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Jacob Helberg: wokeness ‘driving generational realignment’

The Democratic Party impugns conservatives, while Republicans are unified and focused on substance, the political donor told JNS.

Jacob Helberg. Credit: Courtesy.
Jacob Helberg. Credit: Courtesy.

A member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent U.S. federal agency, Jacob Helberg is a senior adviser to the CEO of the multi-billion-dollar software company Palantir Technologies.

Helberg, who is Jewish, donated heavily to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign but recently left the Democratic party, citing its record on Jew-hatred. He has reportedly donated more than $1 million to Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

“On American Jewish Heritage Month, American Jews who still support Biden should have their heads examined,” he wrote on May 9. “If you support Israel, there’s only one choice in this election.”

Helberg, who is author of the 2021 book The Wires of War: Technology and the Global Struggle for Power, spoke to JNS about his former party, antisemitism and former president Trump.

Q: Is the Democratic Party beyond reform in your mind?

A: The Democratic Party I was a part of abandoned the principles of individual freedom, free enterprise and meritocracy. 

The Democratic Party forgot its founding principles and allowed themselves to become governed by a woke, progressive ideology that substitutes merit with amorphous and often arbitrary concepts of identity and fairness. Perhaps more pernicious, modern-day progressivism paints a worldview that divides the world into oppressors and oppressees. 

Today, this woke ideology is driving a generational realignment around the country, with millennials, technology founders, gays and Jewish Americans moving away from Democrats and toward President Trump and the Republican Party. 

The media and elite liberal circles forget this election boils down to one thing: substance. While the Democratic Party is driven by identity politics and impugning the motives and character of conservatives, the Republican Convention last week demonstrated the party is unified and focused on substance and common-sense policies.

Republicans are focused on ending the crisis at the southern border, supporting allies like Israel, reinstituting maximum pressure campaigns on our enemies like Iran and unleashing a pro-innovation agenda to ensure we have the strongest military, re-industrialize the heartland and make America first in artificial intelligence. 

Q: President Trump’s stances on foreign policy often hinge on or are impacted by his personal relationships. Are you concerned any disintegration or lack of relationship with a current or future Israeli leader could impact Trump’s support should he win back the White House?

A: President Trump is by far the most pro-Israel President in history. Anyone who cares about Israel recognizes that. He moved our embassy to Jerusalem, recognized the Golan Heights, signed the historic Abraham Accords to help strengthen the U.S.-Israel alliance structure in the Middle East, instituted a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, and, at every step of the way, always had Israel’s back. 

In the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre and in the rise of antisemitism on college campuses across the U.S., I have no doubt that President Trump’s support for Israel will be just as resolute. 

When you look at the alternative, President Biden and Vice President Harris have set in motion a gradual unraveling of the U.S.-Israel alliance. President Biden and Vice President Harris have both declined to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington this week. (Ed. note: Both of their staffs have since reportedly said that they plan to meet with Netanyahu.) 

While Vice President Harris provides Ukraine with unconditional support, she routinely criticizes Israel and insists on a ceasefire in Gaza before the eradication of Hamas. 

Her staff has even gone as far as calling for cutting off arms transfers to Israel. There is no absolutely no doubt in my mind that a President Harris would preface the end of the U.S.-Israel alliance.

Q: When there is discussion of China, very rarely is the antisemitism that permeates from the country discussed. Obviously, there is a national security impact to banning TikTok. How much did the antisemitism come up in your discussions with both parties in trying to get the TikTok forced sale or ban enacted?

A: The rampant antisemitism we saw on TikTok in the wake of the horrific Oct. 7 attacks awoke Americans to a real-time illustration of how the Chinese Communist Party uses the platform as a weapon of Chinese Communist Party state propaganda.

Oct. 7 helped many people wake up to the fact that TikTok isn’t just a platform for silly dance videos—it’s the biggest source of news for more than half of Gen Z. And it is controlled by our biggest adversary.

As TikTok—and more importantly its algorithm—is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, we are giving our foremost adversary the ability to censor free speech and push propaganda. Thankfully, the bipartisan bill passed by Congress now makes this a settled issue.

Q: Regarding Palantir’s upgraded January agreement with the Israeli Defense Ministry, what can you say publicly? What kind of impact has it had on the war? On Palantir? Silicon Valley has always been liberal. Have you seen any political trends lately, though, that are worth watching? Any that would affect Israel?

A: Palantir is by far the best operating system for military artificial intelligence. And governments who are on the frontlines of conflict, from Kyiv to Jerusalem, understand that Palantir’s capabilities can mean the difference between winning and losing on the battlefield.

Whether you’re in the United States or Israel, I think we should all be encouraged by the growing sense of technological patriotism that’s overcoming Silicon Valley. 

Today, we’re seeing a sea change of support from Silicon Valley—from both Republicans and Democrats—that is spurring innovation on the types of technologies that will not only help the United States, but also our allies in Taiwan, Ukraine and Israel.

It’s no longer taboo to support the Pentagon in Silicon Valley, and in the years ahead, I think that only stands to benefit our two countries.

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