Former US President Donald Trump on Sunday said American Jews don’t appreciate him enough and that they need to “get their act together” and show more gratitude for his past policies toward Israel “before it is too late.”
“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” he posted on his platform Truth Social.
Trump went on to say that his approval rating in Israel is the highest “in the world” and that he could “easily” be elected prime minister there.
“Jews have to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel — Before it is too late!” he added.
TRUTHSOCIAL
His comments were quickly called out as antisemitic on social media.
While many U.S. Jews are supportive of Israel, as the Times of Israel has reported, they reject stereotypes of having dual loyalty to the Jewish state, which is one of the oldest antisemitic canards.
“His threat to Jewish Americans and his continued use of the antisemitic dual loyalty trope fuels hatred against Jews,” the Jewish Democratic Council of America fired back on Twitter. “We will not be threatened by Donald Trump and Jewish Americans will reject GOP bigotry this November.”
One scholar likened his comments to an old tactic used to pressure Jews into submitting to leadership.
“This is an old concern in the history of antisemitism,” responded historian and New School professor Federico Finchelstein, who has published several books on fascism and populism.
“This is how antisemitic propaganda is deployed with a mix of traditional arguments (supposedly good Jews that follow the leader versus the diaspora Jews) & and a dire warning & threat if they do not appreciate/submit to the leader,” he tweeted.
Trump has previously accused American Jews of being ungrateful to him for not offering him their support. Jews are among the most consistently liberal and Democratic groups in the U.S., according to past surveys by the Pew Research Center.
He has repeatedly sought credit and allegiance for having moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, having recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, and having brokered the Abraham Accords between Israel and regional states.
“If you vote for a Democrat, you’re being disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel,” he said in 2019. He repeated this a day after several Jewish organizations called out his comments as antisemitic.
