Deep fear as Trump surges
Candidate’s failure to reject KKK alarms US Jews
THE LIKELY nomination of Donald Trump as the Republican Party candidate in the upcoming US presidential election has sparked deep concern among American Jews.
Mr Trump, who beat his rivals by a large margin in the 12-state primary vote on “Super Tuesday”, came under heavy criticism this week after he repeatedly refused to disavow the support of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke during a CNN interview on Sunday. The billionaire businessman has also made a series of racist remarks about Muslims and Mexicans during his campaign.
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism chief executive Rabbi Steven Wernick said that “any candidate who… cannot bring himself to condemn a racist group is a danger to our democracy”, adding that he could not “remain silent”.
Duke has praised Mr Trump for — among
other things — breaking up “Jewishdominated lobbies” and, on Sunday, notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam group, backed the Republican candidate for supposedly turning down money from Jews.
On Monday, the Anti-Defamation League sent a list of “racist individuals and extremist groups who have inserted themselves in the presidential campaign by supporting candidates” to all party campaign groups. The first name on the list was Duke; Farrakhan appeared lower down.
ADL chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said: “We are providing information to all of the campaigns to ensure that they steer clear of these extremists.”
During the CNN interview, Mr Trump had claimed he “did not know anything” about Duke, and afterwards said he had not heard the question properly because his earpiece was not working. He later rejected the support of Duke.
Jewish historian and leading neoconservative Robert Kagan wrote in the Washington Post that he had left the Republican Party as a result of Mr Trump’s rise to popularity.
Calling the potential nominee the party’s “Frankenstein’s monster” and a “plague”, Mr Kagan told readers that for him and “perhaps for others, the only choice will be to vote for Hillary Clinton. The party cannot be saved, but the country still can be.”
There was also confusion over Mr Trump’s position on Israel. In an interview with Fox News presenter Sean Hannity last week, Mr Trump described himself as a
“great friend of Israel”, and that he would “100 per cent” come to Israel’s defence if the country was ever under attack.
However, at a town hall meeting screened on US television network MSNBC on February 17, he told the crowd he was “a neutral guy” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Emergency Committee for Israel, a pro-Israel organisation led by prominent neo-conservative William Kristol, released a video online on Sunday entitled “Trump loves dictators”.
The video shows Mr Trump agreeing that the world would be “100 per cent” better with former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and ex-Libya dictator Muammar Gaddafi in power, then praising Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Kristol wrote in a statement: “If you’re pro-Israel, you shouldn’t be pro-Trump. Apologists for dictators aren’t reliable friends of the Jewish state.”
Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, one of the main donors to the Republicans, has yet to make his preferences clear.
Although he has met most of the Republican candidates several times, the casino mogul, who has said his main consideration is which candidate will be best for Israel, is waiting before he plunges into the fray. He is known to be leaning towards Marco Rubio, but he may be hesitant due to the accusations that in 2012 he damaged the Romney campaign by initially funding his GOP challenger, Newt Gingrich.
Also, Mr Adelson’s wife, Miri, is said to be more in favour of Ted Cruz. Like many other Republican megadonors and supporters of Israel, both Adelsons will appear to have a major dilemma on
their hands if Mr Trump emerges as the candidate.
There remains a degree of support for Mr Trump within the US Jewish community, however.
Sid Dinerstein, former chair of Florida’s Palm Beach County Republican Party, told the Forward: “Trump will flat out be a friend of Israel.
“People understand that Trump, every time he opens his mouth, is negotiating,” he said referring to the candidate’s claim that his lack of bias will help him broker a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. “But he’s doing it from a position of strength and that’s what makes all the difference.”
Fred Zeidman, a major Republican donor, argued that ultimately Mr Trump would not make problems for Jewish Americans who support Israel.
“I wish he was more positive on Israel, but I’d be very surprised if as president he wasn’t supportive of Israel,” Mr Zeidman told the Forward. He added: “Maybe I’m naive.”
If you’re pro-Israel, you shouldn’t be pro-Trump— he is a apologist for dictators’