Max Berger is a co-founder and one of the most prominent leaders of the radical “As A Jew” group IfNotNow (INN). The groups calls for the destruction of the state of Israel, idolizes terrorists and spreads lies and false propaganda against the Jewish State.
In 2018, INN recited Kaddish (the Jewish mourning prayer) for the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists who were killed while trying to breach the Gaza-Israeli border to “free Jerusalem” and murder innocent Jewish civilians on their march.
The members of INN use their Jewish ancestry as moral justification for their anti-Semitism and at the same time reject every Jewish value. They train camp counselors to infiltrate Jewish summer camps to teach Jewish children lies about Israel and demonize the Jewish state and the Jewish people .
Berger’s publicly known anti-Semitic and anti-Israel views didn’t deter Presidential Candidate Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) campaign managers from hiring him as a campaign staffer.
This week, Berger caused outrage for a now-deleted 2013 tweet in which he confesses he would “ totally be friends with Hamas ” – a designated terror organization in the U.S. which is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Berger has frequently come under fire for disseminating misleading and false propaganda against the Jewish state.
Moreover, he is also affiliated with Dream Defenders – whose long string of anti-Jewish activities include lauding as heroes the designated foreign terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is responsible for hijacking planes, terrorist attacks, and the killing of innocent civilians.
Max Berger is arrested outside the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations headquarters in New York, July 28, 2014
In February 2019, Berger published an op-ed titled “American Jews must Stand with Ilhan Omar” in which he unequivocally supports Congresswoman Omar despite her vile anti-Semitic views and strong affiliation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CIAR) which was established by the Muslim Brotherhood to raise funds for Hamas in the U.S.
Now, he’s working for Sen. Elizabeth Warren as her director for progressive partnerships, placing a leader of the millennial Jewish left-wing insurgency inside an ascending Democratic presidential campaign.
The Warren campaign did not make Berger available for an interview. But his friends, as well as the reams of online articles by him and quoting him, indicate that he clicks with Warren’s combination of anti-establishment rhetoric and detailed, wonky plans. In addition to IfNotNow, Berger co-founded Momentum, a group that trains progressive activists.
“Warren matches even his demeanor and his style of politics, which is very deliberate and well thought out,” said Waleed Shahid, who has partnered with Berger in progressive movements and is now the communications director at Justice Democrats. “It’s funny that Warren’s slogan is ‘I have a plan for that.’ Max would do trainings at Momentum about how organizations don’t plan enough.”
Berger has deleted most of his tweets, but screenshots and quotations preserved by his critics show personal support for boycotts of Israel (at least as of two years ago) and calling Israel’s killing of Gazan protesters in clashes on the border a “pogrom.” A tweet he wrote in 2017 says “I agree with BDS, but it’s not a mistake to consider it largely anti-Zionist. For Zionists, it’s an existential question.”
Carinne Luck, a co-founder of IfNotNow, clarified that while Berger personally supports Israel boycotts, he does not identify with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.
For much of the Jewish pro-Israel mainstream, on the left as well as the right, BDS is anathema, because its Palestinian leadership refuses to accept a Jewish state in any part of historic Israel. Critics of IfNotNow note that, according to its principles, the Jewish group does “not take a unified stance on BDS, Zionism or the question of statehood.”
Mark Mellman, president and CEO of another new group, the Democratic Majority for Israel, told JTA said it’s “deeply troubling at a policy level that he cofounded an organization that does not recognize Israel’s right to exist.” Mellman did not call for Berger to be fired.
The Progressive Zionists of California, a grassroots group of about 200 members, said IfNotNow displays “one-sided condemnation and vilification of Israel” and called for the Warren campaign to dismiss Berger, whom they grouped among “enemies of Israel.”
“It puts [Warren] at risk to have someone with his public stances,” said Susan George, a founding member of the California group and a 2016 delegate for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. “Personally I’ve been a huge fan of Elizabeth Warren. Since the financial crisis, she was my hero. But to put someone like Max Berger in such a position to influence progressives, it is concerning.”
But what critics see as a liability, Berger’s allies see as an an asset. Berger’s hire is a sign, they said, that the Democratic party may be moving left on Israel.
“It’s incredibly affirming and reassuring that the Warren campaign knew everything there is to know about Max and still wanted him on board,” said Luck. “I don’t think Elizabeth Warren’s campaign chose Max because of his position on Israel-Palestine, but it does send a signal that someone with views like Max’s would be there in such a serious political campaign.”
Berger’s presence on Warren’s campaign may be paying off for those who want candidates to be tougher on Israel: When IfNotNow activists asked Warren, at a campaign event, if she would “push the Israeli government to end the occupation,” she replied, “Yes, yes,” then added, “So I’m there.”
Warren’s campaign has yet to make a comment or act.
CLICK HERE to contact Warren’s campaign and demand Berger to be fired immediately!