SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — Vice President Kamala Harris is stepping up her efforts to win over Jewish voters in Arizona, dispatching prominent Jewish leaders and her husband to the Grand Canyon State to ease concerns over her support for Israel.
In the year since Hamas terrorists massacred an estimated 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, Jewish communities across the United States have been gripped with division, anguish, and fear, bringing back painful memories of the Holocaust and a new wave of antisemitism that many Jewish Americans never thought could be possible in the U.S.
While Harris has offered no substantive policy differences on Israel from President Joe Biden, who stepped aside as the presidential candidate in July, she has struck a different tone than Biden, speaking more forcefully and in emotional terms about the mounting death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
As the fighting spreads across the Middle East to Lebanon, with Iran launching a barrage of missiles at Israel within the last week, there’s growing uncertainty among Jewish voters about where Harris stands as she continues to face pressure from her left flank to alter the administration’s approach to the war in Gaza.
Doug Emhoff, Harris’s Jewish husband, made a swing through Arizona on Tuesday, stopping at a Republicans for Harris phone banking event, held at a private residence in Mesa.
Robin Shaw, a former GOP state representative now serving as the co-chair of the Republican coalition backing Harris’s bid introduced Emhoff to the crowd, thanking him for his work on fighting antisemitism.
“Of note, he could also be the first spouse of a president that is Jewish,” Shaw said to claps from the audience. “He has worked very hard on an issue near and dear to my heart, he has worked very diligently against antisemitism in the U.S., and that is a real problem and something that needs to be addressed.”
“His dedication to toning down the antisemitism and the support of Israel is absolutely, absolutely crucial,” said Shaw, who is also Jewish.
Emhoff talked of the importance of rooting out “any type of religious persecution,” appealing to the volunteers in Mesa, also home to voters belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Whether you’re Jewish or not, this is such a massive issue for us — the way I talk about it is that hate, antisemitism of any kind, any kind of religious persecution, any type of saying ‘you don’t belong here’ is like a poison coursing through the veins of our democracy,” Emhoff said. “I approach it not only as a Jewish person, a person of faith, married to a person of faith in Kamala, but it’s terrible for our democracy.”
The Harris campaign reached out to prominent Jewish voters in the battleground state of Arizona to help coordinate a “frank conversation” this week with Democratic surrogates to discuss “topics of great importance for our Jewish community,” according to a description of the event provided to the Washington Examiner.
The panel discussion, which will take place on Wednesday in an undisclosed location in Paradise Valley, will feature Ilan Goldenberg, former White House Middle East adviser to Harris and Jewish outreach director for the campaign; Sam Lauter with the Democratic Majority for Israel; and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
Michael Baer, 58, an independent voter who resides in Scottsdale and has been very involved with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said the campaign reached out to him to help coordinate the event after organizing an event for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential run.
“The campaign came to me — and said, ‘Hey, we know you are a leader in the Jewish community in Arizona, and we would like you to put your name on this,’” Baer said to the Washington Examiner. “It was really hard for me to say yes because I’m not the most enthusiastic supporter of Harris on this issue, but I’ve made my decision that I’m voting for her.”
“So, if I’m going to vote for her, then I should be comfortable talking to people about why I’m voting for her and letting people know that,” he explained.
Baer said he had felt more comfortable with Biden’s strong support for Israel but was eventually convinced after Harris resisted pressure from the Left and refused to give a speaking slot to a pro-Palestinian activist at the Democratic National Convention in August, even after adding one for the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American hostage who was held by Hamas before being killed in Gaza.
“They didn’t give equal air time to pro-Palestinian voices that are espousing these falsehoods that are calling Israel a genocidal country — she didn’t give them oxygen. I know it’s probably a political move, I mean, I hope not, I hope it’s genuine,” he said. “In order to get elected, she knows she has to move to the center. She knows she needs Independent voices like me to support her.”
Harris sent campaign officials and surrogates to meet with Jewish leaders in Michigan in August. She is also dispatching her husband to battleground states with sizable Jewish populations to help with outreach.
With nearly 124,000 Jewish Americans in Arizona, about 2% of the state’s population, this voting bloc could be critical in what is expected to be an extremely close race. In 2020, Biden beat former President Donald Trump by 10,457 votes, or 0.3% of the nearly 3.4 million ballots cast.
A large majority of Jewish Americans have consistently voted for Democrats, but the war is highlighting the divide within the Democratic Party over Israel policy. Some Jewish voters are pointing to what has been playing out on college campuses, with opposition to the war in Gaza transformed into intimidation and antisemitism.
“I have been a lifelong Democrat — but I just think I’m not going to vote this year,” said Jon, a Jewish voter from Phoenix, who asked not to be identified with his last name.
“I have two kids who have been terrorized at their universities on the East Coast. The Biden-Harris administration hasn’t done enough to condemn this and, if anything, has created an environment where this has been allowed to go on,” he said, adding that he could never see himself supporting Trump either.
On the other hand – Michael Alpern, 69, a radiologist in Scottsdale who retired two years ago, said he likely won’t vote this year because he’s unhappy with his choices. He previously voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
“I just can’t vote for him again – he’s too erratic,” Alpern explained. “I’d like to see this kind of MAGA wither on the vine and a Trump loss would I think help with that,” he said.
However, Alpern said there’s one situation that could influence him to vote for Trump for a third time.
“I have told friends that if Biden squelches anything significant when it comes to Iran, that might get me to vote for Trump, because then the Democrats will have lost all their nerve with deescalation over principle. With that case, I guess I’m slightly open to Trump, depending on how this current administration reacts to Israel’s plans to do serious damage to Iran.”
Brian Seitchik, a Republican strategist who worked for the Trump campaign during the 2016 and 2020 cycle, acknowledged the former president’s record on Israel, noting his relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the brokering of the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab nations, and his sanctioning of Iran.
“Like it or not, Trump was good to Israel as president,” Seitchik said but noted the rise of antisemitism is what could be a more motivating factor for voters.
“This rabid antisemitism that has affected the Democrat party — it’s not a talking point. It’s real, and people are scared,” he added.
A survey of Jewish Americans published Monday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement found that 43% of respondents said their voting behavior would change due to antisemitism. Seventeen percent of these voters said they normally vote Democratic but would be voting Republican now, while only 9% said the opposite. The survey also revealed growing disappointment among Jewish voters with the Biden administration, with 17% of respondents answering they felt the federal government was doing enough to tackle antisemitism.
The Trump campaign is working to build a coalition of Jewish voters who are supporting the Republican ticket, forming Jewish Voices for Trump to champion Jewish and Republican values. Trump has slammed the Biden administration for what he’s called a failure to address rising antisemitism on college campuses and has pledged to take stronger actions such as revoking student visas “of radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners at our college and universities” and cutting federal funds to universities that allow antisemitic activities.
“Kamala Harris talks out of both sides of her mouth to appease Hamas sympathizers while Democrats have emboldened antisemitic protests on college campuses,” said Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director, in a statement shared with the Washington Examiner. “In contrast, President Trump has stood firmly with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, reaching many historic achievements.”
Jewish voters who already supported Trump are attempting to relay their message to others in the tight-knit community.
“Not only should all Jews be supporting Trump, but they should be kissing his feet,” said a Jewish voter based in Phoenix who owns a small business and is wary of expressing his views publicly for fear of damaging his livelihood.
“Trump is staunchly pro-Israel. Look at what he did with the Abraham Accords. If you care about Israel at all, the only choice is Trump. It’s as simple as that,” he added.
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As for Baer, he said he specifically helped the Harris campaign find Jewish voters who are “in the middle and struggling with the issue” to attend Wednesday’s panel discussion.
“Look, I want these questions answered,” he said. “I don’t know if the answer to these questions is going to make me feel more comfortable, but maybe it could change somebody else’s opinion.”