Trump Victory: Good News, Bad News For Jews – Part II
Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett was downright giddy. He said President-elect Donald Trump's opposition to the two-state solution and support for unfettered settlement construction means "The era of a Palestinian state is over."
American Jews are more supportive of resuscitating the peace process than the current right-wing Israeli government, but they have more urgent worries about a Trump administration.
Millions of Americans stand to lose their health care coverage if the incoming president keeps his vow to immediately repeal the Affordable Care Act. Like other Republicans, he has spoken of "repeal and replace" but so far no one has offered a viable substitute. Republicans speak of a free market solution, which translates to "you're on your own."
With Republican control of the House and Senate, he plans to push through his first day agenda to cut spending for education and welfare, end funding for Planned Parenthood, repeal a broad range of environmental regulations, end all gun restrictions, begin rounding up undocumented workers, suspend Syrian refugee resettlement and "defend the unborn."
Trump will never have to worry about demands to release his tax returns, and his appointees at the IRS will quickly drop all audits of his own finances and those of his family.
Judge Merrick Garland won't be the next Jewish justice on the Supreme Court, and Trump will have a Republican Senate to rubber stamp right wing judges who will shape the federal bench for a generation or more.
He has mentioned making former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani attorney general. On election day Giuliani was calling for prosecution of Clinton for her handling of classified information in her emails. Trump repeatedly encouraged surrogates and crowds calling for prosecuting and imprisoning his opponent.
But most disturbing is the alarmingly high level of anti-Semitism, racism, bigotry and xenophobia of a frightening number of his core followers that he only encouraged.
He launched his campaign with attacks on Mexicans, broadening that to include Muslims, Hispanics, African-Americans, immigrants, assorted minorities, the disabled, the poor, gays and women. And Jews.
Trump's Jewish friends and business associates say he is not an anti-Semite, and they point to his daughter's conversion. I hope they're right about him personally, but his words and actions some something different.
They insist he couldn't be an anti-Semite because he has said he is a strong supporter of Israel. Just listen to those White House tapes of Jew-hater Richard Nixon, was also pro-Israel.
Trump did little to distance himself from white supremacists, nativists, anti-Semites, conspiracy theorists, xenophobes who made up so much of his base. Occasionally and sometimes reluctantly he rejected their endorsements, but more often he and his sons and aides retweeted some of the most vile hate messages.
The anti-Semitic dog whistles coming out of his campaign were deafening.
Trump closed his campaign with an ad insinuating a secret international clique was conspiring for his defeat, and there was a clear insinuation that it was run by Jews.
His ad echoed classic anti-Semitic tropes and depicted three prominent Jews — Janet Yellen, the chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Board; billionaire philanthropist George Soros and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein – as the presumed leaders of the conspiracy. The two men are Clinton supporters.
The ADL has repeatedly criticized Trump and his campaign for its ongoing and lightly disguised anti-Semitism. There were attacks on "international bankers" and "global financial powers," anti-Semitic buzzwords that sounded like they were taken right out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Most notably his charge that Hillary Clinton "meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty."
Jewish organizations will be watching closely to see how much voice and access these hate groups have in the Trump administration. He can't sleep with so many anti-Semites, neo-Nazis and white supremacists and still call himself a friend of Israel and the Jews.