Netanyahu declines to condemn Trump’s antisemitic comments

The Israeli opposition leader declined to condemn Mr Trump’s statement that American Jews should be more like evangelical Christians and support him more

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday refused to say whether former president Donald Trump’s threat that American Jews should be more appreciative of him “before it’s too late” was antisemitic or opine on whether the twice-impeached ex-president is an antisemite.

Mr Netanyahu – who has twice served as Israel’s prime minister, is currently facing corruption charges but could be returned to that post once more if his coalition of right-wing and religious fundamentalist parties garners a majority in the 1 November Israeli elections – was pressed on Mr Trump’s latest antisemitic comments while promoting his memoir on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Asked what he made of Mr Trump’s claim that Jews in the US should be more appreciative of what he has done for Israel — an invocation of dual loyalty tropes that most observers have condemned as classic antisemitism — Mr Netanyahu invoked Mr Trump’s Jewish son-in-law and his daughter, a convert to Judaism.

“Well, you know, he has a Jewish son-in-law and his daughter converted to judaism, his grandchildren are raised as Jews,” he said.

Mr Netanyahu added that in his estimation, Mr Trump’s antisemitic comment “reflects his frustration” for not getting “credit for the things he did”.

Questioned further on whether the ex-president should be more careful with his rhetoric, the Israeli leader again refused to opine on whether Mr Trump’s use of antisemitic tropes carried any risk for American Jews.

“Look, he’s been a great supporter of Israel. He has many Jewish supporters and he also has many opponents,” he said.