Donald Trump's Rosh Hashanah message to 'liberal Jews' reignites antisemitism debate
Was targeting his critics who 'voted to destroy America & Israel' the right way to mark the High Holidays?
This past weekend, millions of people around the world celebrated Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year that marks the beginning of the High Holidays — Judaism's most significant spiritual season. For many, it is a time of solemn reflection on the past year, and an opportunity to commit to improvement in the year to come. For former President Donald Trump, however, this weekend's observance was the perfect opportunity to admonish "liberal Jews" for not supporting him.
"Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Sunday evening. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!" he encouraged, before listing a series of accomplishments "for the Jewish people or Israel."
While no stranger to courting controversy within and in regards to the Jewish community, Trump's latest comments — and the High Holiday framing thereof — have prompted a particularly intense debate over the former president's attitudes toward Jewish people in both the United States and Israel. While some commentators have accused the former president of overt antisemitism, his defenders counter that allegations of bigotry are simply part of an "anti-Trump" playbook designed to obfuscate and erase his track record of legitimate accomplishments.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'This has to be seen as a threat'
Calling it "scary stuff," MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan decried Trump's message as a sign that we have "normalized a very old school, very familiar type of antisemitic fascism in this country." Even in light of Trump's previous comments that have been construed as antisemitic in the past, "this is pretty disgusting," he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "It's for real," agreed Hasan's MSNBC colleague and former US Attorney Joyce Vance. Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick also described the message as "antisemitic."
"There's never been a scarier time to be a Jew in America," Brett Meiselas, co-founder of the liberal-leaning Midas Touch media network said, calling the Truth Social post "truly horrifying, Nazi shit."
Trump's message should be seen as "a threat to the majority of American Jews who oppose him and would never vote for him," agreed University of Chicago doctoral candidate and prolific Jewish political columnist Joel Swanson wrote on X, accusing Trump of telling the American Jewish community to "get onboard with MAGA politics, or else the right-wing populist movement will be turned against you." This is an "ominous warning to American Jews," Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported, accusing Trump of "retreading well-worn territory of dual loyalty tropes."
The former president has used his "unprecedented support for Israel as a deflection against accusations of antisemitism," according to The Forward. At the same time, he does so "while invoking dual loyalty tropes and deeming Jews who vote for Democrats as 'very disloyal' to Israel."
Trump's "casual anti-semitism" notwithstanding, the former president's belief that "liberal Jews" care about many of the accomplishments listed in his post is "utterly absurd" in and of itself, Columbia University journalism professor Bill Grueskin said, highlighting several examples of Trump-era policies that were particularly popular among conservatives.
'The tactic precedes Trump'
Defending Trump, conservative commentator Bryan Leib accused the media of "spinning an insane narrative right now," on X, pointing out that the flyer shared by Trump on Truth Social was an iteration of one originally posted by the right-wing "JEXIT" group.
#JEXIT FOR #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/XrCbOfHUhtSeptember 17, 2023
Not only is Trump "the greatest president in the history of America" JEXIT spokesperson Siggy Flicker told One America News, but "there has been no other president who has done so much for the Jewish people."
The "liberal media" has released a "series of coordinated articles," Today News Africa Chief White House Correspondent Simon Ateba alleged on X. But, he continued, the flyer shared by the former president "provides an explanation of everything Trump has done for the Jewish community."
Intra-Jewish allegations that supporting Trump is tantamount to being an accessory to antisemitism has been a "pattern among anti-Trump Jews," Breitbart Senior Editor Joel Pollak wrote. "The tactic precedes Trump,' he added, claiming comedian Sarah Silverman's 2008 push to have young Jewish voters encourage their elderly relatives to vote for Barack Obama was itself a suggestion "that older Jews were racist and would not vote for Obama unless told to do so."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
A national writers nonprofit is the latest front in the war against generative AI
Under the radar NaNoWriMo refuses to condemn the use of AI for its annual challenge. Writers are not having it.
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
5 easy ways to start saving more
The Explainer Even if you start small, saving will eventually make a difference in your overall financial situation
By Becca Stanek, The Week US Published
-
Tucker Carlson's WWII interview fractures conservatives
Talking Points Holocaust revisionism forces 'introspection' in right-wing media
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Tucker Carlson's WWII interview fractures conservatives
Talking Points Holocaust revisionism forces 'introspection' in right-wing media
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Why is a government shutdown possible before the election?
Today's Big Question A fight over immigration, spending and the future of House Speaker Mike Johnson
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Trump ups threatening rhetoric before debate
Tonight marks the first presidential debate between Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
When families cross the aisle against presidential candidates
In The Spotlight Tim Walz's cousins, Donald Trump's niece and nephew, RFK Jr.'s siblings: When it comes to running for office, blood is not necessarily thicker than water
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'The Gish Gallop will certainly play a major role'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Will Kamala Harris give YIMBYs a voice in the White House?
Today's Big Question And can federal officials do anything about local housing rules?
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ charges 2 Russians for funding US far-right media
Speed Read Russia is running disinformation campaigns to influence US politics ahead of the 2024 election, officials say
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Battleground states to watch in the 2024 election
In Depth These seven states could end up deciding who wins the White House this year
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published