Former US president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and hate “their religion,” igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Trump, in an interview, had been asked about Democrats’ growing criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war in Gaza as the civilian death toll continues to mount.
“I actually think they hate Israel,” Trump told his former aide, Sebastian Gorka. “I think they hate Israel. And the Democrat party hates Israel.”
Photo: Reuters
Trump, who last week became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, added: “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
The comments sparked immediate backlash from the White House, US President Joe Biden’s campaign and Jewish leaders. The vast majority of Jewish Americans identify as Democrats, but Trump has often accused them of disloyalty, perpetuating what critics say is an anti-Semitic trope.
At the White House, spokesperson Andrew Bates cast the comments as “vile and unhinged anti-Semitic rhetoric” without mentioning Trump by name.
“As anti-Semitic crimes and acts of hate have increased across the world — among them the deadliest attack committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust — leaders have an obligation to call hate what it is and bring Americans together against it,” he said. “There is no justification for spreading toxic, false stereotypes that threaten fellow citizens. None.”
“The only person who should be ashamed here is Donald Trump,” Biden’s campaign said.
“Trump is going to lose again this November, because Americans are sick of his hateful resentment, personal attacks and extreme agenda,” spokesman James Singer said.
“Accusing Jews of hating their religion because they might vote for a particular party is defamatory & patently false,” Anti-Defamation League director Jonathan Greenblatt said.
“Serious leaders who care about the historic US-Israel alliance should focus on strengthening, rather than unraveling, bipartisan support for the State of Israel,” he wrote on X.
Trump’s comments come as Biden has been facing mounting pressure from the progressive wing of his party over his administration’s support for Israel in its retaliatory offensive in Gaza. More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.
Trump took particular issue with recent comments from US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the country’s highest-ranking Jewish official. In a speech last week, Schumer sharply criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, warning that the civilian toll was damaging Israel’s standing around the world. He also called for Israel to hold new elections.
While the White House formally distanced itself from Schumer’s comments, the Democratic leader and key ally was voicing an opinion increasingly held across Biden’s administration.
Schumer — whom Trump accused of being “very anti-Israel now” — responded by accusing Trump of “making highly partisan and hateful rants.”
“To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship,” he wrote on X.
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