Ads targeting Nassau, Suffolk candidates criticized as antisemitic
Political mailers targeting Democratic candidates Jon Kaiman, Josh Lafazan and Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief have been criticized as antisemitic. Credit: James Escher
Political campaign ads targeting some Nassau and Suffolk candidates in the Nov. 7 election are being criticized as antisemitic because of images that fuel stereotypes of Jewish people.
An ad paid for by the Nassau County Republican Committee depicts the likeness of Legis. Josh Lafazan (D-Woodbury) with fistfuls of $100 bills, his teeth elongated and yellowed, his nose enlarged and a plume of smoke above his head that forms shadows in the shape of horns. Another ad, paid for by the New York State Republican Committee, shows Lafazan on the back of a dollar bill and accuses him of "enriching himself and scheming to get ahead."
Lafazan, a Democrat, is Jewish and in a hotly contested 18th District race against Republican challenger Samantha Goetz.
Another GOP mailer paid for by the State Republican Committee targets Democrat Jon Kaiman, who is seeking to reclaim the North Hempstead supervisor seat he held for 10 years. The ad shows Kaiman with fistfuls of cash under the words "high taxes & corruption." Kaiman faces incumbent Supervisor Jen DeSena, a registered Democrat running as a Republican, in the election.
Democrats say the ads use hurtful, centuries-old tropes linking Jewish people to money at a time of increasing reports of antisemitism and hate speech since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Republicans say the mailers were created without knowledge of candidates' religion or ethnicities and were meant to illustrate greed and corruption.
The ads are particularly offensive, Democrats said, as those with close ties to Israel are grieving over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“This is certainly not the first time I have faced antisemitism in my life but it certainly is the first time I faced it in any campaign,” said Lafazan, 29, who has been running for public office since he was elected to the Syosset school board at the end of his senior year of high school.
Kaiman, a deputy county executive in Suffolk and head of Suffolk's antisemitism task force, said the flyers "are part of a larger effort" by Republicans, and during a time of heightened sensitivity "we should be taking extra precautions not to cross those lines."
“I look at their entire approach as presenting an extremely negative and inappropriate campaign — adding an element of deeper dog whistles and tropes. It is unfortunately not surprising, but it is disturbing,” Kaiman said.
Nassau GOP spokesman Mike Deery issued a statement calling the claims of antisemitism "insincere and specious."
"The Republican Party has no knowledge of the religion that either of the candidates in question observe. Nor do we associate illustrations of greedy and corrupt politicians holding money with any ethnic group, race or religion," the statement said.
Both Lafazan and Kaiman said they had heard from constituents who thought the ads were questionable and offensive. The newly redrawn 18th Legislative District and Town of North Hempstead are home to large numbers of Jewish residents.
It's not clear whether Lafazan and Kaiman are the only two Democratic candidates targeted by the mailers. Nassau County Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said he was unaware of any others.
He called the ads targeting the two men "either recklessly negligent or motivated by the worst aspects of hate."
"It amazes me with all that's going on in the world that this is still something Republican candidates are resorting to in order to win elections," Jacobs said. "I think it's disgraceful. I think they need to think long and hard about where their moral center is. I think it's evaporating when they put out ads like these."
Experts on antisemitism who reviewed the ads said they relied on longtime prejudices about Jewish people.
"It just taps into stereotypes of various antisemitic tropes of Jews possessing undue influence through money, Jews exerting control and Jewish corruption," said Maurice Samuels, director of Yale University's Program for the Study of Antisemitism.
“Most people looking at this would come to the conclusion that there is a kind of connecting of Jews with money-grubbing here," Ira Sheskin, a leading Jewish demographer and geography professor with the University of Miami, said. "You don't take someone who is Jewish and have them hold wads of cash."
Ayal Feinberg, director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College in Philadelphia and an associate professor of political science and antisemitism studies, called the ads "insensitive."
“In a vacuum it’s hard to say that these mailers are antisemitic, but they’re definitely insensitive," Feinberg said. "I think a case could be made that antisemitism is playing a role here depending on how other mailers have been designed by the same groups that have issues.”
Hofstra University political science professor Richard Himelfarb said Democrats were "really going far afield here in charging antisemitism."
“I have seen dozens of overtly antisemitic statements, antisemitic acts and antisemitic incidents in the last two weeks. Whatever is purported to be going on in these mailers wouldn’t make the top 500 of things that I have seen as horribly offensive," Himelfarb said.
In Suffolk County, a mailer targeting Eve Meltzer-Krief, a Democratic candidate in the 18th Legislative District who is Jewish, shows a photo of her with piles of cash below her face. Meltzer-Krief is challenging incumbent Republican Stephanie Bontempi.
"As a Jewish woman that was the first thing that jumped out," said Shoshana Hershkowitz, leader of the Suffolk chapter of the Working Families Party, which endorsed Meltzer-Krief in the race.
Suffolk County GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia said the same mailer, paid for by the county GOP committee, was used to target other Democrats in about a half-dozen Suffolk races this election cycle.
Asked about criticism that the ads are antisemitic, Garcia said, "I don't accept the premise."
He said Republicans' message in the ads "is very simple" and attempts to show Democrats are "raising property taxes, raising sales taxes, taking money out of people’s pockets," Garcia said.
"Images of cash are used by both political parties in any and all races," Garcia said.
Suffolk Democratic chairman Rich Schaffer declined to comment on the mailers.
Hershkowitz said even though the same ad targets nonJewish candidates, seeing the Meltzer-Krief mailer "was very upsetting."
Meltzer-Krief, a pediatrician and Harborfields school board member, did not directly address the content of the mailers.
In a statement, she said, ”I’m not focused on the hateful rhetoric coming from Republicans, I’m focused on working hard to let voters know my plans as a legislator to protect us all by cleaning up our water and safeguarding our tax dollars. I have always worked hard at bringing people together and will continue to be a unifying voice in the legislature to embrace our diversity and stand against hate of any kind."
Political campaign ads targeting some Nassau and Suffolk candidates in the Nov. 7 election are being criticized as antisemitic because of images that fuel stereotypes of Jewish people.
An ad paid for by the Nassau County Republican Committee depicts the likeness of Legis. Josh Lafazan (D-Woodbury) with fistfuls of $100 bills, his teeth elongated and yellowed, his nose enlarged and a plume of smoke above his head that forms shadows in the shape of horns. Another ad, paid for by the New York State Republican Committee, shows Lafazan on the back of a dollar bill and accuses him of "enriching himself and scheming to get ahead."
Lafazan, a Democrat, is Jewish and in a hotly contested 18th District race against Republican challenger Samantha Goetz.
Another GOP mailer paid for by the State Republican Committee targets Democrat Jon Kaiman, who is seeking to reclaim the North Hempstead supervisor seat he held for 10 years. The ad shows Kaiman with fistfuls of cash under the words "high taxes & corruption." Kaiman faces incumbent Supervisor Jen DeSena, a registered Democrat running as a Republican, in the election.
Democrats say the ads use hurtful, centuries-old tropes linking Jewish people to money at a time of increasing reports of antisemitism and hate speech since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Republicans say the mailers were created without knowledge of candidates' religion or ethnicities and were meant to illustrate greed and corruption.
The ads are particularly offensive, Democrats said, as those with close ties to Israel are grieving over the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“This is certainly not the first time I have faced antisemitism in my life but it certainly is the first time I faced it in any campaign,” said Lafazan, 29, who has been running for public office since he was elected to the Syosset school board at the end of his senior year of high school.
Kaiman, a deputy county executive in Suffolk and head of Suffolk's antisemitism task force, said the flyers "are part of a larger effort" by Republicans, and during a time of heightened sensitivity "we should be taking extra precautions not to cross those lines."
“I look at their entire approach as presenting an extremely negative and inappropriate campaign — adding an element of deeper dog whistles and tropes. It is unfortunately not surprising, but it is disturbing,” Kaiman said.
GOP: Religion played no role
Nassau GOP spokesman Mike Deery issued a statement calling the claims of antisemitism "insincere and specious."
"The Republican Party has no knowledge of the religion that either of the candidates in question observe. Nor do we associate illustrations of greedy and corrupt politicians holding money with any ethnic group, race or religion," the statement said.
Both Lafazan and Kaiman said they had heard from constituents who thought the ads were questionable and offensive. The newly redrawn 18th Legislative District and Town of North Hempstead are home to large numbers of Jewish residents.
It's not clear whether Lafazan and Kaiman are the only two Democratic candidates targeted by the mailers. Nassau County Democratic chairman Jay Jacobs said he was unaware of any others.
He called the ads targeting the two men "either recklessly negligent or motivated by the worst aspects of hate."
"It amazes me with all that's going on in the world that this is still something Republican candidates are resorting to in order to win elections," Jacobs said. "I think it's disgraceful. I think they need to think long and hard about where their moral center is. I think it's evaporating when they put out ads like these."
Some experts see stereotyping
Experts on antisemitism who reviewed the ads said they relied on longtime prejudices about Jewish people.
"It just taps into stereotypes of various antisemitic tropes of Jews possessing undue influence through money, Jews exerting control and Jewish corruption," said Maurice Samuels, director of Yale University's Program for the Study of Antisemitism.
“Most people looking at this would come to the conclusion that there is a kind of connecting of Jews with money-grubbing here," Ira Sheskin, a leading Jewish demographer and geography professor with the University of Miami, said. "You don't take someone who is Jewish and have them hold wads of cash."
Ayal Feinberg, director of the Center for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights at Gratz College in Philadelphia and an associate professor of political science and antisemitism studies, called the ads "insensitive."
“In a vacuum it’s hard to say that these mailers are antisemitic, but they’re definitely insensitive," Feinberg said. "I think a case could be made that antisemitism is playing a role here depending on how other mailers have been designed by the same groups that have issues.”
Hofstra University political science professor Richard Himelfarb said Democrats were "really going far afield here in charging antisemitism."
“I have seen dozens of overtly antisemitic statements, antisemitic acts and antisemitic incidents in the last two weeks. Whatever is purported to be going on in these mailers wouldn’t make the top 500 of things that I have seen as horribly offensive," Himelfarb said.
An ad in Suffolk
In Suffolk County, a mailer targeting Eve Meltzer-Krief, a Democratic candidate in the 18th Legislative District who is Jewish, shows a photo of her with piles of cash below her face. Meltzer-Krief is challenging incumbent Republican Stephanie Bontempi.
"As a Jewish woman that was the first thing that jumped out," said Shoshana Hershkowitz, leader of the Suffolk chapter of the Working Families Party, which endorsed Meltzer-Krief in the race.
Suffolk County GOP Chairman Jesse Garcia said the same mailer, paid for by the county GOP committee, was used to target other Democrats in about a half-dozen Suffolk races this election cycle.
Asked about criticism that the ads are antisemitic, Garcia said, "I don't accept the premise."
He said Republicans' message in the ads "is very simple" and attempts to show Democrats are "raising property taxes, raising sales taxes, taking money out of people’s pockets," Garcia said.
"Images of cash are used by both political parties in any and all races," Garcia said.
Suffolk Democratic chairman Rich Schaffer declined to comment on the mailers.
Hershkowitz said even though the same ad targets nonJewish candidates, seeing the Meltzer-Krief mailer "was very upsetting."
Meltzer-Krief, a pediatrician and Harborfields school board member, did not directly address the content of the mailers.
In a statement, she said, ”I’m not focused on the hateful rhetoric coming from Republicans, I’m focused on working hard to let voters know my plans as a legislator to protect us all by cleaning up our water and safeguarding our tax dollars. I have always worked hard at bringing people together and will continue to be a unifying voice in the legislature to embrace our diversity and stand against hate of any kind."
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
