Trump told a group of Republican Jews over the weekend that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyu is 'your prime minister,' and Jewish groups are horrified.
Add this to the growing list of anti-Semitic behavior Trump has exhibited over the years.
At a gathering of Republican Jews in Las Vegas on Saturday, Trump repeatedly suggested that American Jews are not actually American, telling the Jewish Republicans in the audience that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is "your" prime minister and claiming that Democrats would leave Israel "out there all by yourselves."
"I stood with your prime minister at the White House to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights," Trump said at the Republican Jewish Coalition event.
Speaking to the American Republican Jewish Coalition, Trump refers to Bibi Netanyahu as "your prime minister" pic.twitter.com/rAv4MrxyBt
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 6, 2019
The "dual loyalty" attack is an age old anti-Semitic trope, in which Jews are accused of not being patriotic enough because their loyalty lies with Israel rather than the United States. Trump seemed to go a step further, implying that American Jews are actually Israeli.
And Jewish groups are calling Trump out for perpetuating this smear in his comments over the weekend.
"Mr. President, the Prime Minister of Israel is the leader of his (or her) country, not ours," the American Jewish Committee tweeted. "Statements to the contrary, from staunch friends or harsh critics, feed bigotry."
"Netanyahu isn’t our Prime Minister. But clearly, Trump doesn’t believe it’s his job to represent us," J Street, a Jewish group that backs a two-state solution for peace in the Middle East, tweeted.
Freshman Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) also called out Trump's comments.
"Unfortunately, I must once again condemn anti-Semitic statements that claim that Jews in the U.S. have dual loyalty to Israel," Slotkin tweeted. "This anti-Semitic trope has both terrible historic roots and is deeply offensive today. Enough."
Trump's comments came roughly two months after comments from Rep. Ilham Omar (D-MN) caused a conservative uproar, with charges that Omar's criticism of Israel perpetuated the "dual loyalty" canard.
Omar apologized for the remarks, yet Trump demanded Omar's resignation, and started to repeatedly claim that the Democratic Party is "anti-Jewish."
What Trump said over the weekend is leaps and bounds worse than anything Omar suggested. And they're part of a pattern of anti-Semitic behaviors Trump has exhibited over the years. Those behaviors include:
- Anti-Semitic attacks on prominent Jews such as Holocaust survivor and philanthropist George Soros.
- The dissemination of a meme that originated on a white supremacist website that pictured Hillary Clinton photoshopped over a pile of cash with a Star of David.
- And a remark that there were good people among the group of Nazi protesters in Charlottesville who chanted "Jews will not replace us."
Yet Republicans have been deafeningly silent over Trump's smears.
And as disappointing as that is, it's expected from the Republican Party — which now exists solely to run defense for an anti-Semitic, racist, and lawless Trump.
Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.
