Jewish groups criticize Trump for antisemitic stereotypes in speech

Trump urged to appeal to Jewish voters in ways that don’t use ‘money references that feed age-old and ugly stereotypes’

Prominent American Jewish organizations have criticised comments made by Donald Trump in a speech to the Israeli American Council.

Trump told the audience at the event in Florida on Saturday they had “no choice” but to vote for him.

“You have to vote for me, you have no choice. You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that,” Trump said, using his derogatory nickname for Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the frontrunners for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“Even if you don’t like me … you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’re going to be out of business in about 15 minutes if [the Democrats] get it.”

He also told the audience, to some laughter and cheers: “A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all.”

While boasting about pro-Israel policies like moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights, Trump also said some Jewish people in America “don’t love Israel enough”.

Multiple Jewish organizations released statements criticizing Trump for reinforcing antisemitic stereotypes that Jews are solely motivated by money and owe or demonstrate loyalty to Israel.

Halie Soifer, executive director of Jewish Democratic Council of America, said in a statement the remarks were an “unconscionable repeating of negative stereotypes that have been used historically to target Jews”.

Soifer reiterated the council’s stance that Trump is “the biggest threat to American Jews” because of his rhetoric that has “emboldened the rise of white nationalism in America, which has directly led to increased hatred and violence targeting Jews”.

The American Jewish Committee said it appreciated the president’s support for Israel, “but surely there must be a better way to appeal to American Jewish voters … than by [using] money references that feed age-old and ugly stereotypes.”

Trump has questioned the loyalty of Jewish Americans before.

In August, he said any Jews who vote Democratic are “disloyal to Jewish people … and very disloyal to Israel”.

He also said Jewish Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”.

Speaking to American Jews at a White House Hanukkah party last year, the president referred to Israel as “your country”.

Speaking to Jewish Republicans last spring, Trump referred to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “your prime minister”.

According to an August 2019 Gallup report, a majority of Jewish Americans, nearly 70%, identify as or lean Democrat versus 23% who identify as or lean Republican. In the 2016 election, 71% of Jewish voters supported Hillary Clinton while 23% supported Trump.

According to a May 2019 poll from the Pew Research Center, while many American Jews are favorable toward policies supporting Israel, 42% believe Trump favors Israel too much.

In comparison, according to a May 2019 poll from Pew, 26% of American Christians say he favors Israel too much while 59% say he is striking the right balance.