Gordon L. Weil
In his 100-day whirlwind, President Trump has transformed a
public concern into a mega-wedge issue.
It’s antisemitism.
He uses charges of antisemitism to attack institutions and
show his support for Israel. While
antisemitism is real and historic, Trump exploits it to drive a political wedge
that could bring him added support, based on his position on this single issue.
The 2023 Hamas attack on Israel provided the fuel for his
policy. Most of the world was shocked by
the brutal raid, killing and kidnapping and agreed that Israel was entitled to
act to prevent any recurrence. The
unchecked power of Hamas had to be ended.
Jews across the world joined in this sentiment.
In its retaliation and counterattack, Israel not only went
after Hamas but also hit innocent Palestinians, first in Gaza and then on the
West Bank, presumably to undermine any possible support for Hamas. Israel appears to leverage its Hamas response
to repress or expel Palestinians, so it can ultimately exercise total control over
the former territory of Palestine.
Just as great sympathy had been shown for Israelis in the
wake of the Hamas attack, sympathy also emerged for the many Palestinians, not
Hamas activists, who saw their families, homes, and hospitals devastated. Some worried about the fate of the
Palestinians, though among them were those who went overboard and backed Hamas.
This is the point where U.S. antisemitism became an
issue.
With the second largest Jewish population in the world, the
politics of this issue divide American Jews. They all continue to be concerned
about their survival as a small minority among the world’s billions, but they disagree
on the current events in the Middle East.
For some, support for Israel, a Jewish state, is essential to
their beliefs, making it a large part of how they define themselves as
Jews. Their support for Israel readily
translates into support for any actions taken by the Israeli government under
Netanyahu. In short, backing the Israeli
government, no matter what it does, has become an integral part of their faith.
Other American Jews base their faith less on Israel and more
on their traditions and shared values. While
they support Israel’s existence, they focus on protecting and improving the
lives of others. In recent decades, this
has become frequently expressed as a duty to “repair the world.” That belief can lead to opposition to
Israel’s aggressive, sometimes brutal, tactics.
Trump agrees with the pro-Netanyahu hard-right views. Jews and others who oppose Israel’s
repression of the Palestinians are labelled
as being self-hating or antisemitic.
Trump may exploit antisemitism as a way of gaining support
in the Jewish community, which has usually voted strongly Democratic. This is what happened in the recent Canadian
elections, when a Trump-like Conservative picked up some traditional
Liberal Party supporters. He also appeals to Christian conservatives, who see Israel’s
existence as central to their own beliefs.
Labeling opposition to the Israeli government and showing
support for non-violent Palestinians as antisemitism dismisses deeply held beliefs
in the Jewish community. Those who
express these views, even Jews, become targets for political retaliation and
may threaten their freedom of speech.
Anti-Arab militants, whether for racist or political
reasons, claim that supporters of beleaguered Palestinians are
antisemitic. That makes it impossible for
a person either to see some merit on both sides or to reject both sides.
For people who want to suppress Arabs, the Israeli
government has become the authority on who is a good Jew, defined as those who share
that view. To be clear, Israel cannot “excommunicate”
a Jew. That is an individual’s decision.
Trump’s allies in Congress could deem criticism of Israel
virtually illegal through a definition of antisemitism in proposed new
legislation. They are forcing Jewish
members of Congress to face a choice between backing Trump and seeming to be
indifferent to antisemitism.
“We are witnessing the co-opting of the fight against
antisemitism to pursue unrelated, authoritarian goals by the Trump
Administration, and the so-called Antisemitism
Awareness Act will give them another tool,” wrote one leader of a Jewish
group opposing the bill. “Antisemitism
is a serious problem,” he said, “but this legislation combined with the current
administration’s actions aren’t making Jewish Americans any safer.”
By politicizing antisemitism, Trump may make the situation
worse. He increases an unwanted focus on
American Jews and adds to national divisiveness. He uses this policy to attack institutions
that foster free speech and open debate.
Is it wise to end funding for some of the world’s best scientific
research, because a university administration badly handled a campus protest?
Trump has taken extreme action in withholding federal
funding to kill “woke” efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion for
some groups. But his singular and
favored focus on antisemitism makes it appear that for one group, he, too, is
“woke.”
