Chikli irritated US Democrat lawmakers by telling them he’s ‘not woke’ – report

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli irritated a group of Jewish Democratic lawmakers earlier this month when he told them, “I’m not progressive, I’m not woke,” it was reported Wednesday.

Chikli made the comment during a Washington, DC, meeting with about 10 moderate and progressive members of Congress from the Democratic party, according to Axios.

“I think it touched a nerve, because people feel like the right has been manipulating that word, and then you throw the [George] Soros piece in there… A fair amount of people were offended by his comment,” a lawmaker told Axios, referring to comments Chikli had made against the billionaire.

A source with knowledge of the meeting said: “Even those in the room who may not themselves like the terms ‘woke’ or ‘progressive’ understand that both are weaponized by the right against all Democrats. And that went over very poorly.”

Chikli told Axios that he hadn’t been aware of the significance of the use of the term “woke” and that he had apologized after one of the lawmakers raised the matter with him.

“I wasn’t trying to be confrontational. The context of my remark was that even though I am not woke or progressive, the government is funding LGBT projects and causes and I am not against it,” he said.

Demonstrators protest Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli outside the AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv, on June 14, 2023 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The word “woke” as a means of describing enlightened skepticism over systemic injustice has its origins in African-American vernacular dating from before World War II. It appears to have crept into mainstream parlance in the early-to-mid 2010s, and was appropriated as a watchword for heightened cultural awareness soon after.

From there conservatives turned the word into a slur as an accusation of superficial, over-the-top sociopolitical sensitivity or authoritarian, performative political correctness.

Two people who attended the meeting also said that the Congress members took the opportunity to deliver “very sharp” criticism to Chikli on a number of the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline coalition, including its contentious judicial overhaul and the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

A source told the news outlet that the lawmakers told Chikli that his government’s actions and policies were making it “terribly more difficult in making a case for Israel.”

“[Chikli] was really uncomfortable… it was tense… he physically bristled,” a lawmaker told Axios.

A lawmaker said that Chikli made a false claim that the protests against the overhaul had ended, a comment that “raised a lot of eyebrows in the room.”

Israelis protest against the government’s judicial overhaul plans, in Tel Aviv, on June 17, 2023. (Jack Guez / AFP)

Chikli was one of a number of coalition lawmakers who faced canceled meetings and demonstrations during trips to the US earlier this month to attend a pro-Israel parade, due to opposition to the government’s attempts to drastically remake the judiciary.

He reportedly saw a meeting scheduled with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington called off amid intense pressure from within and without the federation and after several of the invited rabbis said they would not attend.

A photo showing him holding his middle fingers and several other fingers up to the corners of his mouth in a gesture to protesters against the overhaul at the Israel Parade in New York City circulated on social media and news sites. Chikli and others said he was merely telling his detractors to smile.

The minister, whose portfolio gives him responsibility for relations with Jews outside Israel, has a history of incendiary comments.

Last month he doubled down on his criticism of Soros, claiming that the Jewish philanthropist had done immense damage to Israel, despite recent widespread criticism that using such rhetoric was an antisemitic trope.

“Criticism of Soros – who finances the most hostile organizations to the Jewish people and the State of Israel — is anything but anti-Semitism, quite the opposite!” Chikli wrote on Twitter.

Hungarian-born US investor and philanthropist George Soros answers questions after delivering a speech on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos on May 24, 2022. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

He made the comment as he defended Elon Musk for his claim that Soros “hates humanity.” Musk also compared the philanthropist to a comic book villain, a statement decried by many as antisemitic.

Soros, 92, has long been a target of conservatives for backing progressive causes and politicians in the United States and worldwide. In the last decade or so, some of the attacks have echoed antisemitic conspiracy theories, depicting Soros as satanic, accusing him of seeking world control and falsely accusing him of helping perpetrate the Holocaust rather than surviving it as a child.

After an unnamed Biden administration official leveled harsh criticism at the Israeli lawmaker in a recent interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Chikli appeared to claim those comments had come from US antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt and last week dismissed her as a “nice lady who deals with antisemitism” and a “leftist.”

Chikli, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, has also criticized what he called displays of “vulgarity” at the Tel Aviv Pride parade and called the dovish lobby group J Street, which says it is both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian, “a hostile organization that harms the interests of the State of Israel.”

Last year he said that Reform Jews “are going back to their roots in Germany of anti-Zionism and anti-nationalism.”

Agencies and Canaan Lidor contributed to this report.