The first time I heard of JEXODUS was a few days ago, when a friend texted me. March 10 at 9:57 p.m., to be precise.
The text message was “The Jexodus woman is a model. They will follow her.”
My text response was: “?”
I had no idea what JEXODUS was, or who this model was.
So what is JEXODUS?
It’s a group formed to encourage Jewish voters who reliably vote Democrat to leave in disgust with the Democrats’ embrace and tolerance of anti-Semites like Ihlan Omar and increasing hostility to Israel.
According to the JEXODUS website:
Who Are We?
We are proud Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics. We reject the hypocrisy, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism of the rising far-left. Progressives, Democrats, and far too many old-school Jewish organizations take our support for granted. After all, we’re Jewish, and Jews vote for Democrats.Until today.We are determined and we are unafraid to speak for ourselves. As combatants and veterans of the campus wars, we know the threat progressivism poses to Jews. We’ve had front row seats witnessing anti-Semites hide behind the thin veil of anti-Zionism. We know the BDS movement harbors deep hatred not only for Israel, but for Jews. We’re done standing with supposed Jewish leaders and allegedly supportive Democrats who rationalize, mainstream, and promote our enemies. We’d rather spend forty years wandering in the desert than belong to a party that welcomes Jew-haters.
Why Join ?
JEXODUS is the new platform for Americans who believe in standing up for their Jewish identity and that our connection to Judaism makes us better Americans. It is the movement for those who understand the importance of staunchly supporting the Jewish State and the people of Israel. Join us!Join to send a message and change the narrative.Join to confront anti-Semitism and have a positive impact on our culture.Join to keep informed, be heard, and attend incredible events with like-minded, proud Jews.A movement like JEXODUS has been a long time coming…and this is only the beginning. We’ve got big plans and we won’t stop until we ensure a voice for every Jewish American.
The Daily Wire reports on how JEXODUS was launched:
Jexodus is the brainchild of Jeff Ballabon — a longstanding fixture in Republican Jewish circles — and an assortment of like-minded activists like Bruce Abramson, Ballabon’s frequent op-ed coauthor. Some of Ballabon’s prior successful ventures include starting the now-annual Shabbat at CPAC and his work on the Republican Party’s Israel-specific platform language drafted at the Party’s 2016 national convention; Ballabon is widely credited with helping lead the charge on changes made to the Party’s 2016 platform that expressly removed any references to or mandates for a “two-state solution” with the Palestinian-Arabs, and overtly stated that Israel is not an “occupier” with respect to its lawful presence in Judea and Samaria.Jexodus’s national spokesperson is Elizabeth Pipko, a religious Jew and part-time model with close ties to President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Wire, Pipko described Jexodus as a Millennial-centric movement to help “get Jews to stand up for themselves and what their religion stands for.” Pipko discussed media bias and how the casual cable news viewer is oftentimes more likely to hear about President Trump’s alleged anti-Semitism than he/she is likely to hear about Ilhan Omar’s (actual) anti-Semitism.Jexodus will initially launch in New York and Florida, which are both home to sizable Jewish populations. From there, Pipko says that the plan will be to expand to across the country — everywhere from Pennsylvania and Ohio to Arizona and California. Jexodus will initially consist of physical rallies, where speakers can discuss their stories of how difficult it was for them to unshackle the proverbial bondage of the Democratic Party. The Exodus-centric theme of fleeing from bondage will purposefully overlap with the Jewish holiday of Passover, which will be celebrated around the time of the group’s launch next month.
Two days ago, few people had heard of JEXODUS. Then Trump tweeted about it after Pipko appeared on Fox and Friends, and now it’s all the rage on social media:
This fits with what is likely to be a Trump campaign theme, “The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. They’ve become an anti-Jewish party.”
So is JEXODUS for real?
Clearly there are professionals behind it, like there are behind every left-wing “grassroots” movement. But the feelings of alienation are for real.
It’s purely anecdotal, but I’m definitely seeing disgust among liberal Jews on social media. And I’m not the only one seeing that.
Matthew Vadum reports on one high-level defection:
Lifelong Democrat Andrew Stein, who was a New York state assemblyman, wrote in a Fox News op-ed that three newly elected radical House Democrats–Omar, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York—“have demonstrated repeatedly their hatred of Israel in an increasingly disturbing pattern of anti-Semitism.”“Apologies are no longer enough. That is why I am calling on my fellow Jews to join me in pulling our support from the Democratic Party,” he wrote. Trump and the Republicans are now “the true friends of Israel and the Jewish people” and have “embraced values that were once embraced by the Democratic Party,” by, for example, relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and opposing Palestinian terrorism.
Perhaps the best evidence that JEXODUS may have an impact is the furious reaction to it from liberals, who can’t seem to decide whether to mock it as unserious or demonize it as far right wing. So they are doing both.
Will JEXODUS happen?
I know liberal Jews. I grew up with them. I live among them. I used to be one of them.
I don’t think you will see a mass movement of Jews away from the Democratic Party, but you will see some deserters. A lot of people will be weighing which they hate/fear more: Trump and the Deplorables, or Ihlan Omar and her merry band of Israel bashers.
More than anything, it has taken the wind out of a lot of pro-Israel liberal Democrats, who increasingly are finding that they went to bed with the Democratic Party but woke up with the Labour Party.
In close states like Florida, that could hurt Democrats badly.
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