Jewish Democrats Respond to Trump’s Executive Order on Anti-Semitism

WASHINGTON – In response to the executive order on anti-Semitism that President Trump will sign today, Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) Executive Director Halie Soifer released the following statement:

“The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) applauds bipartisan efforts to combat anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it may occur, but that is not what we’re seeing today with this executive order. The day after yet another attack on Jewish Americans, and just three days after President Trump characterized Jews as money-hungry ‘killers,’ President Trump has zero credibility to take meaningful action to combat the scourge of anti-Semitism for which he is partially responsible.

“If President Trump truly wanted to combat anti-Semitism, he would accept responsibility for his role in perpetuating anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and emboldening white nationalism. We said it before and we’ll say it again – Donald Trump is the biggest threat to American Jews.

“This is truly the arsonist attempting to serve as the firefighter, and we’d prefer Trump stop inciting the flames of hatred against Jews as opposed to feigning his concern with a political stunt timed to correspond with the White House Hanukkah party. American Jews – and Israel – are not pawns to be used in Trump’s re-election bid. It’s not up to Donald Trump to define, stereotype, or use Jews for his own political advantage, and we reject his attempts to do so.

“Having now seen the executive order the president will sign later today, we also have substantive concerns. We must be careful to distinguish legitimate criticism of Israel from free speech protected by the First Amendment. Any overreach by the administration in the enforcement of this executive order could chill protected speech, making it even harder to fight legitimate anti-Semitism. And if anyone needs examples of what anti-Semitism looks like, one need to look no further than the words of President Trump (and charges of dual loyalty), which would be classified as anti-Semitic according to his own executive order.”