It’s a mitzvah, not anti-Semitism, to attack George Soros’

 

It was wrong for Obama acolytes to denounce criticisms of the Obama presidency as “racist.” Yes, one of Barack Obama’s parents was black. But his policies were not “black.” They were just bad.

Likewise, it is wrong to uniformly censure attacks on billionaire George Soros as “anti-Semitic.”

Ever since Jonathan Greenblatt, a woke former Obama White House official, took over the Anti-Defamation League, it reflexively screams “Anti-Semitism!” when critics fault Soros’ political work — and the left loyally follows suit.

It therefore falls upon established rabbis with authentic Jewish lifetime bona fides, like yours truly, to assert unequivocally that it’s a mitzvah (a righteous act) — not “anti-Semitism” — to castigate George Soros for his radical attempts to undermine public safety and the American republic.

I’ll be clear: Political pundits, ranging from columnists to cartoonists to on-air talent, should not hesitate to condemn Soros as perhaps the most despicable person in public affairs.

Disbursing tens of millions of dollars, Soros has funded local campaigns across America to elect progressive district attorneys who agitate for the lethal cocktail of defunding police and decriminalization. These prosecutors tend not to prosecute property crimes or severe misdemeanors. Instead, they purposefully undercharge felonies as misdemeanors, then plead them down to disorderly-conduct violations. The result? A new term, “smash and grab,” has entered the crime lexicon.

Soros just poured a whopping $125 million into a super PAC called Democracy PAC, noting the donation is a “long-term investment.” Prior to this, between 2015 and 2019, he and his affiliated PACs spent more than $17 million on local DA races. That number is believed to have topped $20 million from just 2020 to 2021.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner received $1.7 million from a Soros PAC for the 2017 campaign that put him into office, an unheard-of sum for such a race. Last year, 559 people were murdered in his city, the most in history.

Cook County, Ill., State’s Attorney Kim Foxx received $2 million from a Soros PAC. In 2021, 797 people were murdered  in Chicago, 25 more than in 2020.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was one of the first individuals Soros supported by when in 2014 he decided to fund progressive prosecutors’ election efforts. Despite progressive Mayor Brandon Scott’s attempt at “violence reduction” strategies, Baltimore’s homicide rate rose for a second year in a row, climbing to 337 in 2021.  

n San Francisco, George Gascón, another Soros-backed DA, fought to end bail and co-authored Proposition 47, which reduced many felonies to misdemeanors. Prop 47 passed, making stealing goods worth $950 or less a misdemeanor, and you can guess what happened: The city’s property-crime rate went up 37% during Gascón’s time in office.

His successor, Chesa Boudin, continued his progressive policies, with predictable results as crime continues to climb: Burglaries rose nearly 50% in 2020. A number of brazen smash-and-grab robberies seized the nation’s attention, like the one at the Louis Vuitton store in Union Square.

After ruining the City by the Bay, Gascón ran for Los Angeles County DA. He outraised his incumbent opponent, a black woman supported by law enforcement, almost two to one. Donating $2.25 million, Soros’ Open Society Foundations led the way.

The nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice just released data showing murders across 22 major US cities increased 44% from 2019 to 2021. The disproportionate majority of the victims, some 10,000, were African Americans. CCJ further reported an increase in domestic violence, gun assaults, aggravated assaults, robberies, carjackings and even train robberies.

If it’s not “anti-Catholic” to condemn disastrous policies advocated by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, it is not anti-Semitic to condemn Soros, who most significantly finances campaigns to elect such lawless DAs.

Yes, there can be criticism that crosses a line, like a cartoon depicting Soros with a Jewish religious symbol like a yarmulke. Still, Judaism as a religion and George Soros do not intersect. He’s also heavily funded J Street, an organization that works closely with boycott, divestment, sanctions advocates. 

Soros is destroying our nation’s foundational principles and our democratic institutions. It’s a patriotic mitzvah to stand up and say so.

Rabbi Dov Fischer is western regional vice president of Coalition for Jewish Values.