US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are seen before a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2024. Photo: Craig Hudson/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

The Democratic Party once stood for pragmatic governance, principled coalition-building, and evidence-driven discourse. Today, it increasingly leans on emotional sloganeering, ideological purity tests, and performative outrage — undermining its own agenda and fracturing the national dialogue.

As a newly moderate-centrist who left the Democratic Party, and as a Jewish, Israeli-American and LGBT activist committed to democracy and societal cohesion, I watch with growing concern as my former political home drifts further from practical leadership and intellectual honesty.

Rather than condemning the hijacking of progressive causes by radical ideologies, Democratic leaders remain silent — or worse, complicit — by embracing coalitions that tolerate or promote anti-Jewish rhetoric.

Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and other members of “The Squad” have not just vocally supported Palestinian causes, but often echoed rhetoric that delegitimizes Israel and veers into antisemitism.

For example, Ocasio-Cortez stated she agreed “10,000%” with the claim that the Abraham Accords “directly led” to the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023. She and her allies have also objected to Democratic leadership decisions that exclude pro-Hamas and extremist pro-Palestinian speakers from party events, demanding more space for anti-Israel narratives.

A distorted political framework now prevails, reducing complex geopolitical realities into binary moral narratives and blaming Jews and Israelis without nuance. This approach not only sabotages democratic discourse — it puts lives at risk.

According to FBI data, American Jews — only 2.4% of the population — are victims of more than half of all religion-based hate crimes. Yet leading Democrats frequently delay or dilute their condemnation of such hate unless it fits partisan or ideological interests. This inconsistency alienates Jewish communities and erodes trust.

The targeting of Jews within progressive movements has escalated dangerously. In June 2024, multiple Gay Pride events across the US disinvited Jewish and Israeli LGBTQ+ groups, citing vague “community safety” concerns.

That trend worsened in 2025: Jews, Israelis, Zionists, and those vocally supporting Israel were again disinvited or excluded from Pride, and many others decided not to participate out of fear due to warnings from the FBI and recent anti-Jewish terror attacks in the US. Many Jewish attendees feared even showing up. I have witnessed this firsthand as an activist, and have documented it in multiple publications, including:

• “LGBTQ Activists Must Not Support Islamist Terror” (Middle East Forum)  
• “Antisemitism in North America: Unmasking Hate in the Guise of Activism” (Algemeiner) 
• “The Hypocrisy of the Dyke March” (JNS) 
• “I am a Jewish Progressive. Will I vote blue?” (The Hill)  

At the 2024 Pride March in Washington, D.C., I and members of my group were physically assaulted in an anti-Jewish hate crime.

In 2025, during the World Pride March in D.C., we were verbally taunted and harassed merely for showing up as proud Jewish Zionists. These weren’t isolated incidents — they reflect a broader problem ignored by Democratic leadership.

Meanwhile, Democratic rhetoric surrounding immigration and law enforcement further exposes the party’s incoherence. President Biden’s administration continued deportations in significant numbers — ICE removed nearly 142,000 individuals in FY 2023. And this isn’t new. Hillary Clinton herself said during her 2016 campaign, “If they’ve committed a crime, deport them.”

So why are today’s Democrats staging protests against policies they once endorsed? Why conflate ICE with ethnic persecution while ignoring actual authoritarianism abroad? Because opposition to Trump has become their organizing principle. Facts no longer matter. Policy consistency has vanished.

This reflexive posture damages their own agenda. When Republicans uphold or improve upon policies Democrats previously advocated, Democrats refuse to engage — not because the policy is wrong, but because Trump is involved. It’s a form of partisan absolutism that undermines national cohesion and forfeits opportunities for pragmatic progress.

A striking example of this inconsistency can be seen in the Democrats’ shifting stance on Iran. In June 2025, the US launched coordinated strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — crippling Tehran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities.

For more than a decade, prominent Democratic leaders — including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris — have asserted that Iran must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, and that military force should remain on the table.

Then-Senator Hillary Clinton said in 2008 that the US could “totally obliterate” Iran if it developed or dared to use nuclear weapons against Israel or any other state. Vice President Kamala Harris reiterated in October 2024 that she “will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon” and would “take whatever action is necessary” to defend American interests and allies. Yet now, when the Trump administration has finally taken the very action Democrats previously promised, many of those same voices condemn it. Why are Democrats now vilifying the fulfillment of a policy they long championed? Is the issue the policy itself — or simply the president who enacted it?

A Jewish Electorate Institute poll in 2024 showed increasing concern among Jewish voters that Democrats are not adequately addressing antisemitism. The result? A shift. More Jewish voters — and socially liberal, but politically centrist individuals like myself — are rethinking their alignment. While no party is perfect, the Republican Party increasingly speaks with clarity against antisemitism, supports Israel unapologetically, and acts in accordance with legal norms.

If the Democrats wish to regain moral and political traction, they must:

1. Stop importing foreign conflicts into domestic protests. Palestinian flags belong in debates about the Middle East, not in ICE demonstrations or Pride parades.
2. Publicly and consistently condemn antisemitism — even when it comes from within their own coalitions.
3. Refocus on fact-based policymaking, not reactionary theatrics.
4. Recognize overlapping policy goals and cooperate across party lines when appropriate.
5. Welcome Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist voices, rather than scapegoating or excluding them from progressive spaces.

Unity requires courage. Democrats must choose between being a party of democratic pluralism — or one of ideological gatekeeping and double standards.

Yuval David is an Emmy and Multi-Award-Winning Actor, Filmmaker, Journalist, and Jewish LGBTQ+ activist and advisor. A creative and compelling storyteller, on stage and screen, news and across social media, Yuval shares the narrative of Jewish activism and enduring hope. Follow him on Instagram, YouTube, and X.

The post Why Democrats Are Losing Ground: Failing Policy, Fueling Division, and Silencing Jewish Voices first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The Israeli flag at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Photo: Hynek Moravec via Wikimedia Commons.

Each summer, Jerusalem fills with the sounds of the Torah — teenagers on travel programs, college students in immersive fellowships, and adults in seminar rooms. The city becomes a meeting place for Jews from around the world who come to study, reflect, and reconnect. Israeli educators travel abroad to camps, campuses, and communities — bringing with them a spirit of learning and encounter. 

This year, that rhythm has fallen quiet.  

The war with Iran has changed the summer entirely. There are the loud and obvious consequences of the war; for those in Israel, families shelter in safe rooms and people are killed and injured among the destruction of buildings. In the US, fractures in communities become deeper or in some cases become temporarily mended while record antisemitism continues to build.

A quieter consequence is the loss of shared learning — of people encountering one another through Torah and then taking these lessons, encounters, and values back to their communities. Living in Jerusalem, I feel this absence deeply. I miss seeing groups walking to class, overhearing debates over texts, or passing a café and hearing the sound of someone studying aloud. These should be the sounds of Jewish life in motion.

The loss of this learning is more than a missed summer of knowledge or an insight forever lost; the silence is reminiscent of similar absences of Torah study in previous generations amid war, infighting and disagreement of the time. This isn’t the first time the Jewish people globally are fractured by religious, political, and ideological differences. We are in a time that requires rebuilding.

Early Teachings Offer a Blueprint

Just before Shavuot, my family gathered for a weekend together. My father, a rabbi and my teacher, led a short learning session. He spoke about how Torah has been carried through generations — and paused to reflect on a particular moment in Jewish history. 

During the early years of the return from the Babylonian exile, known as Shivat Tzion, Ezra and a group of leaders known as the Men of the Great Assembly helped lay the groundwork for rebuilding Jewish life. One of their earliest recorded teachings appears in the opening mishnah of Pirkei Avot:

Be deliberate in judgment. Raise many students. Make a fence around the Torah.

This line seems somewhat legalistic and procedural, but over time — and especially now — I’ve come to understand how essential this early teaching really is.

A Time of Transition

The historical context matters. The Men of the Great Assembly lived in a time of dislocation and uncertainty. The First Temple had been destroyed, and the majority of Jews in Israel were exiled. Some Jews returned to the land; others stayed behind. Those who returned met people who had never left — and the gaps between them were real. There were cultural differences, political divisions, and religious disagreements. Prophecy was nearing its end. The Temple had not yet been rebuilt. The people were no longer united by place or power, but by the fragile work of reconnection.

That sense of in-between defines our current moment as well. The war with Iran is still unfolding and represents another front in a broader war that has shaken the Jewish world for months. But long before the current crisis, our communities were experiencing division — over politics, identity, values, and the role of Israel in Jewish life. This war did not create the fractures, but it has revealed how deep and unresolved they are.

These three teachings from the Men of the Great Assembly are practical, intentional responses to instability — then and now.

Deliberate in Judgment: Slowing Down to Rebuild Trust

The instruction to “be deliberate in judgment” was not just for legal courts. It was a principle of leadership. At the time of the Men of the Great Assembly, the Jewish people were emerging from exile, returning to a broken land and a divided society. The stakes were high and trust was fragile.

In moments like these, leadership requires restraint. Judgment — by scholars, elders, teachers, and community leaders — had to be thoughtful, measured, and careful. It demanded the ability to listen fully before speaking, to weigh perspectives before drawing lines, and to resist the pressure to respond quickly.

That need is just as urgent now. We live in a time when relationships have been strained, communities have been tested, and public trust is eroding. In the wake of this crisis — amid fear, anger, and uncertainty — there is real risk in responding too fast. Being deliberate is a form of responsibility. It is what allows judgment to be a source of healing rather than division. And it is what will allow us to lead wisely as we begin the long work of rebuilding what has been damaged — within us, and between us.

Raise Many Students: A Strategy for Ensuring a Future

The second teaching — “Raise many students” — was a bold shift in educational vision. As an antidote to the internal and external threats they were facing, the Men of the Great Assembly chose to expand access to Torah. They built a culture in which learning became widely available, and in doing so, they shaped a future in which Torah could take root across all layers of society.

This was not simply about numbers. It was a commitment to reach more people with meaningful teaching. Opening the gates of Torah meant training more teachers, welcoming more students, and placing education at the heart of communal life. That decision turned Torah into a shared inheritance rather than a guarded tradition.

Today, that same commitment is essential. In the midst of war, and after years of disconnection and division, Jewish life must prioritize learning as an antidote. We need more spaces of Torah. More voices of Torah. More people who see themselves as learners, guides, and transmitters. Not only within institutions, but in everyday life — wherever people gather with intention. We could all benefit from an openness to expanding our own definition of “teacher” and “student.”

A thriving Jewish future requires more teaching. And teaching requires students—many of them.

Make a Fence Around the Torah: Protecting What Guides Us

The third instruction—“Make a fence around the Torah”—was given during a time of instability. The Jewish people had returned from exile to a fractured land, a destroyed Temple, and a fragile sense of identity. The Men of the Great Assembly recognized that rebuilding physical structures wasn’t enough. They needed to reinforce the spiritual foundations that would carry the community forward.

They created boundaries to help ensure that Torah would remain central, serious, and protected. A fence is not a barrier to keep people out—it is a signal that something sacred stands within. It invites care, focus, and commitment.

We are again living in a moment of rupture. The war, and the months of pain that preceded it, have unsettled Jewish life across the world. In times like this, we need Torah to be more than symbolic. It needs to be a source of direction, strength, and clarity.

That means creating spaces where Torah is held with intention. Where learning is real and tradition is carried with depth. This is how we begin to restore what has been frayed—by returning to what holds us steady.

The Blueprint for Rebuilding

These three teachings — deliberation, education, and preservation — form a remarkably durable framework. They offer direction for how to emerge from years of loss, argument, and exhaustion. When the future is unclear, we begin by grounding ourselves in what has always sustained us. We think carefully. We teach generously. We protect what matters.

There’s a verse in Proverbs: “Wisdom cries out in the street; in the public squares she raises her voice.” And the midrash explains: these are the voices of learners and teachers, filling synagogues and study halls with the sound of Torah.

May we walk again through the streets of Jerusalem and hear that sound — of students gathered, teachers guiding, Torah being shared — and may it represent the healing and rebuilding of our global Jewish community.

Shuki is the founder and CEO of M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. Previously, Shuki served as director of Service Learning and Experiential Education at Yeshiva University, where he founded the Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education and a range of programs mobilizing college students to serve underprivileged communities worldwide. Shuki has lived in Israel, New York, and South Africa. A Schusterman Fellow, Shuki studied Jewish philosophy, education, and scriptwriting and currently lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children.

The post Three Teachings for a Time of Rebuilding in a Time of War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Smoke rises following an Israeli attack in Tehran, Iran, June 18, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

In a rare open stance against Iran, a senior Palestinian Authority (PA) leader posted the following statement, ridiculing “foolish” Palestinians who support Iran:

“You must be in favor of Iran, otherwise you are in favor of the Zionists.” The logic of foolish people from the era of the Muslim Brotherhood that has passed from the world.”

[Former PLO official Adnan Al-Damiri, Facebook page, June 17, 2025]

The mention of the Muslim Brotherhood by the former official spokesman of the PA Security Forces, Adnan Al-Damiri, is a reference to Hamas, which is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood founded in Egypt, as well as a terror proxy of Iran.

Al-Damiri’s statement is mocking both Hamas’ continued support for its patron, and Iran itself.

The Palestinian Authority and its officials have been silent regarding Israel’s war on Iran’s nuclear program since June 13. However, in an apparent declaration of taking sides against Iran and calling for regime change, the official PA daily reprinted on its front page the following call by the son of Iran’s late shah, Reza Pahlavi (who lives in the US), to Iran’s security forces to “abandon” the Iranian regime and “join the people.”

This report was published first by AFP:

Headline: “The son of Iran’s shah calls on the security forces to break away from the state”

“Washington (AFP) – The son of Iran’s late shah appealed Friday to the country’s security forces to abandon the cleric-run state, voicing hope for toppling the Islamic republic after Israel launched military strikes.

…

‘I have told the military, police, and security forces: break from the regime. Honor the oath of any honorable serviceman. Join the people.’

‘To the international community: do not throw yet another lifeline to this dying, terrorist regime,’ he said.

Pahlavi was crown prince in Iran’s pro-Western monarchy, which collapsed in 1979 in a mass revolution that quickly brought to power the clerical establishment that declared an Islamic republic.

Pahlavi, who lives in exile near Washington, says he is not necessarily looking for the restoration of the monarchy and wants to use his name to support the movement for secular democracy.

Reza Pahlavi has also enjoyed warm relations with Israel, which he toured two years ago.” [emphasis added]

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, June 15, 2025]

While the PA has not published any explicit position on Israel’s war against Iran’s nuclear program, the front-page article in the official PA daily containing an open call to side with the Iranian people and stop supporting the regime is a clear indication that while the PA will never publicly support Israel’s bombing to crush the Iranian regime, they will be ecstatic to see the backer of their political nemesis, Hamas, removed.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has exposed the PA’s indirect criticism of Iran via its accusations against Hamas for “bringing hell on the Palestinian people” just to serve its Iranian “masters,” when it launched its terror war against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The PA has also mocked Iran for its ineffective missiles. When Iran launched hundreds of missiles against Israel in October 2024, the PA bragged that Palestinians kill Israelis more effectively than Iranian missiles do.

On the other hand, PMW reported last week that PA leader Abbas’ Fatah Party cheered the missiles falling on Israel, indicating that the PA’s signs of antagonism against Iran should not be interpreted as indicating any softening of its hatred of Israel.

The author is the founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared. 

The post As Iran’s Nuclear Program Is Attacked, the Palestinian Authority Is Turning Against It first appeared on Algemeiner.com.