Republican Jews call Trump's criticism of Israel and its leaders "inflammatory"

Most American Jews tend to vote for Democrats and have obvious disdain for former President Trump. The Republican Jews tended to support Trump due to his support of Israel and even putting the US Embassy in Jerusalem, which recognizes the Holy City to be the capital of Israel.

However, since the slaughter of over 1,300 Jews by Hamas that began last Saturday, October 7th, Trump denigrated Israel's leaders and called the Hamassholes "smart" in a speech on Wednesday. 

Speaking to a few thousand supporters in Palm Beach, Florida, the former President questioned Israel’s readiness to fight. “Say what you want, Israel was not ready,” he said. “This was a big surprise. This was a terrible thing that happened. They weren’t ready.”

Jewish Republicans didn't let it slide and some called him out on it.

“Criticizing someone that’s fighting for their life is pretty naive and not the least bit productive,” Fred Zeidman, a Republican Jewish Committee board member said. He voted for Trump’s reelection in 2020 and one has to wonder who he will vote for next year if Trump is on the ticket.

Zeidman, who supports former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, credited Trump for his Israel policies while in office. “What he did for Israel far surpassed anybody else,” he said. But on Wednesday, Trump was not speaking as a president or a former president,” Zeidman continued. “He’s speaking as a candidate again and he’s giving all of us a clear reason not to support him.”

The reason Zeidman and others have problems with Trump is due to how he described Hamas and Hezbollah as “smart” and called Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, a “jerk” for warning Hezbollah in Lebanon about striking Israel. “Whoever heard of an official saying on television that they hope the enemy doesn’t attack in a certain area?” Trump said, having no military experience and having avoided the Vietnam War draft. 

Sheya Landa, a GOP activist from New York and a [possibly former] Trump supporter, said that Trump should apologize for remarks that “only cause more frustration.”

“‘When so many lives are lost, it’s beyond ridiculous to make such comments,” said Landa, who currently serves as a staffer for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. He added, however, that he agrees with the Trump that the only solution is to totally destroy Hamas and that Netanyahu must show full force in the Gaza offensive. 

Trump has a strong lead in the GOP primary. In his 2-hour speech, he blasted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he declined to assist the U.S. in the January 2020 drone strike that killed Qasem Suleimani, the leader of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. “I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down,” he said. “That was a very terrible thing.”

Was it really a terrible thing? 

What would have happened to Israel had they helped in killing Suleimani? It might have unleashed a Middle East war while we are safe in our beds.

Anyway, a report in Rolling Stone Wednesday, said that Trump has told allies and donors in recent days that Netanyahu should be “impeached” by the Israeli parliament, and “has also asked multiple longtime advisers if he should now publicly call for Netanyahu to step down as prime minister immediately.”

I know many readers of this blog like Trump, this is uncalled for and personal on his part. Since losing to Biden in 2020, Trump has complained about Netanyahu for disagreeing about the results of the election. However, Wednesday's speech was the first time Trump publicly criticized Israeli leaders for their national security decisions. And it's likely Trump is upset that Bibi praised Biden for his speech in total support of Israel. 

Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) scolded Trump and Lisa Spies, his campaign's Jewish outreach director, said,  “No responsible leader should ever praise Hezbollah terrorists as smart without adding context regarding their evil nature.” Spies, a Republican fundraiser who also served as the Jewish outreach director for Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush’s presidential campaigns added that “anyone who wants to have a conversation about that is nothing short of delusional.” 

She added that her criticism of Trump’s remarks has nothing to do with politics. “You just don’t say anything like that,” she said. “Hezbollah is not ‘smart.’ That sounds like the anti-Israel Democrat Squad, not a Republican.”

Of course she's correct.

Trump’s comments were noted in Israel, even while they are bogged down fighting the terrorists who Trump said are "smart." He had been very favorable in Israel in the past, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center poll. Fully 71% of Israelis trusted his leadership and 55% approved of his policies.

Not so much this week.

Israeli cabinet minister, Shlomo Karhi called out Trump for abetting “propaganda” that would “wound the spirit of Israel’s fighters and its citizens.”

“We don’t have to bother with him and the nonsense he spouts,” said Karhi, a member of the ruling Likud Party and the minister of communications.

The White House called Trump’s remarks “dangerous and unhinged,” and I hate to say it . . . so I won't.

So here's where the war against Hamas and Hezbollah stands today:

*The Hamas commander who led the attack against kibbutzim has been killed.

*Right wing leader Avigdor Lieberman has joined the emergency government of Israel.

*3,621 Israelis have been wounded to date; 368 still hospitalized; 102 in serious condition.

*Lebanon launched a mortar barrage in northern Israel--no injuries reported.

*Sirens have gone off as this is being written in Ashkelon, Israel.

And the war goes on as Israel has warned Gazans to leave northern Gaza and head south as Hamas warns them to stay.

So who are the barbarians and who are the good guys in this war? If you are not sure, you have some serious soul-searching to do while you check your anti-Semitism.

Finally, it goes without saying that if Trump gets the GOP nomination, he would be better than Biden or anyone the Democrats nominate, should Joe get lost on his way to vacation.

Tweet