Two Jewish conservative activists are pushing back against claims that criticizing left-wing billionaire Democrat donor George Soros is antisemitic by launching a new organization, Jews Against Soros, to oppose his efforts.

Josh Hammer, a writer who works for Newsweek, and Will Scharf, a candidate for state attorney general in Missouri, launched JewsAgainstSoros.com to say there is nothing antisemitic in opposing Soros’s agenda.

Soros is one of the top donors to the Democratic Party, and has backed the election of dozens of radical left-wing prosecutors across the country. He also funds a wide array of left-wing activist organizations worldwide.

Many of his beneficiaries and defenders have used accusations of antisemitism as a shield against criticism, most recently against Elon Musk, but also in the past against Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

As Breitbart News and others have noted, while there are some extremist critics of Soros who see his role as part of an illusory global conspiracy — a classic antisemitic motif — there is much to criticise in what he does:

Soros has been a victim of antisemitism — and deserves protection from attack. Nonetheless, criticism of Soros’s role in politics is entirely legitimate — especially given that some groups he has funded have spread antisemitism.

One of the more recent examples is the Women’s March, an anti-Trump organization with leaders who have ties to Nation of Islam Louis Farrakhan, a notorious antisemite. (Earlier this month, Farrakhan called Jews “termites.”)

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Soros’s role in funding anti-Israel activism is such that the Israeli government declared last year that criticism of him was not antisemitic. “George Soros,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement, “…continuously undermines Israel’s democratically elected governments by funding organizations that defame the Jewish state and seek to deny it the right to defend itself.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently blamed Soros-funded groups for opposing Israel’s efforts to deport illegal aliens.

Hammer and Scharf note in a press statement announcing their organization:”Attacking Soros for his influence on American politics, to say nothing of his nefarious agenda in Israel itself, isn’t antisemitic. It is simply a fact that Soros funds a huge portion of the radical left in this country. And he must be stopped.”

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 new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.