Paul Miller is a Chicago-based media and political consultant. His commentary has been published in USA Today, New York Daily News, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Newsweek and The Hill.
With the polls currently favoring Zohran Mamdani in the November general election, many New York City Jews are considering leaving the Empire State. Florida leaders such as Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Senator Rick Scott (R) have been urging the Jewish community to move to the Sunshine State. One popular destination for Jews is Miami Beach. But even in one of the country’s most historic and prominent communities, antisemitism rears its ugly head, even infiltrating the government.
Until recently, Miami Beach resident Johann Moore served on the city’s Sustainability Committee to encourage environmental awareness. Current Miami Beach commissioner Laura Dominguez first appointed Moore to his position in June 2023.
Not long after the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, Moore made it clear to his colleagues in city government, as well as countless media outlets, that he is a staunch antisemite.
Moore sent what can be described as an endless conveyor belt of emails ruthlessly attacking “Zionists,” city purchase of “genocide bonds,” and legitimizing the targeting of Israeli civilians, claiming “all Zionist occupiers in Palestine serve as human shields for a fascist genocidal movement.”
His hatred went as far as emailing fellow Miami Beach commissioners and media outlets words congratulating Iran for bombing the Jewish state and urging Iran to “nuke Zionist held population centers,” as well as advising the regime in Tehran that if nuclear weapons weren’t ready, they should use “dirty bombs.”
However, no matter how blatant his disdain for Jews, Commissioner Laura Dominguez reappointed Moore to the Sustainability Committee last year.
On June 15, fellow commissioner David Suarez inquired if Moore was still on the committee. He learned that Moore was reappointed, with his term ending 12/31/2026. The next day, Suarez took matters into his own hands and drafted an item to remove Moore.
In a June 25, 2025, meeting that included a resolution to remove Moore from his position, Dominguez was asked by Suarez, why “it was a good idea to reappoint this antisemite to a city board.” After expressing her pro-Israel bona fides and relationship with the Jewish community, Dominguez said, “I believe that weaponizing and politicization of every circumstance is disgusting and only takes us down a path of further division to publicly shame and put forward a resolution.” She continued, “Singling out a resident will send a chilling effect to our residents who now fear city leaders will unjustly target them.”
Dominguez never answered Suarez’s direct question, but claims she was unaware of Moore’s history of antisemitic emails due to the large number of emails she receives daily. Dominguez also chided her colleagues for not sharing his emails earlier, even though she was copied on each email.
I made several attempts by phone, text and email to reach Dominguez for clarification and to give her another chance to respond to why she reappointed Moore, but I never received a response. Despite calling the bill “weaponizing and politicization,” she did vote for it, as well as asking Moore to resign.
This past Monday, Highland Park, Illinois, a posh and progressive community that sits on Chicago’s North Shore, set a precedent as the first city in the state to officially adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism.
Council member Annette Lidawer explained, “On August 11, this Council took the brave step of enacting an ordinance that adopts the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism and an ordinance which directs our City Manager to ensure ongoing education and training to our staff and publicity on out City website and materials that not only make clear that we condemn all forms of discrimination including antisemitism, but we can identify such behavior in order to combat it.”
Peggy Shapiro, Director of Policy and Outreach at StandWithUs, a non-partisan education organization that provided resource and legal data for the city, praised the groundbreaking ordinance, noting, “Antisemitism is surging —across the world, across our nation, and right here in Highland Park. The FBI reports that although Jews make up just over 2% of the U.S. population, they are the targets of more than 68% of all religiously motivated hate crimes. And that’s only the crimes that are reported. This legislation is a critical first step in the fight against the rise of antisemitism nationwide. In order to combat this hatred, we must first clearly define it. Highland Park’s adoption of the IHRA definition is especially significant, given its location within the greater Chicago area, which has recently experienced a staggering 58% increase in antisemitic hate crimes.”
According to StandWithUs, “the IHRA definition has received endorsement from over 1,200 governments, institutions, and organizations worldwide, including the U.S. State Department and various agencies within the U.S. government, as well as the European Union and governments from over 40 countries.”
