President Trump does not mince words; he gets right to the point. He cuts right to the chase, and truth is not easy to swallow. However, truth is essential for civilization to thrive and endure. The president did not get to be a highly successful businessman and Commander in Chief by beating around the bush and avoiding the truth. The media just does not like hearing the truth. They would rather listen to Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib spout one untruth after another. Most of the Muslim world is still in the Middle Ages because of people like Omar and Tlaib. Civilization cannot grow and thrive if lies and distortions rule the roost. Unfortunately, this is precisely why the Muslim world cannot get out of their box.
It isn’t that Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib are hurting Israel (which, by their pro-BDS stance and now trying to cut off aid to Israel, they are); it is because they are harming America that it’s important to call them out. And it isn’t just the Democratic Party that is suffering from their misinformation campaign; it is the American people who are losing the most.
The president is being honest and forthright when he says, “Where has the Democratic Party gone? ... Where have they gone where they are defending these two people over the State of Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”
I did not take these words like Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL (which as an organization has moved to the left of the days when Abraham Foxman ran it) to mean: “It’s unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be ‘disloyal’ to.” To me it was very clear who the president was talking about. The president was simply trying to make the case that Jews should want to support Israel against Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar and the deafening silence of the Democratic Party. He was saying what most Jews felt but were afraid to say. If the Democrats were critical of these two, I doubt the president would have said what he did. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party has lurched to the left and given a free pass to the two congresswomen who should have been censured, roundly criticized, and removed from their committee assignments.
The president in essence has become the defender of Israel and the Jewish people. He should be praised and complimented by all Jews for his unwavering support. The president has done more to take on the Israel haters and bashers than any president in the annals of the United States. His “disloyalty” comments had nothing to do with American Jews’ loyalty to America, which is rock-solid and steadfast. I always take these opportunities to point out how grateful President George Washington was to Haim Solomon (over 70 letters exist between the two) for financing the Revolutionary War and passing away penniless as a result, so that the United States of America could be born. No one can question the loyalty of the Jews to the United States. Haim Solomon taught us the way and it has continued ever since. The president was never questioning the Jews’ loyalty to the United States.
America needs Israel as its only reliable ally in the Middle East, and Israel needs America. It is a symbiotic relationship. Omar and Tlaib want to destroy this relationship. They couldn’t care less if Israel existed or not. I am sure their preference would be that Israel ceases to exist. They fail to understand that their views actually hurt America.
The president was drilling down deep to awaken the Jewish people with his remarks. I believe in the long term he has been successful. Instead of being scolded by self-hating Jews he should be honored.
Joseph M. Frager is a physician and lifelong activist.
