The Political Resolution | JEWISH LEGAL DEFENS

THE JLDF RESOLUTION

PREAMBLE

A resolution appropriate for adoption by all major American political parties at the national, state, and local level. Where brackets appear — [ ] — the adopting party inserts its own name.

Political parties, professional organizations, corporations, institutions, and associations of all sorts adopt bylaws and resolutions prohibiting or condemning speech or behavior that, though legal, violates their internal code of ethics. Because the groups adopting such resolutions are private organizations, these commitments raise no First Amendment issues. They are not statements of law. They are voluntary expressions of culture and values — and it is as cultural expressions that they carry their greatest force.

Political parties cannot limit membership or ballot access. They can, however, make their own rules about how to proceed when a candidate or elected official affiliates with them whose conduct is inconsistent with the party's values and commitments.

The JLDF resolution is grounded in the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism — long the authoritative international standard for identifying antisemitic conduct, adopted by the United States government, dozens of allied nations, and scores of international bodies. JLDF insists on this definition, undiluted and unabridged. The IHRA's illustrative examples — including those identifying antizionism, anti-Israelism, and the application of double standards to Israel as forms of antisemitism — are essential to capturing the primary contemporary form of Jew-hatred and are non-negotiable components of the standard this resolution applies.

We call on leaders and supporters of America's dominant political parties to encourage the national Republican and Democratic parties to adopt this resolution. We call on America's third parties and all state and local parties to adopt it. The resolution is deliberately and identically drafted for parties across the political spectrum, because antisemitism is not a phenomenon of the left or the right — it manifests across the political spectrum — and a resolution that applies only to one party, or that is invoked selectively against political opponents, is not a resolution against antisemitism. It is a political weapon dressed in moral language.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, antisemitism has proven to be history's most pervasive, consistent, pernicious, destructive, and deadly form of bigotry and hatred; and

WHEREAS, law-enforcement data corroborate that Jews in America are far more frequently victimized by hate crimes than all other religious minorities combined; and

WHEREAS, the United States of America has in recent years witnessed a dramatic escalation of antisemitic incitement, violence, harassment, and institutional hostility, most sharply following October 7, 2023, when the massacre of 1,200 Israelis, together with the torture, mass rape, and kidnapping of hundreds more, sparked not only multi-front war against Israel, but an explosion of open antisemitism around the world and across America; and

WHEREAS, antisemites have long dehumanized and demonized Jews in word and in image, and invariably justify, excuse, and rationalize their hatred through claims of alleged grievances — all contrived, many fabricated, and all defamatory; and

WHEREAS, antisemitism invariably incorporates conspiracy theories holding Jews culpable for society's troubles; and

WHEREAS, antisemitism today operates on multiple fronts simultaneously across the ideological and political spectrum; and

WHEREAS, the United States government, along with dozens of allied nations and scores of international bodies, has adopted the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, including its illustrative examples, as the authoritative standard for identifying antisemitic rhetoric and conduct; and

WHEREAS, candidates embracing antisemitic rhetoric, political positions, associations, and affiliations that clearly meet the standards set forth in the IHRA Working Definition are seeking and, in some cases, securing places on major party lines for federal, state, and local office; and

WHEREAS, the [ ] Party is deeply committed to the safety, dignity, and equal standing of Jewish Americans, and understands that some individuals whose conduct meets the IHRA definition of antisemitism may nonetheless seek to run on, or claim affiliation with, the [ ] Party;

IT IS, THEREFORE, RESOLVED that the [ ] Party will take all steps within its institutional authority to prevent any individual from running as a [ ] who demonstrates a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric, political positions, associations, or affiliations as defined by the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism;

AND IT IS, THEREFORE, FURTHER RESOLVED that the [ ] Party will, in the event any such individual secures a place on the [ ] line by any means, immediately and publicly:

(a) declare that such individual does not represent the values or platform of the [ ] Party;
(b) refuse all financial, logistical, and institutional support for that candidacy;
(c) urge all [ ] voters to withhold support from, and to not vote for, that candidate; and
(d) call upon all [ ] officeholders and officials to refrain from endorsing or campaigning for that candidate;

AND IT IS, THEREFORE, FURTHER RESOLVED that in the event any such individual is elected to office on the [ ] line, the [ ] Party will, to the extent within its institutional authority:

(a) decline to recognize that individual as a member of the [ ] caucus;
(b) withhold all caucus privileges, resources, and support from that individual; and
(c) refuse to support that individual's appointment to any committee assignment within the [ ] caucus's authority to grant or withhold;

AND IT IS, THEREFORE, FURTHER RESOLVED that the [ ] Party will establish and maintain a process by which credible complaints regarding the antisemitic conduct, rhetoric, associations, or affiliations of [ ] candidates or officeholders may be submitted, reviewed, and acted upon consistent with the commitments set forth herein, and that the [ ] Party will make its findings and actions under this Resolution publicly available.

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The IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism, including its illustrative examples, is available at holocaustremembrance.com.