President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has decided to go after Hamas. This is a great idea.
But there’s a way to make this “October 7” Task Force even better. It needs to also go after all kinds of anti-Semitic hate, much of it stoked by Neo-Nazis and many on the fringe on the right, if we’re serious about protecting Jewish people and their right to worship, even live, without all of the hate crimes against them.
Gabby Deutch writes about this task force an article published by Jewish Insider, picked up by Yahoo News. She notes “In one of her first official acts after being sworn in on Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi established a joint task force dedicated to investigating the perpetrators of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks and seeking justice for their victims.”
That’s what we need from our new attorney general, a huge upgrade over the prior nominee. While the Biden Administration should be credited for bringing criminal charges against the Hamas leadership, Bondi’s group is going one step further, seeking their extradition to the United States for their crimes. After all, I’m someone publicly critical of Hamas (see my columns here and here), which did get some pushback online.
“The remit of Joint Task Force October 7 will not be limited to terrorist violence —it is also tasked with prosecuting “antisemitic civil rights violations” and “other federal crimes” committed by Hamas supporters domestically, including on U.S. college campuses.”
Okay, but we should make sure there are some legitimate civil rights guardrails. If someone actually physically assaulted a Jewish student or called for the killing of Jewish students, they should be prosecuted. That’s very different from going after a student holding a sign up saying “Israel Out of Gaza” or “Stop the Killing of Palestinians,” which aren’t hate crimes, but protected political speech. Let’s make a real difference in the war on terrorism, instead of spending our resources punishing some kid for exercising his Constitutional rights.
Deutch adds this quote: “This administration is taking the threats to our community very, very seriously, which we are grateful for,” Michael Masters, CEO of the Secure Community Network, which provides security guidance to Jewish institutions across the U.S., said of the task force.”
Well, if we are serious about threats to the Jewish community, we really need to stop those Neo-Nazis who are targeting Jewish people all over America, from online conspiratorial hate-filled rants that go beyond opinion and all for direct action, which have sadly led to killings in America at synagogues and Jewish Community Centers, hate crimes that have killed far more people than protests over Gaza, as any evidence of the facts will show.
The threat is real, and in our faces. As I write this, Neo-Nazis are displaying swastikas near Cincinnati. A few days ago, a Neo-Nazi leader was arrested in Maryland for plotting another of those many attacks on power grids (which can be deadly in the winter). Neo-Nazis intimidated a movie theater showing “The Face of Hate,” in Michigan.
And then there’s this in Ohio: “Two men were arrested today on charges of participating in a neo-Nazi child exploitation enterprise that groomed and then coerced minors to produce child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of self-harm. The group allegedly victimized at least 16 minors around the world, including two in Southern California.” These are all in just the last four days.
Florida has recently decided to go after any anti-Semitic writings in textbooks. Will this plan take on the trove of anti-Semitic words and deeds by those on the far right, even those in positions of power in this country?
Unless this anti-Semitic behavior by Neo-Nazis, even politicians in America who traffic in such hate, are targeted by Bondi’s task force or the state of Florida’s… it’s just window-dressing. Given that The Guardian reports Neo-Nazism has risen since the 2024 election, such common-sense policies by national and state authorities can’t come fast enough.