The New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC) canceled an event Monday that was to have featured Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivering a pro-Israel speech to a Jewish group Tuesday evening.
The group, the World Values Network, a project of Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, will still host the event at another venue. However, the cancelation by NYSEC marks the latest effort by a supposedly liberal organization to marginalize Kennedy.
Kennedy’s address to the group had been arranged prior to a recent controversy in which he had speculated on the development of bioweapons, and had cited a study showing the coronavirus’s different impacts on different population groups — remarks that Kennedy’s critics tried to construe as antisemitic.
The speech had been arranged in recognition of Kennedy’s support for the pro-Israel cause. On Monday, the Kennedy campaign had issued a press statement describing the event, which read, in part (original emphasis):
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s statement on the event:
“My lifelong relationship with the Jewish community and support for Israel speaks for itself and I greatly look forward to joining ‘America’s Rabbi’ my friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, to address issues of concern to my Jewish brothers and sisters, this Tuesday in New York City before a live audience.
“At this dangerous time for American and world Jewry, where antisemitism is on the rise across the globe, it is imperative that those seeking the presidency deliver their unambiguous proposals for combatting Jew-hatred and at this communal event no subject will be off limits.”
Rabbi Shmuley’s statement on the event:
“Smearing Bobby Kennedy — who has voiced greater pro-Israel support than any Democratic candidate for President in decades — as an antisemite, is disgusting and immoral.
“Bobby, alone among leaders of the Democratic Party, has condemned President Biden’s new Iran deal, which will give billions to the murderous Mullahs while they vow a second Holocaust. He has praised the IDF as one of the world’s most morally-grounded militaries, and has affirmed the Jewish people as the indigenous population of the Holy Land going back to Biblical times.
“Neither I, nor The World Values Network, endorses candidates. But we are extremely proud to present Bobby to the American Jewish Community as part of our ‘Presidential Candidate Series’ as a trusted ally and friend who stands with the Jewish people and whose illustrious father was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist for his unqualified support for Israel throughout the 1960s.”
However, on Monday evening, Kennedy tweeted that the NYSEC had canceled its contract to host the event:
The New York Society for Ethical Culture @EthicalNYC just CANCELED my event with @RabbiShmuley scheduled for tomorrow night. They’re evidently under tremendous pressure since they violated a binding contract and canceled without explanation.
This shows the DNC’s fierce…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) July 24, 2023
The cancelation inadvertently highlighted Kennedy’s emergence as a free speech advocate. Last week, he testified in Congress about the rise of new forms of censorship, after Democrats tried to stop hm from speaking:
House Committee on the Judiciary
“Somehow I’m subject to this new form of censorship, which is called ‘targeted propaganda’ … the most appalling, disgusting pejoratives … are applied to me, to silence me,” he told the House Weaponization Subcommittee.
Kennedy has detailed his support for Israel and the Jewish community, saying he wants to make the “moral case for Israel.”
The NYSEC’s “About Us” page describes the organization’s commitment to “at all times honor every honest conviction” and create a “platform broad enough and strong enough for the worshipper and for the infidel.”
Breitbart News has reached out to the NYSEC for comment about the decision to cancel the event.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.