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Ron Kampeas

@kampeas.bsky.social
1.4K followers 12 following 629 posts

Retired, with a substack: commentary on politics, Israel, Jews (and occasional poetry). ronkampeas.substack.com Tips: kampeas@gmail.com

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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 19h
ronkampeas.substack.com/p/my-electio...
ronkampeas.substack.com
My election season soundtrack
I still find solace in how Darius Rucker, Bob Dylan and Old Crow Medicine Show came together
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
www.jta.org/2026/09/28/p...
jta.org
Figures who once defined Jewish establishment line up behind J Street - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
For 18 years, J Street sought a seat at the table with mainstream pro-Israel organizations. Now it’s building its own table.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
ronkampeas.substack.com/p/greece-dia...
ronkampeas.substack.com
Greece diary: Languages open doors. Languages slam doors shut.
Where I’m from depends on what language I’m speaking, and where I’m speaking it.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
www.jta.org/2026/09/03/o...
jta.org
Gloria Steinem, Jewish feminist trailblazer, dies at 92 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
'Wherever there is antisemitism, I identify as a Jew,' Steinem said.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
share.google/mbYugmXeUQ8j...
share.google
El-Sayed decried AIPAC. Now he hopes to win over pro-Israel Democrats. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
El-Sayed devoted a chunk of his primary victory speech to promising Michigan’s Jews that he cared about their safety.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
www.jta.org/2026/08/02/u...
jta.org
Heeding a Saudi plea, Trump says he canceled a joint U.S.-Israel assault on Iran - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The planned assault – and Trump’s retreat – appear to have caught Israel off guard.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
www.jta.org/2026/07/31/u...
jta.org
Israel rejects Gaza plan that Trump unveils with fanfare, as Hamas says it has accepted the plan - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The rejection spurred blistering expressions of anger by U.S. officials.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
www.jta.org/2026/07/30/i...
jta.org
Netanyahu showcases diplomatic victories that have expiration dates - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Israeli prime minister held photo ops with Trump, senators and evangelicals before leaving Washington.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
share.google/16AGV79kgMwG...
share.google
Never mind the low profile – Netanyahu says his meeting with Trump on Iran was a triumph - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Israeli prime minister may have come into the White House through a side door, but he was able to deliver his pitch, he said.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
www.jta.org/2026/07/28/i...
jta.org
Netanyahu and Lapid vie for a critical title: Who is Israel’s most adept U.S. whisperer? - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Ahead of Israel’s elections, its warring leaders visit Washington ostensibly for a funeral – but also to win over America’s favor.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
It’s not a genocide
It may become one, but calling Israel’s actions a genocide, absent due process, is mob mentality.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
www.jta.org/2026/07/12/o...
jta.org
Lindsey Graham, stalwart Senate backer of Israel and bipartisan interventionism, dies suddenly at 71 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Graham's last visit to Israel was in February, just before the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
www.jta.org/2026/06/22/o...
jta.org
Alan Greenspan, longtime Fed chairman who inspired Jewish pride and antisemitic conspiracy theories, dies at 100 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The free markets champion did not play up nor try to hide his Jewish background, although both Jews and their enemies took notice.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
www.jta.org/2026/05/20/o... my long form obituary
jta.org
Barney Frank, the irascible Jewish progressive congressman who wrote landmark finance bill, dies 86 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Frank served in Congress for 32 years until his retirement in 2013.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
www.jta.org/2026/05/20/p...
jta.org
Barney Frank's final warning on Israel: 'America's effort should be to support the opposition to Netanyahu' - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Frank, who died on Tuesday at 86, also said the United States should cut off military aid to Israel for now.
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Erika Dreifus @erikadreifus.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
From a beautiful tribute to Abe Foxman (1940-2026), by @kampeas.bsky.social. ronkampeas.substack.com/p/i-hugged-a...
Netanyahu had broken Abe’s heart, steering Israel into a dark corner dank with hatred and self-regard. A lot of people had broken Abe’s heart. The world was breaking Abe’s heart. The epidemic of antisemitism, the anti-Israel and, yes, anti-Jewish antagonism spreading through a Democratic Party he had embraced in 2020, finally free of nonpartisan shackles, the anti-democratic depredations of Donald Trump and his minions.

And the Jews were breaking Abe’s heart, the Jews who lacked the courage to see themselves through their anger with Netanyahu and understand that Israel was still their best hope, and the Jews who lacked the guts to stand up to Trump and to the antisemitic left.

And yes, guess what, I was breaking Abe’s heart, because I was not writing enough.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
I hugged Abe Foxman
He was upset with me. Maybe he was right to be.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
This one was hard to write. share.google/k9g2MA8loj0r...
share.google
Abraham Foxman, transformative longtime director of the Anti-Defamation League, dies at 86 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Over nearly three decades, the Holocaust survivor served as the world’s arbiter on antisemitism.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
My latest for the Washington Examiner www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4555...
washingtonexaminer.com
Is Cuba next on Trump’s regime change agenda?
President Donald Trump has added sanctions on the Caribbean communist nation 90 miles from Florida, which recalls Cold War maneuvering.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
Unwinding "indigenous"
When the argument over "indigeneity" is disingenuous
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
Mehdi Hasan's 'Indigenous' Swipe Does a Disservice to Jews and Palestinians Alike - Opinion www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026...
haaretz.com
Why Mehdi Hasan's 'indigenous' swipe at Jews is bad for Palestinians | Opinion
Some Responses to the Arrival of New Immigrants From India's Bnei Menashe Community to Israel Illustrate Exactly What's Wrong With the Discourse Around Israel, Palestine and Jewish Belonging
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
Country clubs and their malcontents
The Carlson bros and their euphemisms
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
www.jta.org/2026/04/23/u...
jta.org
Tucker Carlson calls campaign to shame a country club for barring a Jewish toddler 'repulsive' - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Carlson and his brother did not mention Jews during the segment, but the toddler's now-grown sister said on the Bulwark podcast that she knew who he was talking about.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
My latest for the Washington Examiner www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4492...
washingtonexaminer.com
Israel has recognized Somaliland. Will the US follow?
The Iran war has sharpened arguments for and against the same American approach to the disputed, strategically vital Horn of Africa region.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe... It’s always great talking with Bob Wright.
open.substack.com
Wright again
Antisemitism and the Iran war
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Joe Slater @joeinaustralia.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Ron Kampeas, specifically, is tired: "You march them into preschool and you notice how tiny they are, how serious they look, their faces alive with anticipation — School! This is school! — and you know there are two diapers – diapers! – tucked into their Blue’s Clues backpacks."
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
I am so fucking tired
Once again, now in Michigan
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
www.jta.org/2026/03/02/i...
jta.org
Khamenei long obstructed peace for Israel. But his influence was waning before his assassination. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Iran's supreme leader's anti-Israel tweets reflected an ideology that preceded him — and could outlast him.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
JD Vance and Tim Walz: who wore the Holocaust worse?
Universalizing the Holocaust is bad. Erasing it is worse.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 09/01/2026
www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4393...
washingtonexaminer.com
Will New York's 12th district elect a full-throated Israel supporter?
Jewish Democrats are watching the race as a bellwether of where the party is headed after Mamdani's victory.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/3908...
washingtonexaminer.com
US lawmakers navigate a fraught dispute between Ireland and Israel
A proposal to rename Chaim Herzog Park in Rathgar, Ireland, has become the nexus of a long-standing spat between Ireland and Israel.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
www.jta.org/2025/12/12/u...
jta.org
Top ADL civil rights litigator quits, accusing group of being 'useful idiot' for Trump - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Joe Berman resigned in March and is making his resignation letter public for the first time now.
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Partners for Progressive Israel @partners4israel.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
In DC this weekend? The Sunday, 12/7, post-performance panel discussion will feature our ED, R' @mhughesrob.bsky.social, together with R' David Saperstein, and moderated by the legendary @kampeas.bsky.social! Matinee starts at 3pm. Tickets: www.voicesfestivalproductions.com/get-tickets
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
www.jta.org/2025/11/21/o...
jta.org
Mark Mellman, pollster who championed Democrats and Israel, dies at 70 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
He founded Democratic Majority for Israel to counter a drift away from Israel among younger people in the party.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
‘No person without his hour’ www.jns.org/no-person-wi... via @JNS_org Jewish summer camps create paths for children with challenges to thrive and transition into productive young adults with job skills and a social network.
jns.org
‘No person without his hour’
Jewish summer camps create paths for children with challenges to thrive and transition into productive young adults with job skills and a social network.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
It’s been a while since I wrote about something not Jewish at all. www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/3872...
washingtonexaminer.com
Trump and Brazil’s leftist leader pledge to put in place closer economic ties
How Brazil and the U.S. went from the brink of economic warfare to a budding bromance is a tale as ancient as European settlement in the Americas.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
www.jta.org/2025/10/31/u...
jta.org
Netanyahu once decried ‘daylight’ with Washington. Now he’s tolerating Trump’s glare. - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Israel has faced more direct criticism and more direct intervention from Trump than from his predecessor.
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Doina Chiacu @doina.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Why the ADL rolled over after Kash Patel likened it to terrorists open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe... @kampeas.bsky.social
open.substack.com
Why the ADL rolled over after Kash Patel likened it to terrorists
The civil rights group no longer wants it known that it 'protects civil rights'
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Matthew Budman, book guy @matthewbudman.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
A comprehensive, balanced @kampeas.bsky.social profile of an organization that, under attack by a Christian nationalist administration, has scrapped its 110-year mission and shrunk its goal to defending Israel . . . which AIPAC already has covered. In the Trump era, what's the point of the ADL?
jta.org
ADL removes ‘Protect Civil Rights’ from website as it narrows its mission amid right-wing attacks - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The removal took place after FBI Director Kash Patel said he would cut ties with the ADL, though it is unclear if that has happened.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
www.jta.org/2025/10/29/u...
jta.org
ADL removes ‘Protect Civil Rights’ from website as it narrows its mission amid right-wing attacks - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The removal took place after FBI Director Kash Patel said he would cut ties with the ADL, though it is unclear if that has happened.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
www.jta.org/2025/10/10/u...
jta.org
US Jews who revile Trump’s domestic policies say he must be praised for Gaza deal - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
But that doesn't mean they have to like him, they said.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
I wear your hatred like a cloud
I'll turn and face you either way
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
My debut in @washingtonexaminer.bsky.social www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/3816...
washingtonexaminer.com
Gaza war takes center stage in Michigan Senate Democratic primary
It’s a Goldilocks field of sorts, with one candidate a stalwart backer of Israel, another deeply hostile, and the third seemingly in the middle.
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
My debut in @washingtonexaminer.bsky.social www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/3816...
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
Did you check the boys? A sonnet
The lies I told my mother
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 31/08/2025
ronkampeas.substack.com/p/an-occupat...
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 10/08/2025
open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
Their memories are not a blessing
Names on a wall
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Ron Kampeas @kampeas.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
I wanted to snap a photo, but I was driving. So I wrote something. open.substack.com/pub/ronkampe...
open.substack.com
Bay Bridge
Snapping photos while driving is reckless, so ...
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Reposted by Ron Kampeas
Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
“The revelation this weekend of an American Jewish nonprofit’s involvement in promoting an Israeli politician in the throes of an election campaign comes after years of attacks by Netanyahu on liberal leaning foreign nonprofits promoting civil society in Israel.”
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