PITTSBURGH — A Jewish law professor's long love affair with the Democratic Party has come to an end.
She plans to vote for two Republicans this November — most notably businessman Dave McCormick, who is seeking to unseat 17-year incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
“The Republican perspective was appealing to me for the first time. They take a strong stance on behalf of Israel,” Rona Kaufman, a Duquesne University law professor and former Obama volunteer, told the Post.
She said it was because she was both a feminist and a Zionist.
The war between Israel and Hamas has divided the Democratic Party. Anti-Israel Democrats are threatening to boycott Kamala Harris over her refusal to halt U.S. military aid to Israel, but pro-Israel Democrats like Kaufman say the vice president remains steadfast. We are prepared to withhold our support because we do not believe in siding with Israel. Jewish state.
Mr. McCormick, who is closing in on Mr. Casey in the Senate race, is trying to exploit this divide to disenfranchise Pennsylvania's 3% Jewish electorate. And his wife is helping win over at least one of those voters.
“I'm very angry because I feel like they cheated on me because I've had romantic relationships with Democrats, and I feel like they forced me into this other person's arms. It’s a reaction,” Kaufman said with a laugh.
But she's serious.
Kaufman does not support former President Donald Trump, but plans to vote for Republicans McCormick and James Hayes, who are seeking to oust Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, a member of the squad.
She also can't bring herself to vote for Harris.
A lifelong Democrat, he once credited the party as a strong supporter of Israel, America's only democratic ally in the Middle East.
She lost her faith after October 7th.
Exactly one year ago, Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel and killed, kidnapped, and raped more than 1,400 people, including more than 40 Americans.
President Biden and other Democratic leaders have largely supported Israel's military power and right to defend itself, but while he and Harris have not shied away from criticism, the party's far-left wing has pushed back against new Congressman Lee from Pittsburgh. He and others are opposed to the Jewish state.
“Pittsburgh is the epitome of Democratic betrayal,” Kaufman said.
Mr. Lee called for a ceasefire just weeks after Hamas carried out the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. She pushed for an arms embargo against Israel and accused the country of committing genocide.
“Claims of genocide have been directed against Israel for a decade,” Kaufman said. “Justifying the destruction of Israel is a lie.”
Kaufman once believed that peace in the Middle East could be achieved through dialogue. Now she's talking about “peace through strength,” echoing Sen. J.D. Vance's words during the vice presidential debate, even though she's not convinced by them.
“You can't make peace with the people who came to kill you,” Kaufman elaborated, but said “the core of the Democratic Party's perspective is still based on that flawed view.”
Like many American Jews, Kaufman is steeped in Israeli history.
Her grandparents fled Poland after the Holocaust and took refuge in Israel, a new nation fighting for its survival in 1948. They made a living by running a small grocery store and a farm.
Kaufman's father was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces in the 1970s before coming to America.
And Kaufman's daughter, Naomi Kitchen, served in a search and rescue unit in the Israeli-occupied West Bank during the recent war in Gaza. Kaufman has visited Naomi in northern Israel twice since the October 7 massacre.
Kaufman said her daughter's experience solidified her opinion.
“The men were constantly threatening to rape her,” said Kaufman, a legal expert who specializes in violence against women. “It was this greeting that the woman with the gun encountered.
Kaufman said Israel should protect Jews, not just Jews. woman —I have been a victim of sexual violence for a long time.
“Our people will be safe. Our women will not be raped. And October 7th broke that,” she said.
Terrorists, verified by the United Nations but denied by some on the far left, raped Jewish women and paraded them in the streets.
“They tore open a historical wound in the Jewish psyche,” Kaufman said. “This is why our response is absolutely necessary, even if people are killed. If you attack our women and children, you should expect retaliation.”
Kaufman, a proud champion of women's rights and Israeli self-determination, cannot understand the Democratic Party's tolerance for people like Lee.
“Why would the Democratic Party allow itself to be diminished?” They fear it symbolizes the future of the party.
Harris has selected Ilan Goldenberg as her liaison with the Jewish community. supporters of the iran deal It eased sanctions and pumped billions into the coffers of a regime that opposes cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority on the grounds that it promotes terrorism.
“He is not at all representative of mainstream Jewry. His views are wrong,” Kaufman said.
“I feel like I've been completely betrayed by someone I care about, and I don't think that's an uncommon feeling,” she added, speaking of Democrats.
Kaufman praises Pennsylvania's other Democratic senator, John Fetterman. He has abandoned the “progressive” label and supports unconditional military aid to Israel.
“I hope others follow his example. He has shown moral clarity and integrity,” she said.
Mr. Kaufman, seeking moral clarity this election season, was accused of failing to get a vote on a bill cracking down on campus anti-Semitism and refusing to rescind his support for Mr. Lee even after he turned 40. I found it in Dave McCormick, who criticized Mr. Casey in a Post op-ed. Jewish leaders in Pittsburgh condemned her anti-Israel comments.
Kaufman believes Casey is a strong supporter of Israel, but she met McCormick in the neighborhood hostage vigil He is still imprisoned by Hamas. She praised his military service in the first Gulf War in Iraq, saying, “I like him, I like his story, I like his wife's story.”
Dina Powell McCormick, a Coptic Christian from Cairo, served as President Trump's vice national security adviser and helped draft the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. Contributed.
The McCormicks have visited the kibbutz since October 7, meeting with families of hostages held by Hamas.
“Coptic Christians in the Middle East understand the threat of Islam,” Kaufman said.
“He is a person with a truly trustworthy worldview.”
