Donald Trump decided to take time during Rosh Hashanah — the start of the Jewish High Holy days and the celebration of the New Year — to blame “liberal Jews” for voting to destroy America and Israel.
“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!,” he wrote on Truth Social on Sunday, presumably referring to the American Jewish support for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!”
The leading Republican presidential candidate then shared what appeared to be a flyer boasting of Trump’s record on Israel and pro-Jewish causes. “Wake Up Sheep. What Nazi / Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” the flyer reads. The flyer goes on to crow about moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (“no other president had the balls to do it”) and endorsing “Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights” and “over settlements in Judea & Samaria” — also known as the West Bank. The flyer also mentions Trump’s signing the “Never Again” Education Bill into law, which funds Holocaust awareness — which was praised by organizations, such as the Anti-Defamation League. “Clearly, one of the Greatest Anti Semites of our time!” the flyer jokes.
Strangely, it neglects Trump’s notorious statement that neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville, Virginia were “very fine people.” Or his speech in front of prominent Republican Jews, telling them that they were manipulative money-grubbers. Or his dinner with Kanye West after the rapper tweeted that he was “going death con3 on JEWISH people.”
The time in between Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, is when Jews are supposed to ask for forgiveness from those they may have hurt. Trump used this faithful, soul-searching time to make it about himself.
It’s unlikely to have much impact; American Jews have traditionally voted overwhelmingly for Democrats — and 2024 looks to be a continuation of the trend. According to a poll by the Jewish Electoral Institute, which found among 800 Jewish voters, Biden leads Trump by 72 percent.
In short, a toxic stew of Christian millenarianism and realpolitik containment of the Soviet Union.
Could an argument be made that it's nice to have a militaristic presence where a lot of oil is?
Israel has very little oil and hardly any US official presence (apparently a radar installation at Dimona). Turkey directly borders countries with oil resources and the United States maintains a larger military presence there. The United States also had very close ties to Iran pre-‘79, and maintained large bases in Saudi Arabia and Iraq at various points in history.
Additionally, the United States only swung towards Israel post-‘67 with the money ramping up after the Camp David Accords, so, for me, that doesn’t square with an idea of “we need Israel for oil”.