Pennsylvania Justice David Wecht quits Democratic Party over rampant ‘Jew-hatred’
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht says he is leaving the Democratic Party after concluding antisemitism and “Jew-hatred” have become widespread within it. He announced the change about six months after winning a retention election for another 10-year term. Wecht emphasized he is not joining the Republican Party either, saying he is no longer registered with any political party.
in his statement, Wecht cited his prior involvement with the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and argued that hateful conduct-ranging from antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation to attacks-has been minimized or tolerated.He also connected his views to the Tree of life Congregation in pittsburgh, where he married in 1998 and where the synagogue was later the site of the 2018 mass shooting of Jews, which he said originated from the right but has as grown on the Left as well.
Sen. John Fetterman responded by saying he supports Wecht and that Democrats must confront their own rising antisemitism problem, while noting he is not changing his party affiliation.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht announced on Monday that he is leaving the Democratic Party due to what he believed was the rampant spread of “Jew-hatred” and antisemitism within the party. His announcement comes a little over six months after he won a retention election to serve another 10-year term in November. Wecht was first elected to Pennsylvania’s high court in 2015.
“From 1998 to 2001, years that preceded my judicial career, I served as Vice-Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party,” Wecht said in a statement announcing the change of his party affiliation. “In the quarter-century that has passed since then, the Democratic Party has changed. Nazi tattoos, jihadist chants, intimidation and attacks at synagogues, and other hateful anti-Jewish invective actions are minimized, ignored, and even coddled. Acquiescence to Jew-hatred is now disturbingly common among activists, leaders, and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party.”
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“I can no longer abide by this,” he added. “So, I won’t.”
While Wecht is leaving the Democrats, he is not joining the Republicans. It was a distinction he made very clear in his statement.
“I am no longer registered within any political party,” he said.
In the statement announcing the change, Wecht explained how he married his wife in 1998 at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Congregation. He later served on the synagogue’s board of trustees. In 2018, the Tree of Life Congregation was the site of a domestic terrorist attack against Jews, and a gunman killed 11 people.
“Twenty years later, in the very same sanctuary where our wedding occurred, the worst massacre of Jews in American history was perpetrated,” Wecht said in his letter. “That terror came from the right. Jew-hatred has always festered on the fringe of that sector.”
“In the years that followed, that same hatred has grown on the Left,” he said. “Increasingly, it has moved from the fringe to the mainstream. It is the duty of all good people to fight this virus, and to do so before it is too late.”
Wecht also warned of the dangers of antisemitism, claiming that it has brought down civilizations and societies where “Jew-hatred” was permitted.
“In Pennsylvania, and in the United States of America, we enjoy robust rights and liberties, bequeathed to us by our great Founders,” Wecht said. “These freedoms have helped to make this the greatest civilization that the world has ever seen. There have been other great civilizations in the past, and almost all of them have deteriorated and declined when Jew-hatred grew and metastasized.”
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) expressed his support for Wecht and urged Democrats to acknowledge and “confront its own rising antisemitism problem.”
“I know David and his legendary father, Cyril,” Fetterman said in a post on X.
“As I’ve affirmed, I’m not changing my party—but I fully understand David’s personal choice,” he added. “The Democratic Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem.”
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