I guess the word is frustrating. We finally have a president who, as far as Jewish interests are concerned, is doing everything that should make them happy. His political appointments, such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, are firmly on Israel’s side.
Most notably, President Trump has taken on anti-Semitism in a most serious fashion. Unlike the Biden administration, Trump has gone after universities such as Harvard and Columbia by threatening to withhold major federal grants from them unless they showed a willingness to no longer tolerate anti-Semitism on their campuses.
What is the Jewish reaction? The ADL issued a statement saying that these measures go too far. A group of Reform and Conservative representatives claim that, although there is no doubt of the existence of rampant anti-Semitism in the universities, withholding grant money is not the way to go.
Deborah Lipstadt, the former anti-Semitism czar, who did absolutely nothing to combat the raging anti-Semitism in America, made a similar statement, claiming that holding back monies from universities was “too extreme.”
In addition, several Jewish groups, including Open Orthodox rabbis, were openly critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Worse is that a recently released poll shows that over 65% of Jews disapprove of Trump’s handling of all the major issues, although it should be noted that well over 60% of Orthodox Jews approve of the Trump administration.
Frustrating! We finally have a president who is trying to do everything right for the Jewish community, and he is treated with rejection.
Is it that they are, for some reason, genuinely unhappy with his actions? Or is it that Trump is automatically despised by liberal Jews? You have to wonder what Trump thinks: “Here I go out of my way to do everything right for the Jews, and they turn on me instead.”
I simply do not get it. Why are we Jews so smart but so infantile when it comes to our political behavior?
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
