Reform Jewish movement in US blasts Trump for ‘sowing hate and fear’

The Reform Movement pulled no punches in an open letter attacking Trump on Tuesday.

By World Israel News Staff

The Reform Jewish Movement published an open letter on Tuesday slamming President Donald Trump for “for sowing hate and fear.”

The letter began by calling for “introspection and reflection” entering the Jewish month of Elul in which the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are celebrated.

However, the letter was short on introspection and long on condemnation as it quickly descended into a harangue against the sitting president.

“Since taking office, President Trump’s words and actions have sowed division, spread fear, and expressed hateful views that go far beyond the legitimate expressions of policy differences that characterize healthy political debate,” the statement read.

“In unprecedented ways, he has verbally attacked people and communities of color, immigrants, and people with disabilities, looking for political advantage in turning Americans against one another,” it said. “He has also failed to consistently and unequivocally condemn words and acts of hate from others.”

The letter offered no specific examples but one, referring to Trump’s remarks that Jews who vote Democrat are being “disloyal.” Although Trump clarified that Jews were being disloyal to themselves and the Jewish state for voting Democrat, as the party included members like Reps. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, this didn’t seem to appease the Reform Movement’s leaders.

“Regardless of whether he was referring to disloyalty to Israel or to the United States, this reprehensible statement evokes centuries-old anti-Semitic tropes about Jews having dual loyalties and/or being untrustworthy citizens of their nations,” the statement read.

Twelve leaders of the Reform Movement signed the letter, including president of the Union for Reform Judaism, Rabbi Rick Jacobs.

Curiously, although Rabbi Jacobs attacked Trump for using anti-Semitic tropes, he took the side of Reps. Tlaib and Omar in the recent debate over whether Israel should have barred the two from entering Israel last month.

Tlaib and Omar, who have frequently attacked Israel, were banned over their support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement and a travel itinerary that only listed “Palestine” as a destination and only included meetings with Palestinian officials, with the exception of one extreme anti-Israel Jewish group called B’Tselem.

Rabbi Jacobs called Israel’s move “wrong, full stop.”

“Israel should use the opportunity afforded by the representatives’ visit to demonstrate why BDS is wrong and fails to offer a reasonable path forward in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs didn’t suggest how Israel could do so when the two congresswomen didn’t acknowledge Israel in their itinerary but rather a state that doesn’t exist, nor did they include plans to meet with any Israeli official.