I’m a Jewish liberal Democrat. Most of my friends and family are liberal Democrats. Conservatives, Tea Partiers, and rightists are the ideological enemy. Now Trump comes along. He’s the bane of my personal political platform . . . except for one thing (the most important thing).
Israel.
Look at it another way. Obama hates Netanyahu – some call him the most anti-Israel president since Jimmy Carter. Kerry asks how Israel maintains its character. Many believe that the Democratic Party is the new home for political anti-Semitism.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, supports Israel while he calls for closing U.S. borders to Muslims and kicking out millions of hispanic illegals. Jews have experienced that kind of persecution too often – from pogroms, expulsions, and oppression. Professor Eytan Gilboa writes in The Jerusalem Post, “Jews cannot but protest a wholesale, religion-based ban on entry to the U.S.”
Trump’s “final solution” to West Bank and Gaza is to trade peace with the Palestinians for free relocation to Puerto Rico. “I’ll even build them an exact replica of that darn mosque,” he offers, “[where] they’re always killing innocent Israelis.” Some call the idea “Trump Gaza.”
“Israel was sold out by Kerry and Obama,” claims Trump, the man who has shown solid support to Israel, was a Grand Marshal in the NYC Israeli Day Parade, and recorded a video message describing Netanyahu as a “great prime minister . . . terrific guy . . . terrific leader.”
To make matters more confusing, Trump’s daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism in 2009, married Jewish real estate mogul Jared Kushner, and is raising her children Jewish . . . in a kosher home. Her father even suggested that Ivanka be put on the $10 bill.
A Jew on a $10 bill? That sounds pretty good.
Is Trump the man for Jewish voters? Consider this: he’s referred to women he dislikes as “fat pigs” and “slobs.” He’s pro-life, wants to defund Planned Parenthood, proposes to fight ObamaCare, and labels Mexican illegals as criminals and rapists.
He’s also the man that describes himself as “the only true supporter of Israel in the 2016 presidential race.”
In contrast, Hillary Clinton claims she’s a staunch supporter of Israel, wrote that “Netanyahu and I worked together as partners and friends . . . [maintaining] an unshakable commitment to the alliance between our countries.”
Secretary Clinton with then Israeli President Shimon Peres, 2012 – U.S. Department of State. Photo is public domain
Her daughter Chelsea married Jewish financier Marc Mezvinsky – with a Rabbi co-officiating at their wedding. I doubt Chelsea keeps a kosher home.
To further complicate matters, in 2010 Clinton called Israeli construction in east Jerusalem “counterproductive,” and more recently, backed the Iran Nuclear Deal (with caveats such as never allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon). Many fear that she’ll continue Obama’s policies in the Middle East. After all, she was his Secretary of State.
Yet Clinton avows total support of Israel and all those Democratic platforms that Liberal Jews cherish. However, politicians, old or new to the business, lie. Obama is a perfect example; Clinton is also well-known for that skill.
Here’s the question – do you forget your values and back Israel’s proven supporter, Donald Trump? Or do you keep your values and back someone who claims to be Israel’s supporter?
What’s a Jewish liberal to think?
