The U.S. Capitol in Washington. Illustrative image. Photo: Architect of the Capitol (public domain).

Photo: Architect of the Capitol, 1997, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Source.

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On October 8, 2026, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs published an open letter asking candidates and officials of every party to reject antisemitism, intimidation and political violence before Election Day. The letter names several old myths about Jews, and says criticism of Israel is "not inherently antisemitic."

 

This item reports what the letter says, in its own words where possible. The descriptions of events and trends are the letter's own, attributed to it.

 

Key Facts

 

• Who: The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), a national Jewish public policy and community-relations group in the United States.

• What: An open letter to political candidates and officials, with a press release the same day.

• When: October 8, 2026, about a month before the 2026 midterm elections.

• Signers: JCPA alone. The letter lists no co-signing groups.

• The asks: Reject violence, intimidation and harassment; reject symbols and slogans of hate; reject conspiracy theories, collective blame and the singling-out of any community.

• Myths named: Secret Jewish control of governments, media and finance; "globalists"; "Zionist" control; dual loyalty; Jewish money or power; the "Great Replacement."

 

What the Letter Asks

 

The letter is addressed to political candidates and officials in the final month before Election Day. It asks them to "speak clearly, act consistently, and ensure that their campaigns, supporters, and public platforms do not normalize antisemitism, political violence, intimidation, or hate of any kind."

 

JCPA says its requests are meant for everyone running for office. "These commitments are not partisan tests," the letter says; "they must apply to candidates of all parties." In the press release, JCPA chief executive Amy Spitalnick said, "These are not partisan tests. They are basic standards for anyone asking the public to entrust them with political power."

 

The letter sets out three commitments under its own headings:

 

• "We reject violence, intimidation, and harassment." Leaders, it says, "should reject these tactics unequivocally, regardless of who employs them or what political cause they claim to advance."

• "We reject symbols and slogans of hate." It lists swastikas, Totenkopf (death's-head) imagery and other Nazi insignia, Nazi salutes and chants, and nooses.

• "We reject conspiracy theories, collective blame, and the singling-out of any community."

 

It also says candidates should make clear that "people who promote these ideas do not speak for them and have no place in the coalitions they seek to build."

 

The Myths the Letter Names

 

Most of the letter is about conspiracy theories. "At its core," it says, "antisemitism is a conspiracy theory." It names these myths:

 

• Secret control: "Claims that Jews secretly control governments, the media, financial institutions, or other centers of power, as well as conspiracy theories such as the 'Great Replacement,' draw on a long history of antisemitic scapegoating with deadly consequences."

• Coded versions: Officials, it says, "should not invoke coded versions of these conspiracies by blaming society's problems on shadowy 'globalists,' Jewish influence, or other traditional antisemitic tropes."

• The "shadowy cabal": The letter describes the "(il)logic of antisemitism" this way: "if our government, our economy, our foreign policy, our borders, or our elections are controlled by a shadowy cabal, how can we trust that they're working for us."

• "Zionist" control: It warns of "conspiracy theories about Jewish or 'Zionist' control and power" becoming "increasingly common across the political spectrum."

• Replacement and elections: It rejects claims "that Jews are somehow behind plots to 'replace' Americans with immigrants or steal/undermine our elections."

• Dual loyalty: Holding Jews collectively responsible for Israel's government, it says, "reinforces the antisemitic dual loyalty trope that Jewish Americans are inherently more loyal to Israel than to their own country."

• Money and power: It says some debates "have veered into dehumanizing rhetoric or tropes and conspiracy theories related to Jewish money or power."

• "Good Jew" and "Bad Jew": It asks leaders not to reinforce a "'Good Jew' vs. 'Bad Jew' narrative," including "efforts to exclude Jews who have any connection to Israel."

 

Every one of these claims is false. None of them is new.

 

Criticism of Israel

 

The letter draws a line between debate and targeting Jews. "Criticism of Israel, including sharp criticism of the Israeli government, is of course not inherently antisemitic. But context matters," it says. It adds that "criticism of AIPAC (or any other organization) or debate over U.S. aid is not inherently antisemitic."

 

What crosses the line, in JCPA's view, is targeting Jews rather than policy. It says Jewish Americans should not "be held collectively responsible for the actions or policies of the Israeli government or required to meet litmus tests applied to no other community." It suggests three habits for debate: "Focus on policies and tactics rather than identity. Ensure critiques apply to all organizations and entities, not just one. Keep an ear out for dual loyalty or disloyalty claims, antisemitic caricatures, and other harmful tropes."

 

Why the Letter Was Written Now

 

JCPA ties the letter to recent violence. It cites the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor's home and attacks at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, in Boulder, Colorado, and at a Michigan synagogue, along with earlier attacks in Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Poway, El Paso and Buffalo. These are JCPA's examples; the letter does not claim that any one myth caused any one attack.

 

Where These Myths Come From

 

The myths in the letter have long histories. The claim that Jews secretly run governments, banks and the press was spread worldwide by a forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The idea that Jews control the media grew from the same source. The dual loyalty charge, that Jews cannot be trusted as citizens of their own countries, has been used against Jewish communities for centuries. So has the image of Jews as secret masters of money and power, which reaches back to medieval charges such as coin clipping and to the antisemitic caricatures that drew Jews as grasping financiers. Our trope pages explain more of these myths and where they came from.

 

JCPA's letter asks candidates of every party to say plainly that conspiracy theories about Jews, collective blame and intimidation have no place in their campaigns. It names the oldest myths about Jewish power, money and loyalty, and it separates them from criticism of Israel and debate over policy, which it says is not antisemitic in itself. Whether candidates answer it is a question for the weeks before Election Day.

 

Sources

 

• Jewish Council for Public Affairs, "An Open Letter to Political Candidates and Officials in the Final Month Before Election Day: Reject Antisemitism and Political Violence in All Forms," JCPA, Oct 8, 2026, https://jewishpublicaffairs.org/open-letter-to-candidates-and-officials/press-release/

• Jewish Council for Public Affairs, "JCPA Calls on Democratic and Republican Candidates, Political Leaders to Reject Antisemitism and Hate in All Forms," press release, JCPA, Oct 8, 2026, https://jewishpublicaffairs.org/jcpa-antisemitism-open-letter/press-release/

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Last updated: October 13, 2026

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