With the rise in anti-Semitism across the nation, one would think that one of the leading Jewish voices in the country would feel compelled to speak out against it.

And one would be wrong.

Vermont socialist Senator Bernie Sanders, the son of working-class Polish Jewish immigrants, blocked a resolution by Florida Republican Senator Rick Scott condemning “the rise of antisemitism on campuses of institutions of higher education across the United States” and “administrators of institutions of higher education who have enabled ongoing antisemitism on their campuses.”

The resolution, as National Review reports, “also would urge the U.S. Department of Education to ensure those institutions of higher education have complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and that ‘students, including Jewish students, are not experiencing discrimination in violation of such Title VI.’”

In recent weeks, we’ve seen firsthand just how far some groups are willing to go with their hatred of Jews and just how little colleges and universities have done to protect the subjects of hate. These are the same institutions of higher learning that pride themselves on inclusivity and creating safe spaces.

Nevertheless, Bernie couldn’t help but equivocate, posting on X: “Today I offer a simple resolution: NO to antisemitism. NO to Islamophobia. NO to racism and bigotry in all its forms. YES to free speech and protest under the 1st Amendment, whether on a college campus or across our nation.”

Why is it that whenever anti-Semitism comes up, Democrats reflexively start complaining about “Islamophobia”?

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sanders has likewise refused to hold hearings with university leaders. The counterpart House committee has done so, and it didn’t go well for administrators.

The aforementioned resolution is not the same as the Antisemitism Awareness Act recently passed by the House of Representatives, which was criticized by some Democrats and Republicans for infringing upon free speech rights and broadening the definition of anti-Semitism so much that it might punish reasonable criticisms of Israel or Judaism.

That’s why Sanders’s opposition to the Scott resolution is so odd. Why wouldn’t one of our nation’s highest-profile Jewish lawmakers simply want to condemn anti-Semitism?

It seems strange that so many powerful Jewish American political leaders often side with the enemies of the Jews. And while it’s something that most people in the Jewish community don’t want to talk about, occasionally, a voice of reason emerges from an unexpected place.

One of those voices belongs to Jon Lovitz, one of “Saturday Night Live’s” most popular comedians from the 1980s. Lovitz has been critical of Sanders and another Jewish senator, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for consistently voting against Jewish interests.

Lovitz now laments that 70 Democrats recently voted against a bill condemning anti-Semitism. By contrast, he praises Donald Trump for doing more for Israel than any American president in history.

Sanders, for his part, has long been at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and recently responded to Netanyahu’s concern over anti-Semitic protests on the campuses of American universities by posting: “Antisemitism is a disgusting ideology that has resulted in the deaths of many millions. That does not negate the unprecedented actions of Netanyahu’s right-wing and racist government. It is not antisemitic to demand an end to the humanitarian disaster in Gaza.”

That’s the thing, though. The protesters aren’t merely demanding an end to the humanitarian situation or expressing their views. They are harassing Israeli students and preventing them from attending classes. They’re destroying property, disrupting public order, causing graduations to be canceled, and calling for violence.

Senator Scott’s resolution merely called for unity in condemning anti-Semitism, but the socialist Sanders couldn’t bring himself to rise above politics and take a stand against the vile actions of the protesters he seems to support. Like Schumer and many others in power, Sanders is Jewish when it suits his purposes, but first and foremost, he’s loyal to the Marxist wing of the Democrat Party that’s vehemently anti-Israel. Thus, at a time when he could use his influence to stand against this sickness, Sanders is doing just the opposite.

This raises a question: Why do so many Jewish Democrats favor policies that directly oppose the interests of Israel and the broader Jewish population?

Two possible explanations come from author and commentator Dennis Prager, who himself is a Jew. Prager says that Jews may vote against their Jewish homeland for either of two reasons. “Psychopathology and left-wing ideology,” he writes, “are the two primary explanations for why Jews such as those in groups like ‘Jewish Voice for Peace’ and ‘IfNotNow’ willingly serve as useful idiots for those who wish to exterminate the Jewish state and the Jewish people.”

Prager adds, “To those who seek to annihilate Israel and its Jews, there is no one as valuable as a Jew who sides with them.”

If only Bernie Sanders understood this.