Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell is under intense scrutiny for demonizing Christians, the Seattle Police Department, and even the city’s Parks and Rec department, aligning with Antifa and far-left activists who targeted a Christian concert in a park. A wave of public outrage followed, culminating in a large group of Christians assembling at City Hall demanding an apology or resignation.

Rather than addressing the criticism directly, Mayor Harrell doubled down. He invoked his identity as the city’s second black and first biracial mayor as a shield against criticism, suggesting that any challenge to his leadership was an attack on his race. Then, in what seems to be a calculated political move, he surrounded himself with handpicked left-leaning faith leaders to issue statements of support.

As someone who has been deeply engaged with Seattle's Jewish community and political scene, I can say without hesitation: this is political theater and not the first time he has failed the faith community. Harrell has been failing the Jewish community his entire political career.

Let’s talk about the rabbis he called on. Notably absent were any rabbis from Seward Park — a neighborhood with the largest Jewish population in Washington State. I find that telling. For context, my foray into politics began when I was on the board of several Jewish cemeteries, and we were confronted with an escalating crisis. Homeless individuals, driven in part by the city’s lax policies implemented by Harrell, were trespassing into sacred burial grounds, defiling tombstones, using drugs, engaging in prostitution, and even overdosing in the cemeteries.

Despite the dire situation and thousands of dollars in damage, Mayor Harrell — our council representative at the time — ignored my repeated requests for a meeting. His office only responded after a public outcry erupted on social media. When I finally sat down with him, I walked away with two lasting impressions: his love for reminiscing about playing football at the University of Washington, and his empty declarations about his support for the Jewish community. When pressed, he offered no tangible examples of action — only rhetoric.

He even told me the only way to get results was to sue the city, and warned me he would deny ever saying that.

The damage to the cemeteries forced our synagogue to divert hundreds of thousands of dollars to security instead of to religious programs. We had to hire former IDF soldiers and private guards to protect the cemeteries and to protect the children planting American flags for our fallen veterans on Memorial Day — a direct consequence of City Hall and Harrell’s inaction.

Fast forward to today, and Bruce Harrell still chooses selective engagement with the faith community. Instead of seeking input from rabbis who lived through these challenges, he leaned on more politically convenient voices — including one "rabbi" without a congregation. Why not Seward Park’s rabbis, Bruce? Perhaps because they would hold you accountable for your silence.

Since the October 7th attacks in Israel, Seattle’s Jewish community has endured targeted harassment, vandalism, and even incidents involving suspicious white powder at synagogues. Where was the Mayor then? Silent. When violent pro-Hamas radicals shut down streets, took over the University of Washington campus, and vandalized the engineering building to the tune of over $1 million in damage, nothing. Not a word, even though he claims UW is his beloved alma mater.

Harrell was out of town at a football game when Hamas supporters vandalized buildings in downtown Seattle on their way to blocking the I-5 freeway for over 6 hours, trapping not just commuters but also first responders and ambulances. He never even issued a statement afterwards.

Last year, Mayor Harrell visited a Jewish day school to light a Hanukkah menorah. Oddly, no photos of that visit were shared by his office — no press release, no social media posts. Why? It appears he didn’t want to risk backlash from the radical, antisemitic wing of his political base.

In September, Harrell’s Parks Department gave a permit for a Hamas fundraiser on the Jewish Sabbath in the heart of Seattle’s largest Jewish community and blocks from Harrell’s house. Not a word from Harrell when rapper Macklemore said “F*ck America” onstage and his fans chanted for the genocide of Jews.

The Jewish community had to spend thousands of dollars on private security because Harrell had failed to recruit enough officers for a city of Seattle’s size. Worse yet, sources at the city claim the mayor diverted resources from protecting the synagogues to protect his own home.

Harrell claims to be “good” to the Jewish community, but I have lived in Seattle right near Harrell, and I have never seen him in any of the synagogues or any Jewish events, not even when he is running for office.

Mayor Harrell’s recent efforts to present himself as an ally to faith communities are not just disingenuous — they’re cowardly. He doesn’t even dare to stand by his statements attacking the faith community and instead hides behind the cloth of his cherry-picked left-wing clergy members, who are too cowardly to stand up for other people of faith and would rather stay in the mayor’s good graces.