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Jewish Americans Shouldn’t Be Shocked by Scott Wiener’s Genocide Lie
California State Sen. Scott Wiener. Photo: Screenshot
At first glance, California State Sen. and Democratic candidate for US Congress Scott Wiener is representative of what many consider a genuine American Jewish success story: a Jewish boy from New Jersey whose childhood memories were shaped by parents who helped build a local Conservative synagogue.
Wiener possesses the boy-next-door charm and familiarity of a Jewish American who came of age in the 1980s and early 1990s, was academically gifted, and later graduated from Harvard Law School.
The budding lawmaker soon found his footing in politics and eventually rose to become a state senator in the nation’s most populous state.
The youthful-looking Wiener, who calls himself “one of the strongest LGBTQ civil rights champions in the nation,” also co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus.
The one critical wrinkle to Wiener’s path to Jewish political prominence is that the 55-year-old politician recently promoted the disgusting blood libel that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
After enduring jeers from left-wing attendees at last week’s candidate debate featuring Wiener and two other Democrats vying to succeed retiring Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Wiener pivoted from his initial refusal to characterize Israel’s actions as genocide and made the decision, days later, to turn against the Jewish state in a 90-second cringe-inducing video unveiled Sunday on the social media platform X.
For those following evolving attitudes toward Israel within liberal Jewish spaces, where Zionism is increasingly disassociated from Judaism, Wiener’s comments condemning Israel are perhaps the least shocking development in the progressive Democrat’s political career.
Jewish communities across America have spent decades nurturing ideological identities that focused on cultivating loyal liberals rather than strong Jews.
Moreover, when support for Israel is passed down from one generation to the next, with little explanation of the moral, legal, and historical rights undergirding the Jewish people’s right for self-determination, Zionism is treated as another dispensable political movement.
It’s a phenomenon that leaves people like Wiener susceptible to the anti-Israel animus entrapping a rising cohort of Jewish Democrats. It’s why anti-Zionists like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will be quick to denounce a swastika plastered at a Jewish school in Brooklyn but grant a pass to violent pro-Hamas mobs descending on New York City synagogues that aim to disrupt Israel-related events.
Absent a firm framework explaining why it is a Jewish imperative to advance a pro-Israel narrative, the strategy to widen the wedge between Zionism and one’s Jewish identity will yield more Jews like Wiener who cave to the whims of keffiyeh-wearing voters.
Wiener is not alone.
In New York, 25-year-old Jewish progressive Cameron Kasky was, until this week, running for Congress in the state’s 12th district and recently returned from a Palestinian-led trip to Israel.
In a nod to his deep hatred of the Jewish state, Kasky, who grew up in South Florida attending Hebrew School, lists “Stop Funding Genocide” as his first policy priority on his website.
It was only 10 years ago when such overt antisemitic positions would have earned a candidate a place on the political sidelines.
Since then, the landscape has changed dramatically. A Washington Post Jewish Americans poll conducted in September revealed that the distorted views espoused by Israel’s detractors in the diaspora align with a significant portion of American Jewry.
In the study, 61 percent of American Jews responded that they believe Israel is committing war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza, with nearly 40 percent accusing the Jewish state of “genocide.”
The troubling spike in anti-Israel attitudes among American Jews became more conspicuous over the last several years, as social justice movements surrounding climate change, the women’s march movement, and George Floyd gave Jews who harbor little interest in following the traditional tenets of Judaism an avenue through which to wield their cultural Judaism.
In an effort to keep sanctuaries full and congregants satisfied, non-orthodox institutions coalesced around cultural issues that accelerated a liberal and increasingly secularized world order.
Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Manhattan’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, has repeatedly demanded that Jewish leaders meet the “historical demands of our time” and is among several leaders calling for a course correction within the Reform movement.
Still, since Wiener has now planted himself on the side of the Democrats’ anti-Israel faction, the Jewish organizations Wiener was so eager to frequent as a guest speaker in the past released a joint statement that was charitable in their repudiation of the candidate’s use of the term “genocide.”
The truth is that Wiener has long fashioned himself a progressive who rarely shies from admonishing Israel.
His regurgitation of the genocide lie reflects less of a shift and more of a sharpening of previous statements where he publicly charged Israel’s government with deliberately starving Palestin
Wiener also has a history of treating Hamas and Israel as “moral equivalents” and has gone on record saying that he will not accept donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Put simply, it was obvious long ago that Wiener would not emerge as the Democrats’ next John Fetterman, a US senator from Pennsylvania who, amid criticism from his own party, has remained a steadfast supporter of Israel.
The seeds of Wiener’s disgraceful break with the Jewish state were planted long ago.
Raised with a scant appreciation or understanding on the importance of a Jewish homeland, the state senator fell under a secularized umbrella of “universal human rights.”
Sadly, his views on Israel are symbolic of what constitutes the path to political success in today’s Jewish Democratic Party orbit.
Irit Tratt is a writer, an American and pro-Israel advocate. Follow her on X @Irit_Tratt.
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Greece Plans Extension of Territorial Waters Despite Turkish Warning
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis attends a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, Oct/ 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
Greece plans to extend its territorial waters further, including potentially in the Aegean Sea, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Friday, despite Turkey’s long-standing threat of war should Athens take such a step.
The NATO allies, but historic rivals, have eased tensions in recent years but remain at odds over where their continental shelves begin and end in the Aegean – an area believed to hold significant energy potential and with implications for overflights and airspace.
Greece has already extended its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles from six, following agreements with Italy, and it has signed a maritime delimitation deal with Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean.
But it has avoided similar moves in the Aegean, where Ankara objected sharply.
In 1995, the Turkish parliament declared a “casus belli,” or cause for war, if Greece unilaterally extended its waters beyond six nautical miles in the Aegean, a position Athens says violates international maritime law.
Answering questions in parliament on Friday, Gerapetritis said further expansion was expected.
“Today, our sovereignty in the Aegean Sea extends to six nautical miles,” Gerapetritis said. “As there was an agreement with Egypt, as there was an agreement with Italy, there will also be a (further) extension of the territorial waters.”
He didn’t specify which maritime areas could be extended.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
In July, Greece took another step by unveiling the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas. The Aegean park, covering 9,500 square kilometers (3,668 square miles), would initially expand around the southern Cyclades islands, further south of Turkey, according to the maps submitted by Athens. The announcement has drawn objections from Ankara.
Greece says the only issue it is prepared to discuss with Turkey is the demarcation of their maritime zones, including the continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone.
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Lebanon Detains Syrian Who Helped Funnel Funds to Pro-Assad Fighters, Sources Say
A person gestures next to a burning picture of President Bashar al-Assad, after rebels seized the capital and ousted the president, in Qamishli, Syria, Dec. 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Lebanon has arrested a Syrian national who was helping senior associates of ousted president Bashar al-Assad finance fighters as part of a plot to destabilize Syria’s new ruling order, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Ahmad Dunya was detained earlier this week, according to two Lebanese security sources and two of his former associates. The Lebanese security sources did not say what charges were linked to his arrest or if he would be extradited to Syria.
Reuters could not immediately reach Dunya or his legal counsel for comment.
His arrest came nearly a month after top Syrian security officials asked Lebanon to track down and hand over more than 200 officers who fled there after Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December 2024 following 14 years of civil war.
That request followed a Reuters investigation that detailed rival plots being pursued by former Assad cohorts to finance potential Alawite militant groups in Lebanon and along the Syrian coast through financial intermediaries.
Dunya was one of those intermediaries and funneled money from Rami Makhlouf, Assad‘s billionaire cousin who now lives along with the ex-Syrian dictator in exile in Moscow, to prospective fighters in Lebanon and Syria, Reuters found.
A former associate of Dunya’s and a Syrian figure close to Makhlouf both confirmed that Dunya was a key financial conduit for his funds and was detained in Lebanon. The two sources said he managed extensive financial records, including payroll tables and financial receipts.
In recent months, Dunya had been skimming off the top of Makhlouf’s transfers, according to the two Syrian sources.
The Reuters investigation found that Makhlouf had spent at least $6 million on salaries and equipment for prospective fighters. Some of the financial records uncovered claimed that Makhlouf spent $976,705 in May, and that one group of 5,000 fighters received $150,000 in August.
A Lebanese security source said there were likely dozens of other financial handlers like Dunya still operating in Lebanon on behalf of Assad‘s former associates.
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Kremlin Says Putin Is Mediating in Iran Situation to Try to Deescalate
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the day he attends a documents signing ceremony with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool
President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation to try to quickly deescalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Moscow, an ally of Tehran, has condemned US President Donald Trump’s threats of new military strikes after Iran cracked down on protests that broke out late last month.
Israel and the US last year both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a 12-day war with Israel.
Russia has pursued closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and Putin last year signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact with Pezeshkian. Moscow also has a long-established working relationship with Israel.
Putin in his call with Netanyahu expressed Russia’s willingness to “continue its mediation efforts and to promote constructive dialogue with the participation of all interested states,” the Kremlin said, adding he had set out his ideas for boosting stability in the Middle East.
No further details were given on Putin‘s mediation attempt.
Putin had then been briefed by Pezeshkian in a separate call on what the Kremlin called Tehran’s “sustained efforts” to normalize the situation inside Iran.
“It was noted that Russia and Iran unanimously and consistently support deescalating the tensions — both surrounding Iran and in the region as a whole — as soon as possible and resolving any emerging issues through exclusively political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said.
Putin and Pezeshkian had confirmed their commitment to their countries’ strategic partnership and to implementing joint economic projects, the Kremlin added.
WESTERN SANCTIONS
Separately, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, and Iran among others, said it opposed external interference in Iran and blamed Western sanctions for creating conditions for unrest.
“Unilateral sanctions have had a significant negative impact on the economic stability of the state, led to a deterioration in people’s living conditions and objectively limited the ability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement measures to ensure the country‘s socio-economic development,” the SCO said in a statement.
Protests erupted on Dec. 28 over soaring inflation in Iran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions, before spiraling into one of the biggest challenges yet to the clerical establishment ruling Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Any threat to the survival of the Iranian leadership would pose a serious concern for Moscow, 13 months after it lost another key Middle East ally with the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier this month another Russian ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was captured by the United States and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Asked what support Russia could provide to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia is already providing assistance not only to Iran but also to the entire region, and to the cause of regional stability and peace. This is partly thanks to the president’s efforts to help deescalate tensions.”
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. Russia says it supports Iran‘s right to peaceful nuclear energy.