Netanyahu’s kosher stamp for antisemitism

Published: 18 February 2017

Last updated: 4 March 2024

Netanyahu said: ‘I’ve known the president and his family and his team for a long time, and there is no greater supporter of the Jewish people and the Jewish state than President Donald Trump. I think we should put that to rest.’
The Israeli Prime Minister made his declaration only moments after Trump had sidestepped an opportunity to issue a clear-throated denunciation of antisemitism that might have repaired some of the damage done by the White House statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day and subsequent doubling down on its failure to refer to Jews or antsemitism. When asked by an Israeli reporter about troubling antisemitic attacks in the United States, Trump first took the opportunity to revisit his election victory and the widespread support and ‘enthusiasm’ that he said it reflected - and then continued with a decidedly awkward ramble around the issue of antisemitism, without saying the word.

Trump blew the chance to denounce antisemitism. Netanyahu bailed him out with a kosher stamp- Allison Kaplan Sommer – Haaretz 16.02.17

Watch: Trump snaps at jewish reporter who asks how he will tackle antisemitism – Haaretz 15.02.17
'Sit down, I understand the rest of your question. I'm the least antisemitic person you have ever seen in your entire life,' the US president tells an ultra-Orthodox reporter.

Donald Trump’s answer to antisemitism? You don’t want to know – New York Times Editorial 16.02.17

And see: Trump flirts with classic Holocaust denial January 31, 2017