JDCA Condemns Trump’s Shabbat Politicking and Israeli Election Intervention

Trump’s Assault on Decency and Truth Should Stay in Vegas

WASHINGTON — The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) spoke out against remarks made by President Donald Trump at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) meeting in Las Vegas, on the eve of Tuesday’s Israeli elections. JDCA Executive Director Halie Soifer said the following:

“We strongly denounce President Trump’s continued assault on decency and truth, as was evident in his speech earlier today before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas. The U.S.-Israel relationship has been – and must remain – bipartisan, and we unequivocally reject Trump’s ongoing effort to politicize issues related to Israel on the eve of the Israeli election.

“It’s no coincidence that Trump’s Shabbat morning speech in Las Vegas coincides with primetime, post-Sabbath television in Israel, just three days before the Israeli election. Israelis have every right to go to the polls without the U.S. president putting his thumb on the scale in support of any one candidate. The U.S.-Israel relationship must supersede domestic politics – in America and Israel – and we reject Trump’s intervention in Israel’s democracy.

“Trump’s claims of Republicans ‘doing well’ in the 2018 election and of American Jews leaving the Democratic Party are completely false. This is a fantasy of the Republican Party, which has lost support among Jewish voters since 2016. Polling demonstrates that Trump’s presidency has only solidified the fact that the Democratic Party has been – and will remain – the political home of the American Jewish electorate. This is because Trump’s policies and rhetoric are antithetical to Jewish values, and because anti-Semitism has increased to unprecedented levels due to Trump’s divisive words, policies, and willful blindness.

“What happened today in Las Vegas was a shameful display of lies and arrogance. We hope Trump’s continued assault on decency and truth will stay in Vegas.”