A coalition of ten Jewish organisations issued a statement on Tuesday saying that President Donald Trump is using accusations of antisemitism to undermine democracy in the United States.
The groups said they were "rejecting the false choice between confronting antisemitism and upholding democracy”.
While calling for action to stop antisemitism, the groups condemned the actions of the US government, which they said has used antisemitism to clamp down on international students at US universities while threatening "draconian" funding cuts against universities.
It said that this was exploitation of the antisemitism label.
"Our safety as Jews has always been tied to the rule of law, to the safety of others, to the strength of civil society, and to the protection of rights and liberties for all," the statement read.
"We reject any policies or actions that foment or take advantage of antisemitism and pit communities against one another; and we unequivocally condemn the exploitation of our community's real concerns about antisemitism to undermine democratic norms and rights, including the rule of law, the right of due process, and/or the freedoms of speech, press, and peaceful protest,” it added.
In comments made to NRP's Morning Edition show, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs Amy Spitalnick said, in reference to the arrest of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk: "When we start applying rights based on someone's views or identity, that's a slippery slope that makes us all unsafe."
Ozturk was forcibly abducted by ICE agents in Massachusetts in March after co-authoring an opinion article last year that was critical of the university’ response to calls for it to "acknowledge the Palestinian genocide" and "divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel”.
Ozturk is one of a number of students who have been abducted by ICE. Others include Mahmoud Khalil, who played a prominent role in organising Gaza sit-ins in Columbia University, and Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian green card holder who worked with Khalil.
In response to a question on Zionist organisations’ support for the actions, Spitalnick said that the coalition “represents the overwhelming majority of American Jews”.
The groups taking part in the coalition include the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism, the National Council of Jewish Women and the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
More than 1,000 international students and recent graduates from 180 colleges and universities across the country have had their legal residency changed since the beginning of the year, according to Inside Higher Ed.
The clampdown has also seen pressure exerted on universities, with Harvard the latest to be targeted by the US administration on the grounds of cracking down on antisemitism, with $2.2 billion funding frozen after it rejected recent demands.