees took cover while waiters fled to the front of the dining hall.
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Trump Cancels Envoys’ Pakistan Trip, in Blow to Hopes for Iran War Breakthrough
US President Donald Trump speaks on the day he honors reigning Major League Soccer (MLS) champion Inter Miami CF players and team officials with an event in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, March 5, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
President Donald Trump canceled a trip by two US envoys to Iran war mediator Pakistan on Saturday, dealing a new setback to peace prospects after Iran’s foreign minister departed Islamabad after speaking only to Pakistani officials.
While peace talks failed to materialize Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to “forcefully” attack Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, his office said, further testing a three-week ceasefire.
Trump told reporters in Florida that he decided to call off the planned visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense, and Iran’s latest peace offer was not good enough for him.
Before boarding Air Force One on Saturday for a return flight to Washington, Trump said Iran had improved an offer to resolve the conflict after he canceled the visit, “but not enough.”
In a social media post, Trump also wrote there was “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Iran’s leadership.
“Nobody knows who is in charge, including them. Also, we have all the cards, they have none! If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!” he posted on Truth Social.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi earlier left the Pakistani capital without any sign of a breakthrough in talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials.
Araqchi later described his visit to Pakistan as “very fruitful,” adding in a social media post that he had “shared Iran’s position concerning (a) workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran. Have yet to see if the U.S. is truly serious about diplomacy”.
Iranian media reported that Araqchi had flown to Oman’s capital Muscat, saying he will meet with senior officials to “discuss and exchange views on bilateral relations and regional developments”.
Sharif wrote in a post on X that he spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian about the regional security situation and told him that Pakistan was committed to serving “as an honest and sincere facilitator — working tirelessly to advance durable peace and lasting stability.”
Tehran has ruled out a new round of direct talks with the United States and an Iranian diplomatic source said his country would not accept Washington’s “maximalist demands.”
IRAN AND US AT AN IMPASSE
Washington and Tehran are at an impasse as Iran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, while the US blocks Iran’s oil exports.
The conflict, in which a ceasefire is in force, began with US-Israeli airstrikes on Iran on February 28. Iran has since carried out strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states, and the war has pushed up energy prices to multi-year highs, stoking inflation and darkening global growth prospects.
Araqchi “explained our country’s principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran,” said a statement on the minister’s official Telegram account.
Asked about Tehran’s reservations over US positions in the talks, an Iranian diplomatic source in Islamabad told Reuters: “Principally, Iranian side will not accept maximalist demands.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had said the US had seen some progress from the Iranian side in recent days and hoped more would come over the weekend, while Vice President JD Vance was ready to travel to Pakistan as well.
Vance led a first round of unsuccessful talks with Iran in Islamabad earlier this month.
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Hezbollah Says Ceasefire ‘Meaningless’ as Fighting Continues in South
Israeli military vehicles and soldiers in a village in southern Lebanon as the Israeli army operates in it as seen from the Israeli side of the border, April 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ayal Margolin
Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone.
US President Donald Trump announced the three-week extension on Thursday after hosting Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors at the White House. The ceasefire agreement between the governments of Lebanon and Israel had been due to expire on Sunday.
While the ceasefire has led to a significant reduction in hostilities, Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have continued to trade blows in southern Lebanon, where Israel has kept soldiers in a self-declared “buffer zone.”
Responding to the extension, Hezbollah lawmaker Ali Fayyad said “it is essential to point out that the ceasefire is meaningless in light of Israel’s insistence on hostile acts, including assassinations, shelling, and gunfire” and its demolition of villages and towns in the south.
“Every Israeli attack… gives the resistance the right to a proportionate response,” he added.
Hezbollah is not a party to the ceasefire agreement, and has strongly objected to Lebanon’s face-to-face contacts with Israel.
BUFFER ZONE
The April 16 agreement does not require Israeli troops to withdraw from the belt of southern Lebanon seized during the war. The zone extends 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 miles) into Lebanon.
Israel says the buffer zone aims to protect northern Israel from attacks by Hezbollah, which fired hundreds of rockets at Israel during the war.
Hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel reignited on March 2, when the group opened fire in support of Iran in the regional war. The ceasefire in Lebanon emerged separately from Washington’s efforts to resolve its conflict with Tehran, though Iran had called for Lebanon to be included in any broader truce.
Nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry says.
ISRAELI MILITARY WARNS RESIDENTS TO LEAVE TOWN
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the southern village of Touline on Friday.
Hezbollah shot down an Israeli drone, the group and the Israeli military said. Hezbollah identified it as a Hermes 450 and said it had downed it with a surface-to-air missile.
An Israeli drone was heard circling above Beirut throughout the day on Friday, Reuters reporters said.
The Israeli military warned residents of the southern town of Deir Aames to leave their homes immediately, saying it planned to act against “Hezbollah activities” there.
Deir Aames is located north of the area occupied by Israeli forces, and it was the first time Israel had issued such a warning since the ceasefire came into force on April 16. Posted on social media, the Israeli warning gave no details of the activities it said Hezbollah was conducting in the town.
The Israeli military also said it had intercepted a drone prior to its crossing into Israeli territory, and that sirens were sounded in line with protocol.
WAR-WEARY RESIDENTS SEEK END TO FIGHTING
The continued fighting has angered war-weary Lebanese, who say they want to see a genuine ceasefire put a full halt to violence.
“What’s this? Is this called a ceasefire? Or is this mocking (people’s) intelligence?” said Naem Saleh, a 73-year-old owner of a newsstand in Beirut.
Residents of northern Israel had mostly returned to daily life, but expressed pessimism about the longevity of the ceasefire with Lebanon.
“I believe that the ceasefire is so fragile, and unfortunately it won’t stand long, in my opinion,” said Eliad Eini, a resident of Nahariya, which lies just 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed at least five people in the south, including a journalist.
Israel’s Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter, in his opening remarks at Thursday’s talks, said “Lebanon should acknowledge the temporary presence of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the right of Israel to defend itself from a hostile force that is firing on the population.”
Lebanon’s Ambassador to the United States Nada Moawad, in a written statement sent to Reuters, called for the ceasefire to be fully respected and said it would allow the necessary conditions for meaningful negotiations.
Lebanon has said it aims to secure the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from its territory in broader talks with Israel at a later stage.
Trump said on Thursday that he looked forward to hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in the near future, and said there was “a great chance” the two countries would reach a peace agreement this year.
Hezbollah attacks killed two civilians in Israel after March 2, while 15 Israeli soldiers have died in Lebanon since then, Israel says.