Esther Panitch, the Democratic State Representative from Atlanta who spearheaded the legislation defining antisemitism in Georgia, will be boycotting former President Donald Trump's speech on Thursday night at the Israeli-American Council summit, she told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday afternoon before the
"His words have been very divisive to Jews who are not Republicans, and I don't need to be lectured by him about the state of my mind," Panitch said, referencing Trump's repeated comments about Jews who vote for Democrats needing to "have their heads examined."
Panitch said this is her first IAC summit, and she credited the organization for their help in passing the antisemitism legislation. She described her energy ahead of the summit as "fangirling" about seeing speakers such as Eylon Levy, Montana Tucker and Douglas Murrary.
"There are a lot of people I see online, on Twitter, who I'm looking forward to meeting in person to thank them for their advocacy," she said.
But Panitch also said she was not going to give Trump the satisfaction of being a person in his crowd "when size matters to him," especially after his recent comments about how Israel will be destroyed in two years if he is not president and how Democratic Jews aren't real Jews, she added.
Panitch, and several other Democrats, were hopeful Vice President Harris would accept the invitation to address IAC "and then it would be more palatable to listen."
"Unfortunately, she's not here," she said.
Instead, Panitch said, she and several other Democrats will be going out to dinner during Trump's speech.
From all American Presidents
The Israeli American Council needs to hear from all of America, not just former President Donald Trump, that the US stands squarely with Israel in the face of Hezbollah, former Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren told the Jerusalem Post on Thursday afternoon before the IAC's national summit officially kicked off in Washington, D.C.
Trump will be addressing the summit on Thursday night following meetings with Jewish leaders in the capital.
So far, President Biden and Vice President Harris have declined IAC's invitation to also address the summit.
The Post asked Oren if Trump needs to avoid repeating his controversial debate stage remarks that Israel will not exist within two years if he does not win the presidency.
Oren smiled ruefully.
"Israel will exist in two, 20, 2,000 years," he said.