Trump marks Rosh Hashanah with antisemitic post

‘Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward,’ New Year’s message from former president says

Donald Trump decided to mark the Jewish New Year by sharing an antisemitic message stating that “liberal Jews” voted to “destroy America and Israel” by supporting President Joe Biden.

The former president shared an image wishing Jewish Americans a happy new year on Rosh Hashanah on Truth Social on Sunday.

“Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed in false narratives!” the image said. “Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!”

The image posted by Mr Trump also included a flyer from JEXIT, a group based in Florida working to push the message to Jewish Americans “that the Democratic Party has abandoned them and Israel,” The Times of Israel has reported.

“Wake Up Sheep. What Natzi /Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel?” the flyer states.

It goes on to list Mr Trump’s measures to move the US embassy “from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem which is Israel's true capital. No other president had the b**** to do it”.

“Trump recognizes Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” it adds. “Trump recognizes Israel's sovereignty over settlements in Judea & Samaria.”

“Trump signs an executive order for Judaism to be a nationality in addition to a religion so it would fall under the category Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the JEXIT sheet said. “That act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs receiving federal financial assistance. Institutions that violate Title VI may lose their federal funding. This means that BDS will have a hard time harassing Jewish students on college campuses.”

“May 2020 - Trump Signs the 'Never Again' Education bill into law which allocates millions of dollars to expand Holocaust awareness and create websites with curriculum tools for teachers nationwide!” the flyer states.

“Clearly, one of the greatest Anti Semites of our time!” it concludes with apparent sarcasm.

Mr Trump has long employed the antisemitic trope that Jewish Americans have dual loyalty to Israel and he has spoken to and about Jewish Americans as if Israel is their country and not the US.

Mr Trump hosted a Hanukkah celebration at the White House in 2018, saying that then-Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence would go to Israel “and they love your country. They love your country. And they love this country,” according to The Times of Israel.

In a call with American Jewish leaders after Rosh Hashanah in 2020, Mr Trump said: “We really appreciate you, we love your country also,” the Jewish Telegraphic agency noted.

At a Republican Jewish Coalition event in 2019, Mr Trump referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “your prime minister”.

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the number of antisemitic incidents increased by 36 per cent between 2021 and 2022 – going from 2,717 to 3,697 incidents.

The ADL has said that it’s the “highest number on record since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979”.

“This is the third time in the past five years that the year-end total has been the highest number ever recorded,” they added.

Department of Justice prosecutors on the federal level have asked a judge in charge of a case looking into Mr Trump’s supposed efforts to change the results of the 2020 election to help restrict his attacks, which the former president often posts on Truth Social.

In a filing in US District Court on 15 September, the officials claim that after a grand jury indicted Mr Trump in the case, he has “repeatedly and widely disseminated public statements” targeting the residents of Washington, DC, members of the court, prosecutors, and possible witnesses.

The attacks could “undermine the integrity of these proceedings and prejudice the jury pool,” the prosecution said, asking Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose a “narrowly tailored order” that limits “certain prejudicial extrajudicial statements” from the former president.

“The defendant has an established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him,” prosecutors added.

The attacks have “engendered widespread mistrust in the administration of the election, and the individuals whom he targeted were subject to threats and harassment,” they said.

The prosecution argues that Mr Trump is aware that “when he publicly attacks individuals and institutions, he inspires others to perpetrate threats and harassment against his targets”.

He launches the attacks “precisely because he knows that in doing so, he is able to roil the public and marshal and prompt his supporters,” the prosecutors added.

The criminal indictment looking at Mr Trump’s and his associates’ attempts to overturn the 2020 election is one of four criminal cases against Mr Trump launched this year.