Hypocrisy of Trump's Jewish Supporters

Eight years ago, some Jews who today support Donald Trump feigned concern about Barack Obama's relative lack of experience, yet now they support a man with zero government experience over a woman with more experience than nearly every presidential candidate in our nation's history.

Eight years ago, they thought nothing of accusing Barack Obama of anti-Semitism and insensitivity to Israel, yet today they support a man whose campaign has trafficked in anti-Semitism and bigotry over woman with a strong, established pro-Israel record.

Eight years ago, they attempted to smear Barack Obama through guilt by association, yet now they seem untroubled that Ku Klux Klansman David Duke is so inspired by Trump's campaign that he is running for the U.S. Senate.

Eight years ago, they were nervous about a young, strong African-American whose style and background differed from theirs. Now they prefer an older white businessman (who happens to be bigoted, unstable and unqualified) over a woman who talks about cracking glass ceilings. They think that since he's a white businessman, he'll get the job done. They insist that he doesn't mean what he says, which means he can't say anything that will change their minds. They don't even seem troubled that a candidate for president of the United States would talk the way Trump talks, regardless of whether he means it. 

They'll insist that they are not bigots or racists (I'm not suggesting that you ask), but Charles Blow is right: "If you support Trump, you are on some level supporting his bigotry and racism."

Bret Stephens backs Hillary Clinton. If your Republican friends won't listen to you, maybe they'll listen to Bret Stephens, the conservative Wall Street Journal columnist. For Stephens, it comes down to this:

Conservative die-hards may try to hold fast to the excuse that Hillary Clinton was, is, and always will be "worse," but the argument can't be sustained indefinitely. Mrs. Clinton is not the apotheosis of evil. She may be a corner-cutter and a liar, and she'll almost surely appoint liberals to the Supreme Court. But at least she's not a sociopath.

Not the most ringing endorsement, but an intellectually honest conservative assessment.

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But what about the Democratic Convention? Ron Kampeas fact-checked the Republican Jewish Coalition's attack ad, concluding that the RJC relied on "hyperbole and distortions." What's worse, though, is that the goal of the ad is to elect Donald Trump.

But what about the Blumenthals? Hillary Clinton condemned Max Blumenthal's comments about Elie Wiesel: "Secretary Clinton emphatically rejects these offensive, hateful, and patently absurd statements about Elie Wiesel. She believes they are wrong in all senses of the term." Why is it so hard for Trump to condemn the statements of his supporters so unequivocally?

Max Blumenthal is not an adviser to the Clinton campaign. His father, Sidney Blumenthal, is a longtime friend of the Clintons. Don't you have friends and associates who you disagree with on certain issues? Every presidential candidate has dozens of friends and millions of supporters who disagree with them on one issue or another and send unsolicited advice. The difference is that their emails are not public.

The Blumenthals are not Hillary's foreign policy advisers and there is no evidence that they influence Hillary's Israel policy. Hillary's foreign policy advisers are exactly who you'd expect them to be.

Trump's chief Israel adviser "doesn't believe in briefing books or in sharing topical news articles with his boss. He has no formal background in foreign policy." He's Jewish, but Lisa Spies, who ran Jewish outreach for Mitt Romney in 2012, said "To me it's almost degrading to say, just because you're Jewish, you know this."

Hillary has a long and strong pro-Israel record. If you want to know where she stands on Israel, instead of reading what people write to her, read what Hillary writes. We can count on Hillary to lead the fight against BDS and anti-Semitism.

I don't know Bill and Hillary Clinton personally, but they do not strike me as people who can be easily manipulated or pressured by others. We should judge Hillary the way the pro-Israel community has historically judged candidates: On her record.

The Black Lives Matter platform falsely and maliciously accuses Israel of genocide. The platform also accuses the U.S. of being complicit in this genocide. Yes, all lives matter, but it's important to emphasize that black lives matter when too many people act as if they don't. Yet as much as we should support justice for African-Americans, we cannot, as the Boston Jewish Community Relations Council so eloquently said, participate "in any coalition that seeks to isolate and demonize Israel singularly amongst the nations of the world."

Did you read about those payments to Iran? Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported a $400 million payment to Iran that everyone else knew about in January. This wasn't a ransom payment. It was a settlement of a 35-year-old court case. And yes, the administration addressed this very issue in a press conference in January. Just wait until the Wall Street Journal finds out about that 24-day waiting period.

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