Reflecting on your abrupt reversal on Israel as you campaign for Congress—a shameful act that secures your place in the Jewish annals of infamy.
Dear Senator Wiener,
I write to you as a Californian, a Jew, and someone who has long regarded you as a role model. Your leadership as a co-chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, and your willingness over the years to confront antisemitism clearly and publicly, has earned respect across a broad spectrum of the Jewish community. You understood that leadership sometimes requires standing firm when it would be easier to remain silent.
It is because of that record that your recent posting on X declaring that Israel has committed “genocide” in Gaza is so troubling.
Only days earlier, you declined to answer that very question in a debate, intuitively recognizing that the word genocide is not a policy critique but an accusation of ultimate evil. That hesitation reflected prudent judgment. Your subsequent reversal—under obvious political pressure—reflects the absence of judgment.
The charge of genocide was forged in the aftermath of the Holocaust to describe the systematic annihilation of a people. To apply it to Israel—while Hamas continues to openly call for Jewish extermination—is to sever language from meaning and morality from truth.
Today, accusations of “genocide” have become a central weapon used by movements that seek not only to critique Israeli policy but to delegitimize the Jewish state itself—and, increasingly, to justify hostility toward Jews everywhere.
When an American Jewish leader adopts this language, it does not mitigate its impact. It legitimizes it.
In response to your video on X, author and leading thinker on Israel, Dr. Einat Wilf wrote:
“…There is something stomach-churning in watching a Jewish person hand over one more pound of flesh, buckling under the pressure to sell out his people as the price of ever-temporary ‘acceptance.’
I understand why Jews who have lost the muscle memory of the Jewish condition buckle under an incentive structure that steeply raises the price of standing with your people and rewards selling them out, but it is still sickening to watch…”
Senator, Dr. Wilf’s words capture both the moral failure and the communal consequences of your declaration.
Yes. Criticism of Israeli policy is acceptable. The pursuit of peace is honorable. Advocacy for humanitarian protection is what it means to be a Jew.
But accusing Israel of genocide is none of these things. It is a shameful act of political convenience that collapses moral distinctions, trivializes the Holocaust, and empowers those who have already shown that their rage does not stop at Israel’s borders.
At a time when antisemitism is surging globally—on campuses, in cities, and in public discourse—Jewish leaders do not have the luxury of rhetorical recklessness.
Senator, your reversal does not advance peace. It does not save lives. It does not protect Palestinians or Israelis. Rather, it emboldens those who weaponize language to vilify Israel and, in doing so, place Jewish communities everywhere at greater risk.
I’m sorry, Senator—that is not moral clarity. It is moral surrender.
You still have a chance to reverse this course before it becomes a lasting mark on your record of leadership. I hope and pray you will choose the path of wisdom and courage our community deserves.
Respectfully,
Reuven H. Taff
Rabbi Reuven Taff, a native of Albany, New York, is rabbi emeritus of Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento, California, where he served for 25 years.
His opinion pieces have appeared in The Sacramento Bee, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), The Jerusalem Post, and other publications.
The rabbi’s favorite quote is attributed to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (z”l): “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” Contact him at rabbitaff@mosaiclaw.org.