Chicago’s largest Jewish organization accused city Mayor Brandon Johnson of “singling out” Jews after he mentioned a Jewish donor and AIPAC when launching his reelection campaign.
In a Sept. 17 letter addressed to the mayor, Jewish United Fund of Chicago president Lonnie Nasatir and board chair Carey Cooper wrote that Johnson used his launch on Sunday “to target a local Jewish business and philanthropic leader and a national advocacy organization with no role in local politics.”
“Singling out Jewish people or Jewish organizations as symbols of political influence or control carries a dangerous history that should be understood and rejected, not repurposed as a political rallying cry,” the JUF leaders wrote. AIPAC “has never spent a dime opposing you or any other candidate for local office.”
According to the JUF, it is still awaiting a response from Johnson. (JNS sought comment from Johnson’s campaign.)
In August, Johnson said on Jamal Bryant’s Let’s Be Clear podcast that “AIPAC and other millionaires” were spending money against him, “because I dare call out genocide.” He said that concerns about his comments being antisemitic are “witchcraft” and “manipulative.”
He also linked U.S. aid to Israel to insufficient funding for black communities in Chicago. JUF called the mayor’s remarks “particularly troubling.”
Johnson is running for a second term as mayor against Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Cook County board of review commissioner George Cardenas, Illinois secretary of state Alexi Giannoulias and others.
In July, a Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation poll found that “just 13.6% of Chicagoans want Johnson to run for reelection” and 58% “say they are not excited about another Johnson campaign.”
