Former President Donald Trump said: “No president has done more for Israel than I have. U.S. Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel before it is too late.”
Trump’s frustration over his reception among American Jews was an obsession for him during his presidency. Depending on the exit survey, Trump received between 21% and 30% of the Jewish vote in 2020, but found significant support among ultra-Orthodox Jews. But he also drew revulsion in Jewish quarters because of his willingness to accept the backing of antisemitic extremists.
The American Jewish Committee stated: “Support for the Jewish state never gives one license to lecture American Jews, nor does it ever give the right to draw baseless judgments about the ties between American Jews and Israel.” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said: “We don’t need the former president, who curries favor with extremists and antisemites, to lecture us about the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
How can Jews forget Trump’s comment regarding Charlottesville, Va., where white supremacists were marching? He said there were “very fine people on both sides.” How can Jews tolerate Trump when he dines with antisemites and white nationalists at Mar-a-Lago, embraces QAnon supporters, endorses election deniers, bribed and bullied election officials, demonized minority groups, minimizes the Jan. 6 insurrection and professes to be the messiah of MAGA and the Republican party? Trump is the paragon of hate and hypocrisy.
Cherie Rosenstein
Beachwood
