The Rally for Israel They Don’t Want You to See

Written by Jack Elbaum

What’s happening: More than 290,000 people recently filed into the National Mall to rally for Israel, for the hostages taken by Hamas, and against antisemitism. Politicians on both sides of the aisle made appearances to express support at the largest gathering of American Jews in history.

Bipartisanship: Support for Israel included both Republicans and Democrats as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Joni Ernst all spoke at the rally.

• Also: The Biden administration sent Deborah Lipstadt, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, to speak as well.

No problems: The event did not feature violent or angry chants, graffiti, or any form of violence. Attendees did not cover their faces. It was a significant contrast to some scenes at recent anti-Israel rallies, including one also in D.C.

• More: Israel supporters also displayed a significant amount of American patriotism at the rally. There were many American flags, attendees sang the National Anthem, and chants of “USA” could be heard.

Limited coverage: The rally was under-reported. And, in some coverage, the historic number of people was either omitted or played down by saying “thousands” or “tens of thousands” instead of the more accurate “hundreds of thousands.”

Why it matters: Many media outlets regularly cover pro-Palestinian demonstrations which often turn violent. But polls show most Americans support Israel, and the recent massive rally in D.C. further indicated as much.