Chicago business leaders slam council’s Gaza cease-fire action amid worrying rise in antisemitic incidents

By issuing its ill-conceived resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Chicago City Council neglects the city’s own struggles and the uptick of antisemitism Chicago’s Jewish population is experiencing.

Chairman and CEO of Jet Support Services Neil Book told Fox Digital News that the Chicago business community "as a whole was angry and shocked about this resolution." In search of "an outlet to express their frustration" and "hold leaders accountable," Book authored the full-page letter to the mayor, published in the Chicago Tribune on Mar. 24 and signed by 31 business leaders. The letter urges the mayor to "remember that the first responsibility of Chicago’s Mayor and…City Council is to focus on Chicago, not on a conflict 6,000 miles away." Beth Bailey is a reporter covering Afghanistan, the Middle East, Asia, and Central America. She was formerly a civilian intelligence analyst with the Department of the Army. You can follow Beth on Twitter @BWBailey85

Book said the mayor used "his own political capital and spent his time and resources on something that he knows so little about," rather than "addressing some of the urgent issues here in Chicago." He explained that "it’s a hard sell" to convince business executives to come to Chicago because outsiders "see the violence, they see the homicide rate…they see the looting, they see the destruction [and] the lack of accountability in the court systems."