Dear Brad,
As a rabbi and Jewish leader, I am writing because I have been deeply concerned by rhetoric you have recently used while attacking the incumbent Congressman Dan Goldman in your primary challenge against him. Since serving in Congress, Goldman has been sharply critical of Israel’s current government led by Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.
Nevertheless, you have repeatedly described Goldman as an “AIPAC-backed quarter billionaire who bought this seat.” Criticism of AIPAC, like criticism of any political organization, is a legitimate part of democratic debate. But emphasizing an Israel-related donor network while suggesting a seat was “bought” risks invoking longstanding narratives about Jewish political influence and financial power.
For generations, we Jews have faced accusations that our political participation is driven by hidden influence, foreign loyalty, or money. These accusations have never been abstract. They have fueled discrimination, exclusion, and violence across generations.
The Hebrew Bible strictly prohibits slander, viewing it as a serious sin rooted in malice that destroys reputations, breaks community trust, and violates the Ninth Commandment against bearing false witness (Exodus 20:16). Therefore, I was deeply disturbed when I watched you falsely suggest that America’s domestic challenges exist because of support for Israel (a tiny fraction of the U.S. federal budget).
In a campaign video posted on Feb. 10, you stated that “working families struggle to understand why there is not enough money for health care or child care or affordable housing and yet the U.S. has money to give to Israel to destroy Gaza.” This echoes a familiar and dangerous trope: that Jewish interests are responsible for society’s problems.
As you and I both know — having worked on a variety of shared issues over more than 20 years (during my rabbinic career in New York), debate over Israel is legitimate and necessary; and the Jewish community itself holds a wide range of views. But invoking narratives that suggest American problems exist because of support for Israel crosses a line.
At a moment when antisemitism is rising across the country from the extreme left and the extreme right; and visibly Jewish New Yorkers are experiencing harassment and hostility on an almost daily basis, public leaders have a responsibility to be especially careful not to reinforce these insidious and libelous narratives.
Moreover, your recent rhetoric is also difficult to reconcile with your own public record. When speaking to Jewish audiences, including on a program hosted by Zev Brenner, you touted city pension investments made during your tenure as city comptroller that included Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company. Yet in an appearance with Mehdi Hasan around the same time, you distanced yourself from those same investments.
When public officials frame the same issue differently depending on the audience, it contributes to confusion and mistrust in an already sensitive debate.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, antisemitic attacks against Jews throughout the world have only increased, including an attack this week in Michigan. And to our shared pain, the Israel-Hamas war since then has unleashed violence, destruction, trauma and death for Palestinians and Israelis alike who only want to live in peace.
The United States and Israel are at war with Iran; and the conspiratorial rhetoric from Democrats, Republicans and the extremes of both parties, threatens to overwhelm.
Now is the time for steady, thoughtful voices to prevail. I urge you to conduct this campaign with integrity and without resorting to rhetoric that echoes antisemitic tropes or fuels resentment toward Jews and the Jewish state.
New Yorkers deserve better.
Bachman, a rabbi, served Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Manhattan for more than 30 years. He now lives in Portland, Maine.