Scott Wiener has long been one of San Francisco’s most progressive politicians. He is a Democratic state senator, a champion of LGBTQ rights, and a Jewish public official who has repeatedly distanced himself from mainstream pro-Israel politics.
Wiener pledged not to take money from AIPAC, backed a two-state solution, voted against U.S. military funding for Israel, and later adopted the language of “genocide” under pressure from anti-Israel activists.
But none of that protected him.
As Wiener launched his run for Congress, he was confronted by activists who accused him of being controlled by “Zionist handlers” and attacked him over a “tainted bloodline.” That is not criticism of Israel. It is antisemitism.
His case shows how anti-Zionist politics on the left can slide into something much older and uglier: the idea that Jews are suspect, disloyal, contaminated, or secretly powerful.
Wiener spent years trying to appease the movement now targeting him. But for antisemites, there is no amount of political conformity that makes a Jew acceptable.
That is the danger of a movement that excuses Jew-hatred as activism. Eventually, the purity test comes for everyone.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
