Donald Trump caused an outcry when he posted a message accusing “liberal Jews” of voting to destroy the US and Israel. Trump penned the note on this Truth Social media account on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
“Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year,” he wrote. Beside the post was an image containing bullet points showing Trump’s Israel policies, seemingly intending to hit back against antisemitism accusations against him.
It states, “Wake Up Sheep. What Natzi/Anti-Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” Underneath are listed five policies, including moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – which Trump calls Israel’s true capital, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria settlements, making Judaism a nationality so it would be covered by the Civil Rights Act, and spending millions of dollars on Holocaust education.
A copy of the post made its way to Twitter, where opinions were divided. Some people saw Trump’s words as a threat, while others argued he was simply stating the truth. One person tweeted, “No other president has ever been as openly supportive of Jewish people and Israel than Trump. Liberal Jews need to wake up.”
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called Mr. Trump’s post antisemitic, while Jonathan Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League said the former President was propagating and endorsing anti-Jewish tropes and accusing Jews of mixed loyalties. “It is dangerous and wrong to suggest an entire segment of the Jewish population voted to destroy America and Israel,” Greenblatt said.
According to Pew research data, Jewish Americans largely vote Democrat and a majority disapproved of President Trump’s performance in the White House. In the runup to the 2020 Presidential election, just 27% of Jewish respondents said they supported Mr. Trump. Around one in ten Jews in the US identify as Orthodox, and of those, 81% supported President Trump.
