For British Columbia’s Jewish community, this is a time of electoral ups and downs. Municipal elections brought big changes to Vancouver’s political landscape. The provincial election swept out a government with which some Jewish voters had a complicated relationship, replacing it with a largely unfamiliar cast of characters. This week, Israel voted amid profound uncertainty and anticipation. And, next week, American voters will determine the political direction of the world’s second-largest home to Jews and Israel’s most important ally.
The implications of these elections are mixed.
Vancouver’s municipal election delivered perhaps the most immediate apprehension. The defeat of Ken Sim and the near-total elimination of ABC Vancouver from city council represent a dramatic change. A substantial majority of incoming councilors endorsed, fully or partially, the Vote Palestine platform, raising legitimate questions about how the new administration will approach issues of particular concern to Jewish residents.
Especially troubling is the composition of the incoming Vancouver School Board, where trustees associated with strongly anti-Israel political positions will exercise authority over an institution responsible for the well-being of the city’s children. At a time when Jewish students are experiencing heightened anxiety, harassment and hostility, Jewish parents deserve assurances that their children will be protected, that antisemitism will be recognized in all its manifestations, and that classrooms will not become vehicles for political activism, including antizionism.
Provincially, the resounding Conservative victory presents a different set of uncertainties.
The NDP government’s relationship with the Jewish community was complicated, and sometimes deeply strained. Many Jewish British Columbians have a long history inside of NDP politics, but the treatment of former cabinet minister Selina Robinson, whose removal from cabinet and subsequent departure from the NDP caucus became a flashpoint over antisemitism, left lingering resentment among many. The party’s perceived failure to respond adequately to rising antisemitism and antizionism across the province further eroded confidence in some quarters.
Yet the arrival of a Conservative government does not necessarily resolve these worries. The Conservatives’ enormous new caucus includes many individuals about whom the public knows comparatively little. The party has also attracted candidates and personalities whose views raise legitimate questions about its ideological breadth, extremism, and the new government’s future direction.
The challenge for the incoming administration will be to demonstrate that its commitment to combating antisemitism is matched by a commitment to pluralism, democratic institutions and the protection of minorities generally. Jewish security cannot be separated from the broader health of a society in which everyone enjoys equal rights and protections.
Beyond Canada’s borders, the uncertainty is scarcely less pronounced. Israel’s election took place amid extraordinary political, social and security challenges. Whatever the immediate results, the mathematics of coalition-building could produce prolonged negotiations, unstable alliances or another election (or even a series of inconclusive elections).
For Israelis exhausted by years of political upheaval, war and profound internal divisions, another period of ambiguity is hardly reassuring. The country needs leadership capable of addressing urgent security concerns while rebuilding public confidence and healing deep societal fractures.
And then come the American midterm elections on Nov. 3. The outcome will influence the balance of power in Washington, the direction of American foreign policy and the political environment in which questions of antisemitism, Israel and Jewish security are debated.
Neither American political party has a monopoly on wisdom or a spotless record in confronting antisemitism within its ranks or in American society. The increasingly polarized political environment has created uncomfortable alliances and contradictions across the ideological spectrum. Jewish voters and others concerned about Israel’s security have reason to scrutinize candidates and policies rather than rely unquestioningly on partisan labels. And many Jews may not want to become single-issue voters with so much at stake at home and abroad, with issues spanning the US economy, the pace of technological change, the status of minorities and immigrant communities, and government corruption.
What are we to make of this dizzying succession of elections?
The electoral tea leaves offer neither unqualified reassurance nor grounds for despair. Some developments raise serious concerns. Others may create opportunities. Most elected officials will be judged less by campaign promises than by the decisions they make when confronted with difficult choices.
Jewish history offers ample reminders that political circumstances can shift dramatically, and that security, acceptance and belonging must never be taken for granted. It also demonstrates an extraordinary capacity for resilience, adaptation and renewal. That history is not an invitation to complacency. Quite the opposite.
The appropriate response to uncertainty is neither withdrawal nor fatalism, but vigilance, engagement and constructive activism. Jewish communities and their allies must continue building relationships, holding elected representatives and public institutions accountable, challenging prejudice wherever it appears and insisting that democratic principles apply equally to everyone.
Elections may determine who holds office. What happens between elections determines what kind of society we become.
