The Jewish Republican Club of Broward County Florida invited Mr. Stanley Tate to speak at our monthly meeting. Although Stanley Tate isn’t a household name, maybe it should b;e because he’s living proof of the American Dream. Unlike many Jews who immigrated to this country, Mr. Tate is a born and bred Floridian who worked himself up from a poor farm boy to a behind the scenes mover and shaker in the backrooms of power.
What he spoke about was extremely disconcerting and should frighten us all. He declared that he has never seen antisemitism in this country like he is seeing today. He added that he was afraid that our children and grandchildren will suffer the same fate of the European Jews in the last century. He asserted that the Geneva peace initiative and the easing of the Iranian sanctions are strategies guaranteed to destroy Israel before destroying the USA. He was adamant that there is no way Israel can win a war against Iran. To our dismay this came directly from a man who has a personal relationship with BIbi Natanyahu as well as other world leaders and is old enough to remember WWII.
When I heard him speak about the antisemitism he has been witnessing on his trips to England and France it sounded hauntingly familiay. It is no secret that the Jewish psychosis of loving our enemies helped Hitler come to power. Mr Tate’s dire warning reminded me of what I’ve read about Peter Bergson and Ben Hecht. They were two honorable men who spent all their wherewithal to wake up American Jews to the horrors that were facing their Jewish brethren in Europe. Not many listened.
In Hebrew one says Kol Hakavod for a job well done. The work Stanley Tate has done to better the lives of others like starting the Florida Prepaid College Fund, helping to fix the bank debacle through the RTC, or donating millions to charities and synagogues of his choice are examples of his character. Taking his own time at the grand old age of 86 to drive all over to spread the word of the dangers Jews are facing demonstrates that he,unlike John Kerry, loves his people . Stanley Tate is a Jewish American Patriot. Kol Hakavod