Joy Behar made it clear that she was not impressed with those who were content to remain silent in the face of a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism in the United States, saying that it was incumbent on everyone to speak out against it.
Behar addressed the issue on Tuesday’s broadcast of “The View” on ABC, saying that she was witnessing “a lot of silence” despite a massive uptick in anti-Semitic incidents in just the two weeks since Hamas’ brutal attacks against Israeli civilians on October 7.
WATCH:
Joy Behar points out that a lot of the anti-Israel hatred is really just antisemitism:
"[T]hey say that you can be anti-Zionist or anti-Israeli policies that doesn't make you anti-semitic … then why do people become anti-Semitic based on whats going on in Israel?" pic.twitter.com/DIkFjOsYQZ— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) October 24, 2023
Behar began with what “they always say” — namely that it was possible to be critical of Israeli governmental policy without being anti-Semitic — but then she argued that in spite of that, every time something happened involving Israel, the anti-Semitism came flooding back into the discourse.
“The fact that anti-Semitism is on the rise in this country makes me — I’m going to ask the panel a question,” she said. “When they say that ‘you can be anti-Zionist or anti-Israeli policies, that doesn’t make you anti-Semitic,’ right? They always say that. Then why do people become anti-Semitic based on what’s going on in Israel? Do you understand my question?”
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“I think they were always anti-Semitic,” co-host Sara Haines replied.
Behar responded then with some statistics, compiled just since the recent terror attack on Israel: “One hundred and fifty-three anti-Semitic incidents recorded from October 7th to the 18th. And there’s an increase of 54% from the same period last year.”
Behar went on to highlight the concerns Jewish parents might be having with regard to sending their children to school amid such a culture, adding, “It’s heartbreaking what’s going on, but people have to speak out against all of that, all bigotry, all anti-semitism. We cannot remain silent. And I think there’s a lot of silence right now.”