“As Jewish engagement director, my role is to maximize our efforts in the American Jewish community,” Aaron Keyak told The Jerusalem Post.
By OMRI NAHMIASAaron Keyak stands with Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden at a Jewish Leaders reception at the Naval Observatory Residence in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9, 2015(photo credit: OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO/DAVID LIENEMANN)
WASHINGTON – Last Friday, Joe Biden’s presidential campaign tapped Aaron Keyak, a longtime political strategist and consultant, as the campaign point man for Jewish outreach.Keyak is the managing partner and co-founder of Bluelight Strategies, a Washington-based consulting firm. He previously served as the communications director for Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and as the communications director and top Middle East adviser for former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ).“As Jewish engagement director, my role is to maximize our efforts in the American Jewish community,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “The interests of the American Jewish community are broad; we care about a lot of different issues.”He told the Post that Jewish Americans care about the US-Israel relationship, preventing nuclear-armed Iran, fighting antisemitism and a broad range of domestic issues.“So many Jewish Americans stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement,” he said. “We care about social justice, economic justice, immigration reform. And when we speak to Jewish Americans, we can’t just speak about one issue; we have to speak to everything that Jewish Americans care about.”While the Biden campaign is focused on six central battleground states, Keyak’s primary focus is expected to be Florida, where Jewish voters are some five percent of the population. He told the Post that Jewish voters are enthusiastic about casting their ballots in November.“Not only are Jewish Americans among the strongest supporters of Joe Biden, [when] you break down the vote, we also turn out at very high rates,” he said. “Part of the reason why he chose to run for president is because of what happened in Charlottesville. That’s his pitch to all American voters. When there were white supremacists, racists and Nazi sympathizers marching with tiki torches in Charlottesville, chanting ‘Jews will not replace us,’ that was horrific enough. As a Jew in America, I felt scared when I saw that,” said Keyak. “When we saw the president of the United States embolden them by saying, ‘there are very fine people on both sides,’ that is the first time I felt unsafe as a Jew in America in my lifetime. Joe Biden saw that not only as a threat to Jewish Americans but as a threat to the very core of what we mean as a country at the very core of our social fabric, that is central to the reason why he decided to run for president.”Some Jewish voters are worried about the far-left side of the party. Some representatives called to condition aid to Israel, and others even echoed antisemitic tropes. How will Joe Biden keep those forces from taking over the party? Can Jewish voters trust him on this issue?“Joe Biden has been outspoken against antisemitism on the left and on the right,” Keyak said. “It doesn’t matter what political party you’re voting for. And as far as conditioning aid, during the primary, when that came up for conversation, he was unequivocally against conditioning aid. He spoke very clearly about that. And he’s been clearly against BDS. He was part of the team that negotiated the largest aid package from the United States ever. They were wholly supportive of the iron dome. So he has been clear.”Earlier this week, a survey conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute found that more than half (56%) of Israelis think US President Donald Trump is the better candidate than the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to serve Israel’s future interests.Participants were asked: “From the standpoint of Israel’s interests, which, in your opinion, of the two candidates in the upcoming US presidential elections is preferable?”While 26% of interviewees said they did not have an opinion on the matter, more than half (56%) chose Trump, and the remaining 16% chose Biden.Asked how the US-Israel relationship would look like if Biden were elected, Keyak said: “I think Israelis understand that a stronger America is better for the US-Israel relationship. When you have a more well-respected ally on the international stage, it is not only good for America, but it’s good for Israel because it makes our relationship more valuable. And I think there’s no question that Joe Biden’s going to restore America’s leadership abroad.”The presumptive Democratic candidate said in April that he would keep the US embassy to Israel in Jerusalem. “The move shouldn’t have happened in the context as it did; it should happen in the context of a larger deal to help us achieve important concessions for peace in the process. But now that is done, I would not move the embassy back to Tel Aviv,” Biden said.Asked if Biden will undo any of Trump’s other decisions on Israel, such as recognizing the Golan Heights or the State Department’s announcement that settlements are not illegal per se, Keyak wouldn’t go into specifics. “He is strongly against annexation or unilateral actions by either side and will fight tirelessly for a two-state solution for the benefit of all parties,” he said.
