Story by Donald H. Harrison; Photos by Fred Kropveld
SAN DIEGO – Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego) and her Republican opponent, El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, clashed over U.S. Middle Eastern policy, how to respond to antisemitism in America, and U.S immigration policy, among other topics in a lively, sometimes acerbic debate, Tuesday night at Temple Emanu-El.
Asked by moderator Heather Myers of CBS affiliate Channel 8 whether the U.S. should supply money and weapons to Israel, Wells responded, “I absolutely, 100 percent, believe that we have an obligation to support Israel in every possible way we can.” He said a two-state solution, with Israel living side by side with a new State of Palestine, is a non-starter “because the only solution that Israel’s enemies will accept is the total annihilation of the Jews.” Israel can’t live side by side with terrorists who “burn children in microwaves, rape girls until they are cut in half,” Wells continued. “Israel has an obligation to us and to themselves to eradicate Hamas, eradicate Hezbollah, and perhaps eradicate Iran.”
Jacobs, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Armed Services Committee and who has relatives in Israel, responded that “the only way to make sure that they are safe and secure … is to make sure that there is a Palestinian state where Palestinians are safe and have dignity.” She added that she has consistently voted for Israeli anti-missile defense systems, such as the Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling.
“But, also, to be clear,” the two-term congresswoman went on to say, “many people, including thousands of people who protested in the streets in Israel yesterday, do not believe that the policies of the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government are actually making Israel safer.” She said negotiations in connection with a ceasefire last November resulted in some of the hostages being returned by Hamas from captivity in Gaza. “So, I will never apologize for saying that we need to try diplomacy. Diplomacy is the way that we try to address issues, and it is the way we make sure that we don’t end up in a catastrophic regional war that we will put my family in Tel Aviv more at risk.”
In response to a follow-up question about the necessity of Middle Eastern ceasefires, Jacobs said she has been told by military leaders of the United States and Israel that cessation of hostilities would be the “best way to get our hostages back, to get humanitarian aid into Gaza, and to deescalate regional tensions.”
Wells, in rebuttal, commented, “I am all for a ceasefire and I am looking forward to it once Hamas is eradicated and Hezbollah is eradicated. … Iran is not just coming after Israel, they want to destroy [the U.S.]… I’m all for Israel going in and destroying their ability to have nuclear weapons.”
Then, in reference to Jacobs being among members of Congress who boycotted Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress in July, Wells said, “Like his policies, don’t like his policies, when he shows up in the United States of America and comes to Congress, and he’s in a wartime situation, you show up and listen to what he has to say.”
Jacobs answered that criticism as follows: “One of the things that I hear from my colleagues and friends in Israel is that Bibi Netanyahu believes, and he tells people, that he can do whatever he wants in the West Bank and wherever and he will still get U.S. support. In fact, we were asked by Israeli leaders to not dignify his address by attending. They believed that would hurt their efforts within Israel.” She did not identify those Israeli leaders, but presumably they are members of opposition parties.
Moving onto antisemitism in the United States and particularly on university campuses, Jacobs said she felt the impact of antisemitism specifically during the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “I was cowering, hiding, in the House Chamber, worried for my life when people with shirts with ‘Camp Auschwitz’ and ‘Six Million Weren’t Enough’ were coming to try to kill me because of my role as a United States representative.”
About students, she said Congress should fund programs envisioned in the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism such as the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education. “We need to be sure that we are investing in education for our young people, so they understand the Holocaust and they understand what caused it and they understand what it means for our population.” Jacobs also called for federal grants to investigate and prosecute hate crimes.
Wells commented, “the U.S. government should use every ounce of strength it has to protect all of its citizens, and that includes Jewish citizens, Jewish students and Jewish people.” He advocated cutting off federal aid to universities and schools that engage in antisemitic conduct or “turn a blind eye to this.” He added that universities which would not tolerate discrimination against African-Americans are being lax toward antisemitic discrimination.
Myers asked Jacobs why she voted in May against the Antisemitism Awareness Act, “which passed the House on a bipartisan basis.” The measure adopted the definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which reads “Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/ or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” IHRA appended to its definition a controversial guide for its interpretation.
Jacobs responded that she believes the unintended consequence of that bill, which was intended to expand civil rights protections, would be a legal challenge that would end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. “There would be a real risk of the Supreme Court overturning all of the Civil Rights Act, all of our Civil Rights protection.” She added that the measure could prove counter-productive for the Jewish community.
Wells dismissed Jacobs’ response, saying “When people don’t want to talk about an issue, they give you a lot of esoteric, overly emotional answers.” He went on to say, “I condemn antisemitism. I am not Jewish, I am an evangelical. I want to tell you that evangelicals all over this country are praying for you. … It is not difficult for me. We protect people. We protect gays on campus, we protect Jews on campus, we protect Blacks. We protect Christians on campus. We treat each other with respect, and we love each other, and we stop people from doing bad things.”
On immigration, Wells said 20 million people have entered this country illegally, with adverse impacts on the economy and on crime, “and on the way we do democracy.”
“Most of these 20 million people, for the most part, are going to go to deep blue states and even if they don’t go … it is going to change the congressional appointments, the allotments,” Wells said. “Places like Chicago, Los Angeles—big blue Democrat cities—I think by design, are going to get so many impoverished people which is going to change the balance of power in Congress forever. … This is by design and if we don’t step up and stop it right now, you are going to lose the country.”
Jacobs called that rhetoric “incredibly dangerous,” comparing it to the “Great Replacement Theory” which allegedly motivated convicted gunman Robert Bowers to fatally shoot 11 people at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018. That theory blames Jews for “masterminding the idea of bringing people over to replace the votes of White people,” Jacobs said. She added–to a chorus of disagreement from Wells supporters–that Donald Trump said if he loses this election, it will be the fault of the Jews.
“That is why every Jewish member of Congress wrote a letter calling out this dangerous, dangerous rhetoric,” Jacobs continued. “That is why it is so disheartening to hear this rhetoric today, the day after October 7th, in a synagogue.”
Both Wells and Jacobs were cheered by their supporters during their debate, which was closely monitored by security guards. Host Rabbi Devorah Marcus told the crowd that filled the sanctuary and extended into the social hall of the Reform congregation that she would not hesitate to ask the guards to remove people if they disrupted the proceedings.
Security guards also wanded everyone entering the synagogue – even Rabbi Martin S. Lawson, Temple Emanu-El’s rabbi emeritus, who happened to arrive at the same time I did.
*
Donald H. Harrison is publisher and editor of San Diego Jewish World.