Earlier this year, in a bid to reassure Jewish voters doubting the Democratic presidential candidate’s support for Israel, Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres and Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman publicly endorsed Kamala Harris, who then suffered a crushing loss to Donald Trump.

With the death of former President Jimmy Carter, 100, on December 29, there was a moment in his failed run for reelection in 1980 that resembled the 2024 presidential campaign. He shared the stage with the most outspoken supporters of Israel in the Democratic Party of his day.

“Throughout that 1980 presidential campaign, wherever Carter appeared, vocal Jewish protesters were likely to be waiting – and with the protesters came the media,” Larry Domnitch wrote in a Jewish Press opinion column in 2004.

A graduate of Yeshiva University, Domnitch was active in the movement for Soviet Jews and pro-Israel causes. He later worked as a Jewish history professor at Touro College before making aliyah.

In the 1980 presidential contest, Carter was trailing former California governor Ronald Reagan, who had name recognition resulting from his 1976 presidential run and movie career that preceded his entry into politics. While Reagan campaigned on the slogan of “morning in America,” Carter was blamed for abandoning Cold War allies such as the Shah of Iran, who was toppled by Islamic fundamentalists; and the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua, which was ousted by communist rebels. Domestically, economic stagnation and rising energy prices contributed to Carter’s electoral defeat.

His visit on October 11, 1980, to the Forest Hills Jewish Center was part of a larger attempt to secure the Jewish vote, which had been solidly favoring Democrats since the first election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Carter’s security detail quickly whisked him into the synagogue, as nearly a hundred Yeshiva University students jeered his arrival. A smaller number of activists sat in the audience, waiting for their moment to contradict Carter’s claims of support for Israel.

“I’m proud to have the support and the counsel of Senator Scoop Jackson. He is a tremendously effective fighter for a strong defense, for American energy security, for help to New York City and to other great cities, for the cause of Soviet Jewry, and for a strong and secure Israel,” Carter said in his opening remarks. Alongside Jackson, he was joined on the stage by Rabbi Ben Zion Bokser, Queens Borough President Donald Manes, Gov. Mario Cuomo, and Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

The latter was a revered figure among New York’s Jews, remembered fondly for his role as UN ambassador, when he forcefully rejected the resolution declaring Zionism equal to racism.

“I share with some of you the belief that Scoop Jackson would be or would have been a great President,” he added. “You might want to know that at the Democratic Convention in Miami in 1972, the person who nominated Senator Scoop Jackson for President of the United States was Governor Jimmy Carter.”

Jackson was also a beloved name among Jewish voters, best known as the coauthor of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, which conditioned improvement of economic relations with the right of Soviet Jews to emigrate.

On that crowded stage, they were also joined by local Reps. Ben Rosenthal, Joe Addabbo Sr., Geraldine Ferraro, and Mario Biaggi, all of whom had strong records of support on Jewish matters.

“I want the people of Forest Hills and of Queens to know exactly where I stand on these crucial issues,” Carter said.

“Let there be no doubt where I stand. The United States opposes and I oppose any PLO state. The United States of America will never recognize nor negotiate with the PLO as long as it refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist and refuses to accept UN Resolution 242. The United States does not deal with organizations which attempt to accomplish their objectives by means of terrorism. Terrorism is a crime against decency and humanity.”

In truth, Carter sought to undermine Israel’s gains from the Yom Kippur War of 1973, not only by returning the entirety of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt, but also to include other Israeli-occupied territories in the Camp David Accords, with input from the Soviet Union and recognition of Palestinian autonomy. Despite the ban on meeting with terrorist groups, Carter’s Ambassador to the UN Andrew Young secretly met with Yasser Arafat.

In his role as an unofficial diplomat after losing his reelection run, Carter traveled the world, promoting dialogue between despots and dissidents, attempting to prevent conflicts with an idealism that alienated, and in some cases, endangered America’s allies.

He first met Arafat in 1990, helping to promote an image of the terrorist as a political moderate ahead of the Madrid Peace Conference. In 2006, he wrote the book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, a catchy title designed to isolate Israel from the community of democratic nations. In 2015, he met with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, in an attempt to reconcile Hamas with Fatah and demonstrate that Hamas was willing to recognize Israel.

Carter then spoke of Holocaust remembrance, having founded the commission that built the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, and rooting out Nazi war criminals who immigrated to this country under false pretenses.

“After 40 years of Government inaction I set up a special unit in the Department of Justice to root out Nazi war criminals who may be in hiding in the United States. The Congress has appropriated $2.8 million especially for this task.”

After mentioning his support for Soviet Jewish emigration, Carter was heckled and quickly returned to the subject of Israel.

“This President will never use economic and military aid to Israel as a lever against Israel, not in the last four years, not now, and not in the next four years.” He added that Israel is a “major strategic asset” and reiterated that he does not seek to divide Jerusalem.

He then spoke about defending Israel at international forums, and the normalization of relations between Israel and Egypt leading to a “broader peace.”

Carter finished his speech with domestic matters, arguing that Reagan opposed federal funding for mass transit, reduction of nuclear weapons, public healthcare, the Equal Rights Amendment, and reducing oil imports.

“New York City and the Borough of Queens are very important in this effort. Your influence can go throughout the United States,” he concluded.

As was the case in 1980, the “World’s Borough” gave most of its vote to the Democratic contender, but a closer look revealed an uptick for Republican Donald Trump, exceeding his previous two presidential runs.

In neighborhoods populated by Persian Jews, anger over Carter’s abandonment of the Shah was exacerbated by the Obama administration’s nuclear agreement and Biden’s attempts to limit Israel’s military resolve. Orthodox Jewish voters recognized the difference between the words of Democrats concerning an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the actions of Republicans who made this recognition official and relocated the embassy. Russian Jewish voters remembered Reagan’s tough words against the Soviet Union and the direct language used by Trump, easily understanding where Republicans stood in regard to foreign adversaries.

“Perhaps there was something that awakened some longtime Jewish Democrats,” Domnitch wrote. “Perhaps the protesters prompted many in the Jewish community to think twice about automatically pulling the lever for a Democrat. One thing was clear: More Jews were now willing to cross party lines and choose a candidate based on his policies and views rather than his party affiliation.”

As we transition to a new civil year, it is glaringly transparent that many remain deliberately oblivious to lurking threats and dangers.

Whistleblowers are never appreciated, and their warnings almost inevitably fall on deaf ears. Usually, denial follows predictions of calamitous outcomes and if this does not succeed in sowing doubts, attacks on the character and veracity of the person concerned follows.

Denial of reality takes many forms.

One of the favourite techniques is to accuse those issuing warnings of gross exaggeration. This is always the first line taken by establishment bodies and is designed to calm a nervous public. This is how the rise of Nazi and Fascist powers and parties in the 1930’s was at first minimized.

When Jabotinsky and others repeatedly sounded the alarm and urged Jews in Poland and elsewhere in Europe to get out as fast as possible they were pilloried for sowing panic and exaggerated claims. In fact, they were accused by socialist opponents of being fascists themselves.

When Mosley and his black shirts whipped up the Jew-hating mobs in the UK, the Board of Deputies urged taking a low profile and not confronting the looming menace. It was only the determined physical efforts of the East End working class Jews and the trade unions which in the end put paid to Mosley’s nefarious plans.

The American Jewish establishment took a shamefully “hands off” attitude to the rising spectre of Nazi Germany. “Don’t rock the boat” and a fear of confronting FDR were hallmarks of their agenda. By the time they were shamed into taking a more militant approach it was too late.

One would think that given the benefit of hindsight, lessons may have been learnt in order to avert similar tragedies.

Surveying the world scene today unfortunately leads one to the sad conclusion that for far too many the same old failed road is being traversed once again.

It is obvious, except to the most oblivious, that a safe Jewish life is becoming increasingly unsustainable in many countries.

Demographic decline precipitated by dire economic conditions or increasingly dangerous threats against Jews will be a feature of the incoming year in many countries.

In places like Ireland and South Africa, whose Governments are now joined at the hip in their implacable hatred of Israel and Zionists, the threats to Jewish life are increasing. Living in a bubble of denial is no longer a safe strategy. Most of Europe is rapidly becoming inhospitable for Jews. Trying to resurrect and sustain a meaningful Jewish life in places where the soil is soaked by millennia of hate is a losing proposition. The horror stories I hear from my ex-French neighbours leave no doubt about the fatal trajectory facing Jews in that country. Scandinavia will soon be overwhelmed by jihadist violence and Dutch Jews are staring disaster in the face. UK Jews face increasing hostility.

Canadian Jews, under current circumstances, are facing increasing violence while animosity against Zionists and Jews is increasing in the USA. Most of South America is no longer hospitable towards Jews. Australia unbelievably has also caught the hate virus and continuing delegitimization of Israel’s war on terror will only add fuel to the rising flames. Even New Zealand, where Jews constitute a minuscule minority, has an increasingly virulent anti-Israel climate encouraged by Governments that vote against and condemn Israel at the UN every Monday and Thursday.

Nobody has a crystal ball, and therefore, it is impossible to predict whether some of these countries will actually grasp the nettle and make some hard decisions in 2025. These include actually enforcing laws against incitement and hate. It includes police forces actually acting forcefully against unlawful demonstrations and prosecuting those supporting already proscribed terror groups. Will those preaching and teaching vile hate be arrested? Will Jews be allowed to fly the Israel flag without being accused of upsetting the haters? Will the police disperse intimidating mobs instead of sneaking Jews out the back door of Synagogues and telling them to hide visible Jewish symbols and clothing?

The automatic knee-jerk reaction of minimizing the looming dangers will no doubt be forthcoming. Head-in-the-sand policies will not help.

In recent days there have been some more manifestations of situations which are worthy of note.

Millions of Christians worldwide face Islamist assaults. Instead of dealing with this threat the Pope prefers to target the perfidious Jews who have the audacity to fight back against jihadist terror.

He is in the same boat as the UN Secretary General, whose blind obsession against the Jewish State has become a weekly scandal.

For the last week or so, millions of Israelis have been sent rushing to their safe rooms and air raid shelters in the middle of the night as the Houthis launch long-range missiles at Israeli cities and towns. These projectiles are supplied by Iran who no doubt also offers logistical support. Not content to disrupt international shipping with piratical attacks the Iranian proxies seem determined to wage war against Israel.

Israel has already retaliated and no doubt will sooner rather than later send a sterner message. Obviously oblivious to reality or perhaps fatally infected with the anti-Israel virus, the UN Secretary-General condemned Israel’s responses. He called it “alarming.”

The only real alarming factor is the willful blindness of the UN.

Proving that immunity to common sense is a widespread phenomenon among certain leftist circles is the reaction of some Israelis. These champions of political correctness stated that Israel should not “go it alone” against the Houthis. We should in their considered opinion wait for an international response. Anything further detached from reality would be hard to find. If Israel had in the past waited for an international response to Islamic terror it would no longer be around.

The Dutch King, in his Christmas message, pleaded with Jews to stay in the Netherlands. That is like pleading with the passengers of the Titanic to remain on the vessel because help was on the way. His plea to the beleaguered Jews of Holland was balanced by his guarantee to Muslims that “this is your country.” Either he is oblivious to the Jew-hunting jihadist mobs roaming the streets of his country, or he is making a futile attempt at appeasement.

As 20 January looms the symptoms of Trump derangement syndrome become more apparent.

For genetic Democrat supporters, of which at least 70% of American Jews qualify, the prospect of four years of a Trump Administration is like a nightmare. It is impossible to even mention the prospect to many as they seem to have succumbed to some sort of political depression and denial.

No doubt the late President Carter will be remembered for many achievements. For most Israelis, however, his legacy is somewhat tainted. The peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was more the result of Sadat and Begin taking bold steps for which the former ultimately paid the price. Carter will be remembered in Israel as facilitating the demise of the Shah and the ascendency of the Mullahs. We are still paying the bitter price of Carter’s disastrous Iranian policies. His subsequent diatribes against Israel have resulted in the apartheid lies flourishing and BDS taking root among the brainwashed masses.

If you want a perfect example of how oblivious detachment can lead to hallucinatory nightmares, look no further than this week’s claim by Joe Biden. He stated in all seriousness that if he had remained the Democratic Party candidate, he would have easily defeated Donald Trump.

Buckle up for a wild rollercoaster as the new year launches.