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Alex גדעון בן װעלװל Profile picture
Alex גדעון בן װעלװל
@JewishWonk
Columnist @JDForward. U.S. Foreign Policy and Jewish communal concerns. Bylines in @TheAtlantic, @WashingtonPost, @TabletMag. All bad takes are mine alone.
7 subscribers
Aug 11 • 30 tweets • 5 min read
There is a fierce argument happening in Israel and across the Jewish world on whether to continue the war in Gaza or cut a deal to get the hostages home and end the war. I'd like to explain why I am in the end the war camp. Thread. 1) The war that Hamas started when they invaded Israel on 10/7 to rape, murder, and kidnap Israelis saw Israel develop two overarching war goals:

-Return the hostages
-Destroy Hamas as a political and military org

These two goals are in tension.
Aug 4 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The interests and constraints preventing a conclusion of the war in Gaza, a thread. 1) Hamas still has hostages they kidnapped on 10/7.

Every day they remain captive, Hamas keeps leverage. It stalls ceasefire talks, splits Israel’s war cabinet and society, and keeps the war alive. The longer they hold them, the more volatile Israeli politics becomes.
Jul 29 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Some thoughts on the French initiative to recognize a Palestinian state, the UK's threats to join, and the second order effects of this. 1) We see headlines along the lines of "France to recognize Palestine." Their diplomacy is actually more ambitious. They are lobbying for coordinated EU or international recognition, aiming to give diplomatic weight to the idea of a Palestinian state even as war continues in Gaza
Jul 29 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
I am tired of bad arguments and I am especially tired of Jon Stewart and Peter Beinart, two pet Jews for people who hate us.

Here's some actual arguments about what is happening in Gaza that are much harder to dismiss with semantic debates about antisemitism, a thread. 1) Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007 when it violently took over.

It has received billions in aid meant for schools, hospitals, and basic infrastructure. Instead, Hamas built a vast underground tunnel network, stockpiled weapons, and turned Gaza into a launchpad for war.
Jul 15 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
I don't really believe this matters in the NYC mayoral race, but I do want to talk about the intifada, since most of my Jewish American peers have only been encountering this term for the last two years. For some background for those unfamiliar with me, I am a Soviet born Jew. After the fall of the Soviet Union most of my extended family fled to Israel. Growing up in the 90s and 2000s I would spend my summers in Israel with my cousins.
Jul 9 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
Very often the conversation about antisemitism on this website is about abstractions and tweets and public statements. I want to talk about a recent incident to ground this in real world stakes and flesh out some of my thinking.

Specifically an attempt at a pogrom back in April Image Leftists, in response to a perceived grievance against far-right Zionists, sought to incite a mob against the non-Zionist Hasidic community in Crown Heights. They used wildly overheated language like the below to whip up a mob. Image
Jul 8 • 19 tweets • 3 min read
Something I see a lot of online is Jewish leftists who romanticize the Bund's socialist ethos and anti-Zionism while missing key points of what the Bund was actually about. Quick thread. 1) The Bund was mainly a political movement in and for Eastern Europe. The debates of today, in different geographies, languages, and circumstances do not neatly map on to the politics of that era.
Jul 7 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
My issue with Mamdani’s Columbia application isn’t what it means for the mayoral race.

It’s how high social capital people game systems meant to help the marginalized, crowding out those who don’t know how to play these games. The language of meritocracy makes college applications appear fair.

Everyone “applied.” Everyone had a “chance.” But that hides how some kids had private SAT and essay coaches, family friends on the board, etc... while the poor naively apply thinking it's on a fair footing.
Jul 1 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
I get the anger, but I don't believe this is the right read of what motivates a specific subset of Jews to support the far left. They are not self-hating and they are not embarrassed to be Jews.

Thread. 1) The average American Jew isn’t raised with deep Jewish literacy. I should know, I was raised the same way.

Most go through public school or secular private school. Holocaust education, bnei mitzvah, and *maybe* a trip to Israel. That’s the foundation and it’s thin.
Jun 26 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Really into this thing a stream of the left is doing. Israel's conduct doesn't meet the definition of genocide? Let's change the definition.

American Jews tell us our conduct against them in the name of Palestine is antisemitic? Let's change the definition of antisemitism. Can’t dunk? Redefine dunking to include layups.

Can’t cook? Redefine “cooking” as anyone who’s seen a stove.
Jun 25 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
I am seeing in public and private a lot of despair and panic from Jews about Mamdani winning the primary. I'd like to offer some advice to calm folks down and effectively respond to the challenges facing us. Thread. 1) This is a common cognitive bias in politics. When you see your opponents win, there is a tendency to see all of their power and all of your helplessness.

We are not helpless. There are more Jews in New York than any city on Earth. We have electoral muscle to throw around.
Jun 25 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
Mamdani appears to be in the lead. I don't know what the final result will be, but I want to note a few things 1) Candidate quality and energy matters. Mamdani may be an extremist, but that"s not how he packaged himself on social media and that"s not how he was presented by one fawning publication after another.
Jun 24 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
CNN is reporting that intelligence produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Pentagon’s intelligence arm, claiming that the strikes did not destroy the core components of Iran's nuclear program and likely only set it back by months.

I'm skeptical. Thread. 1) This is a single agency perspective. America has 18 intelligence agencies, each with their own methods, biases and cultures. This is not an intelligence community-wide assessment.

This limits perspective and may reflect DIA-specific biases rather than a consensus view.
Jun 24 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
People like this have too much confidence and not enough humility to actually consider that we are not "brainwashed" and have real concerns. I will try to lay it out. Image 1) Jack Schlossberg to my knowledge is not actively involved in any Jewish community here in New York. When he walks down the street he is just another white guy. I am willing to guess he does not have any close friends who have been targeted for harassment and violence.
Jun 24 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
A ceasefire is good, but the long-term struggle with Iran will continue until their foreign policy changes.

Israel and the U.S. have likely set its nuclear program back by years, maybe decades. Iran’s “ring of fire” has been degraded, and Middle East geopolitics has changed. I find in many situations that when assessing if something is good or bad, other people come at it with "it could have been so much better" and are upset. I come at most things with "it could have been so much worse" and feel more grateful.
May 16 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Alright, let's give some examples of Soviet state antisemitism. It went a lot further than these ignorant dweebs think. Incoming thread. 1) The Bolsheviks shut down synagogues.

Our rabbis were arrested. Many were executed.
Nov 20, 2024 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I spent most of the election talking to Jewish voters around the country who, rightly or wrongly, associated the far left that's been harassing Jews for the past year with the Democratic party. We're talking about people who vote Democratic every election cycle. 1/ I wanted to talk to these voters about abortion rights, about the incredible legislation the Biden-Harris admin passed to bring jobs back to America and stand up to China, etc...
Nov 13, 2024 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Now that the U.S. election is over, it's time to talk about an election most American Jews don't pay attention to but should: the World Zionist Congress.

Yours truly is on a party slate in this election!

Details incoming for those interested. The World Zionist Congress elections give diaspora Jews a voice, guiding $1 billion annually for Jewish education, combating antisemitism, and determining other priorities for Jews.

It is the single best way of having your views reflected in Israel short of moving there.
Nov 13, 2024 • 12 tweets • 2 min read
Suggestions from an internet dodo on what grassroots liberals, not elected Democrats or associated organizations, should do to help build the next winning coalition, a thread. 1) Resist the urge to be smug.

As a smug prick, this is very hard for me!

Yet we persuade more when we relate to people than when we communicate to them that we think we are better than them.
Nov 8, 2024 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
I am seeing a lot of folks expressing a lot of intense emotions on Twitter in the aftermath of the elections.

Some things to consider if you are looking for something other than despair. 1) Parties that take unified control (House, Senate, White House) have a bad habit of overshooting.

Bear in mind this is how our institutions reflect what was a close election.

47.7% of Americans didn't want this.

A competent politician would govern from the center.
Nov 6, 2024 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
I have a few opinions on this. A quick thread. 1) I don't think Democrats can win the majority of White men. Fundamentally our politics has a color line and many white men, knowingly or unknowingly, like it and want to preserve it.

You can, however, reduce the GOP's margin and improve it for Democrats.