After the stunt Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pulled last week, threatening to withhold US support if Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu isn’t given the boot, I suspect there were a good many Jewish Americans, maybe even one or two who read this blog :), who said, That’s it, I’m done with the Dems, I’m voting for Trump.
I certainly didn’t pull any punches when I lambasted Schumer in last week’s blog, How Dare You? Judging from the many comments I received, a lot of you agree Schumer’s speech crossed the line and hurt Israel in its fight against Hamas, the murderers, rapists and kidnappers of innocent women, children and men.
Schumer’s words, as a leading American politician, a longtime supporter of Israel, and the most important Jewish American officeholder, carry a lot of weight. His words matter a great deal.
But, if you’re fed up with Chuck, you should be trembling at Trump.
As a past and possible future president, his words also carry a lot of weight. They too matter a great deal and they are despicable.
On a radio interview show, Trump said, Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, they hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves.
Chuck Schumer shouldn’t lecture Israelis about their leader and Donald Trump shouldn’t preach to Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats. He shouldn’t denigrate their love for Israel and devotion to their religion. By doing so, he’s digging up an old anti-semitic trope of divided Jewish loyalty.
How dare you? Part II.
At a time when anti-semitic hate crimes are at an all-time high, when Jewish-owned businesses are being defaced, when Jews are being attacked on the streets, when Jewish students and teachers are being traumatized in their high schools and universities, the words of Donald Trump are not only hurtful and unhelpful, they’re incendiary. They pour oil on the fire of Jew hate in this country.
Oh yes, I can hear the what-abouts already being pecked out on your smart phones. What about Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? What about the Abraham Accords? What about Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights during his presidency? Don’t judge him on his words, judge him on his deeds.
If you want to play that what-about game, what about Trump’s meeting with known anti-semites at Mar-a-Lago? What about Trump’s remark that Hitler really did do some good things? What about Trump saying American Jews aren’t appreciative of him?
Last year, in his message on the Jewish New Year, Trump said that liberal Jews who did not support him, voted to destroy America & Israel. A happy and a sweet new year from DJT!
For years, Trump has left a trail of anti-semitic and near anti-semitic statements.
Remember when Trump bashed Bibi Netanyahu for his call to Joe Biden, congratulating him on his election?
Will the Israeli government, even one sans Netanyahu, have to submit to a Trump-devised loyalty test during a war for its survival? Will he say American Jews, who are overwhelmingly registered as Democrats, are getting what they deserve when Hezbollah is pummeling all of Israel with thousands of precision-guided rockets?
I’m with you that Jewish Americans need to be clear-eyed about the Biden Administration’s weakening support of Israel and its pandering to Arab American voters to try to preserve electoral college wins in key battleground states. It is troubling, that Biden and Co. are tacking to the left, trying to appease a growing progressive Democrat group that wants Israel to cease dismantling the Hamas terror machine.
But they cannot close their eyes to Donald Trump’s pronouncements and his insane criterion of what constitutes loyalty.
Deeds matter, yes they do. The move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, matters. Keeping sanctions on Iran, matters. The US rearmament of Israel with hundreds of tons of munitions, matters. The diplomatic cover Israel has been given by the Biden administration since October 7, matters. The important intelligence sharing going on between the US and Israel, matters.
But words also matter, yes they do, no matter if they are spoken by Chuck Schumer or Donald Trump.
Today, Sunday, is the Jewish holiday of Purim. It celebrates the defeat of Haman, a high-ranking, narcissistic government official in ancient Persia, who convinced the king to annihilate the Jews of the empire, because he claimed they didn’t show him enough respect.
But Queen Esther and her uncle Mordechai knew what they were dealing with, and convinced the erratic and unpredictable king to cancel the evil decree. And everyone, except Haman, lived happily ever after.
In your heart, do you trust Donald Trump to save Israel in a second, more unpredictable, more erratic administration? There will be no Jared Kushner and possibly no David Friedman around to talk sense to an erratic and unpredictable president.
If you believe Schumer’s words delivered from the well of the US Senate deserve opprobrium, and they most certainly do, you must apply the same measure of indignation and disgust to Trump’s words. Why? Because words matter a great deal, whether they are spoken by Democrats or Republicans, senators or presidential candidates.
If it weren’t so distasteful and downright dumb, I must say I chuckled when Trump said Any Jewish Person that votes for Democrats hates their religion.
I know Donald Trump is many things, real and imagined, but I did not know he was also a theologian. But maybe that’s not so farfetched. After all, he is a pure monotheist. Trump worships only one god. Himself.