DAVID MARCUS: The 'Jewish question' becomes a needless distraction at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest

The vigor successful the country was much than a spot tense Friday nighttime successful Phoenix astatine a Shabbat meal held for attendees of TPUSA’s AmericaFest. About a mile distant successful the Convention Center, Steve Bannon was calling Ben Shapiro a cancer, underscoring a statement implicit Israel that is the conference's lone large distraction.

The combat is getting disfigured and emotional, and the underlying issue, arsenic always, it seems, is erstwhile does morganatic disapproval of the Jewish authorities of Israel transverse into antisemitism? It's a question cipher has ever truly known the reply to.

At the Shabbat dinner, respective speakers praised Shapiro’s opening nighttime Amfest code calling retired antisemitism and railed against Tucker Carlson’s rebuttal. But Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, who presided implicit the dinner, took a somewhat antithetic approach.

Wolicki, for the astir part, stuck to religion, praying, singing and explaining the powerfulness of the sabbath, which, arsenic it turns out, is besides the taxable of TPUSA laminitis Charlie Kirk’s latest and last book.

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I asked the rabbi astir Bannon’s remarks arsenic the meal coiled down, due to the fact that Wolicki is simply a person of his and regular impermanent connected his show. "I’ll speech to Steve," helium told me, eyes rolling a bit. But helium rapidly added, "Steve is not an antisemite."

Pretty overmuch astatine the nonstop infinitesimal I was talking to Wolicki, Megyn Kelly and Jack Posobiec were connected the mainstage astatine AmFest, wherever Kelly would accidental of Shapiro and caller CBS News caput honcho Bari Weiss, "It's astir Israel. Those 2 are precise pro-Israel, ardent activists, which is fine. But they don’t get to dictate however the remainder of america feel."

Ben Shapiro speaking astatine AmericaFest 2025 (Screenshot/TPUSA)

This is simply a statement successful which some sides are talking past each other. The critics of Israel, somewhat confoundingly, assertion they are not allowed to level specified criticism, adjacent arsenic they bash truthful successful beforehand of 25,000 attendees. The pro-Israel side, rightfully acrophobic implicit the caller emergence successful antisemitism, is sometimes seeing bigotry wherever it isn’t.

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To marque matters worse, radical connected some sides of this feud are calling for the excommunication of the different broadside from the blimpish movement, thing that, fixed the blimpish question has nary pope, is intolerable anyway.

If determination is immoderate bully quality successful each of this, it is that among the attendees of Amfest I person been speaking to, Israel hardly comes up astatine all, arsenic is besides my acquisition erstwhile I transverse the state talking to voters. Stanley, a 30-something from Ohio, told maine erstwhile I pressed the question, "it’s similar the past contented I deliberation about."

ALLENTOWN, PA - DECEMBER 16: US Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks astatine Uline Inc. connected December 16, 2025 astatine Lehigh Valley International Airport successful Allentown, Pennsylvania. Vance is flying to Pennsylvania, wherever helium is expected to marque remarks connected the system aboriginal successful the day. (Tom Brenner-Pool/Getty Images)

But that doesn’t mean this interior combat doesn’t person existent implications. President Donald Trump has been arsenic steadfast an state to Israel arsenic possible, but it is not wide that a imaginable President JD Vance, who is supported by astir of the Israel critics, would support specified fidelity.

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The full concern puts maine successful caput of the controversies that person ever swirled astir Shakespeare’s play "The Merchant of Venice."

In the aboriginal 1980s, some Patrick Stewart and David Suchet played the quality Shylock for the Royal Shakespeare Company nether the absorption of John Barton, and their superb performances could not disagree much connected the Jewish question.

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In a speech astir their approaches, Stewart, who is not a Jew, said that "Shylock is an alien who happens to beryllium Jewish." But Suchet, who is Jewish, contradicted this, saying "Shylock is an alien because he is simply a Jew."

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Something akin is happening astatine AmFest. The Israel critics look to judge that what they are saying has small oregon thing to bash with antisemitism, thing that, similar Suchet’s instrumentality connected Shylock, fewer Jewish radical tin truly accept.

Charlie Kirk shakes hands with President Donald Trump arsenic Trump speaks onstage astatine AmericaFest 2024 successful Phoenix, Arizona, connected Dec. 22, 2024. (Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images)

One fig that was mentioned by respective speakers astatine the Shabbat meal was 0.2%, which is the percent of the world’s colonisation that is Jewish. Perhaps much than immoderate different group, Jews unrecorded with a literal fearfulness of extinction.

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All of the large almighty and celebrated voices successful this dustup astatine AmFest would bash good to instrumentality the somesthesia down by a lot. Right now, it looks a batch similar jousting egos jostling for assemblage share, not an honorable treatment of differences.

Conservatives triumph erstwhile they are united, and determination is capable communal crushed connected Israel for unity, for comity to conquer chaos. Hopefully, successful the last 2 days of Amfest, the absorption tin beryllium connected what brings radical together, and not connected what divides them.

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