Trump accused of anti-Semitism over remarks on US Jews

Former US President Donald Trump has been accused of anti-Semitism, for comments he made about the support of US Jews to Israel. 

He made the remarks during an interview with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid, where he also alleged that Israel no longer held the sway in the US Congress that it once did. 

"The Jewish people in the United States either don’t like Israel or don’t care about Israel," Trump said.

"It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress…Today I think it’s the exact opposite, I think Obama and Biden did that, and yet in the election they still get a lot of votes from Jewish people," he added, referring to former US President Barack Obama and current President Joe Biden.

New quotes from Trump to @BarakRavid: Most US Jews don't love Israel. Exclusive for Unholy podcast
@Freedland pic.twitter.com/Hv4joYkbCN

— Yonit Levi (@LeviYonit) December 17, 2021

Exit polls from the 2020 US election suggested that Biden was able to secure 70 percent of the Jewish vote, despite the intensely close relationship between Trump and former Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. 

The one-time president then went on to claim that The New York Times newspaper "hates Israel", despite, according to Trump, that there are "Jewish people that run The New York Times".

Groups were quick to speak out on the former reality TV star’s comments. 

"Once again former President Trump has linked his lack of strong support among most US Jews to their feelings about Israel and used classic anti-Semitic stereotypes about Israeli and Jewish control of Congress and the press to bolster his argument," a spokesman for the Anti-Defamation League said. 

"In reality – and it’s sad that we need to restate this point yet again – the vast majority of American Jews support and have some type of connection to Israel, regardless of which political candidate they vote for, and neither Israel nor the Jewish people control Congress or the press," it added. 

While the impeached former president accused US Jews of failing to support Israel to a sufficient level, he did praise Evangelical Christians for their support. 

"I’ll tell you, the evangelical Christians love Israel, more than the Jews in this country," Trump said in the interview.

The former president courted controversy earlier this month when he spoke of the breakdown in his relationship with Netanyahu. 

Speaking to Ravid, the disgraced politician said that despite their close working relationship during his time in office, when the US moved their embassy to Jerusalem, and brokered the so-called "Abraham Accords", the pair had not spoken since Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his electoral victory in 2020. 

Trump has refused to accept the results of the US elections, making unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud. 

"F**K him," Trump said of Netanyahu, accusing him of disloyalty.