Silverman: Israelis have hard decisions to make. So do Americans

We start another new year after solemn October 7 remembrances, with the world still on edge. Here in Colorado, we gathered at Denver’s Temple Emanuel for a 10/7 Commemoration: From Darkness to Light. As we marked the grim anniversary, two other dates ran through my mind: Jan. 6, 2021, and Nov. 5, 2024.

For democracy and the light to survive, MAGA must be rejected at the ballot box. Donald Trump’s latest bloodline argument about immigrants born with criminal genes is beyond dangerous. Isn’t that what Adolph Hitler and Jefferson Davis espoused? Aren’t all humans created equal? 

Trump directly attacks democracy when he talks about rigged elections. Confronting his big election lies could become illegal if he gains power. Every top Republican goes along. With prison awaiting, Trump will lie, cheat, intimidate and use violence to claim victory. JD Vance will assist.

Colorado’s Jenna Ellis cast doubt on election integrity wherever Trump lost in 2020. Her law license is suspended for lying for Trump on Denver talk radio and elsewhere. Near the end of last week’s vice presidential debate, Vance, a Yale-trained attorney, wouldn’t answer when asked who won the 2020 election. 

Perfectly incredulous as he listened, Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz expertly declared, “That is a damning non-answer.” Even more damning, Vance now claims Trump won.

Vance parrots and sells the agendas of Trump, billionaires and religious zealots. Charlatans around the world peddle their lies, wrapped in flags and holy books. Trump Bibles are now Oklahoma-approved.

Last week in central Michigan, Trump mused, “You know, last time, last election, we did great in 2016. A lot of people don’t know we did much better in 2020. We won. We won. We did win. It was a rigged election. You have to tell Kamala Harris that’s why I’m doing it again.” Trump is demanding an election mulligan!

Sewing unwarranted doubts about our elections is a direct assault on democracy and a path few politicians before Trump ever attempted. As we’ve seen with Hurricane Helene and countless occasions, Trump sees every disaster as a transactional opportunity for himself.

When it comes to Israel and Jews, he thinks giving his blessing to the right-wing and corrupt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago and giving billionaire donor Miriam Adelson a medal should earn him American Jewish voter support. 

Trump says he will be disappointed if he gets only 40% of the Jewish-American vote. He should prepare for massive disappointment. Trump has better hopes of winning Muslim-American voters.

Mayor Amer Ghalib of Muslim-majority Hamtramck, Michigan, has endorsed Trump for president after a private meeting with him. Many Michigan Muslims are understandably outraged over the enormous casualties in Gaza and blame the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel. 

A month ago, a Council on American-Islamic Relations poll found that Kamala Harris had the support of just 12% of Muslim voters in Michigan, compared to 18% for Trump and 40% for Jill Stein, the Green Party’s harsh critic of Israel. However, on Monday, 25 Islamic religious leaders told Muslim voters to think logically about their voting decisions, and backing Harris “far outweighs the harms of the other options.”

At the outset of his recent debate, Walz was understandably flustered when asked about Israel’s next military move. Retaliation for October 7, and approximately 200 deadly missiles Iran shot at Tel Aviv last week, is not Coach Walz’s call. That’s also not a decision for Trump, who always professes to have all the answers. 

It is especially disturbing to hear Trump’s big lies repeated on October 7 and the Jewish High Holidays. Why must history repeat itself so frequently and foolishly? Team Trump and its media allies pump out relentless propaganda. 

Nazis popularized the concept of the Big Lie to justify the murder of one-third of all Jewish people on Earth. On Sept. 29-30, 1941, Nazi forces and Russian collaborators massacred 33,771 Jews at Babi Yar, a ravine near Kyiv, Ukraine.

Jews were ordered to gather at a collection point, bringing valuables and warm clothing under the pretense of resettlement. Instead, they were marched to the ravine, forced to undress and shot in groups in a giant burial pit. 

We gathered again at Denver’s Babi Yar Park two weeks ago. The theme was “The Courage to Bear Witness,” with a special address by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. Numerous organizations sponsored the event, but most prominent, as usual, was the support of Colorado philanthropist Larry Mizel, a friend of Ron DeSantis and Miriam Adelson. Larry Mizel has always been friendly to me, too. 

The Colorado Sun reported that Mizel and former Sen. Cory Gardner (another former friend of mine) are holding a giant Denver fundraiser for Vance on Tuesday. In mid-August, Mizel hosted Trump for Aspen, Colorado, gold. I was not invited, and I’m not a billionaire.

I’m one of those pesky anti-MAGA attorney detractors and pundits for whom he’s promised retribution. But this is far beyond any personal danger. Enabling Trump’s efforts now is endangering America and the future of my children. 

If he’d been there at Babi Yar Park, Mizel would’ve gotten an earful from me, as he had the year prior. But this year, my frustration has increased. Mizel has not returned my call from two weeks ago.

I’d have told Larry that Trump’s big lies threaten democracy. Damning further Big Lie 2020 election-denial details are in the latest Jack Smith pleading. 

Trump proclaimed that Jews would be to blame if he loses. He’s threatened mental examinations of any seniors, Jews and Catholics who don’t vote for Trump. 

Lengthy incarceration is promised to lawyers and pundits. Trump publicly promotes police violence against shoplifters. How can any lawyer who took an oath to the Constitution support that? Mizel graduated from DU Law in 1967. Gardner graduated from CU Law in 2001.

Trump is petty and transactional about everything, including Israel. He ridiculed Netanyahu for congratulating Joe Biden following his election. President Biden is a self-declared American Zionist. Trump is not.

As Vice President Kamala Harris told “60 Minutes,” Israel is America’s ally. That does not mean we have to like Netanyahu and his disgusting right-wing religious coalition partners. 

On this grim anniversary, many American and Israeli Jews remain Hamas hostages. Rockets keep flying at Israel. Never again will Israel suffer such horrors without reprisal. Iran, which uses Hamas and Hezbollah as its proxies, wants death for Israel. And America.

Now that the October 7 massacre has been memorialized, and Israel’s retribution against Iran seems imminent; I focus on Jan. 6 and Nov. 5 and the need to maintain democracy in America.

These Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur demand introspection and repentance. Israelis and Americans must make critical voting decisions. Let’s vote for better leaders — and democracy.

Craig Silverman is a former Denver chief deputy DA. Craig is columnist at large for The Colorado Sun and an active Colorado trial lawyer with Craig Silverman Law, LLC. He also hosts The Craig Silverman Show podcast.

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