With anti-Semitism rearing its head around the world and polls showing Democrats increasingly turning against Israel, the Republican Governors Association released a statement on Wednesday, the first day of May, unanimously signed by all 27 Republican governors across the country recognizing May as Jewish American Heritage Month.
The governors wrote, “As governors and community leaders, we are honored to recognize May as Jewish-American Heritage Month, especially as Jewish people around the world face unspeakable persecution.”
“Our country has a long history of supporting Israel, and now more than ever, it’s important we stand in solidarity with the Jewish community against horrific acts of antisemitism, religious bigotry, and terrorism both in our country and across the globe,” they continued. “Throughout May, we are proud to celebrate Jewish heritage and the many positive contributions that the Jewish community has had on our nation while reaffirming our unwavering support for the Nation of Israel and her people.”
The Jewish community’s contributions to America trace all the way back to its founding, embodied by Haym Salomon, a supporter of the patriotic cause and a prime financier of the American War for Independence.
On May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence; in response, former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren noted:
A people which had been exiled from its homeland two thousand years, which had endured countless pogroms, expulsions, and persecutions, but which had refused to relinquish its identity—which had, on the contrary, substantially strengthened that identity; a people which only a few years before had been the victim of mankind’s largest single act of mass murder, killing a third of the world’s Jews, that people was returning home as sovereign citizens in their own independent state.
The signatories of the Jewish American Heritage Month statement included Governor Kay Ivey (AL), Governor Mike Dunleavy (AK), Governor Sarah Sanders (AR), Governor Ron DeSantis (FL), Governor Brian Kemp (GA), Governor Brad Little (ID), Governor Eric Holcomb (IN), Governor Kim Reynolds (IA), Governor Jeff Landry (LA), Governor Tate Reeves (MS), Governor Mike Parson (MO), Governor Greg Gianforte (MT), Governor Jim Pillen (NE), Governor Joe Lombardo (NV), Governor Chris Sununu (NH), Governor Doug Burgum (ND), Governor Kevin Stitt (OK), Governor Mike DeWine (OH), Governor Henry McMaster (SC), Governor Kristi Noem (SD), Governor Bill Lee (TN), Governor Greg Abbott (TX), Governor Spencer Cox (UT), Governor Phil Scott (VT), Governor Glenn Youngkin (VA), Governor Jim Justice (WV), and Governor Mark Gordon (WY).