51吃瓜

Donald Trump鈥檚 victory has provoked a sectarian struggle over American Jewish values.

The recent, unexpected election of Donald J. Trump to the US presidency has aroused widespread fear, anxiety and, not infrequently, derision on the part of political observers鈥攂oth at home and abroad. Why?

At first, the answers seem obvious and straightforward. The president-elect is an amateur at politics, never having run for public office. He is a huckster and conman who bears a closer resemblance to P.T. Barnum than Dwight Eisenhower. Trump is also a notoriously thin-skinned bully and is unable to tolerate even mild criticism without recourse to vengefulness. He is also a sexist whose views on women often appear to approach lechery. Yet that is not the worst of it.

As far as his policy proposals are concerned, Trump appeals to a renewed nationalism, 鈥淎merica First鈥濃�� itself first popularized by interwar fascists in the US, led by an earlier celebrity, Charles Lindbergh鈥攁imed at limiting the country鈥檚 international engagements and curtailing free trade. On the domestic front, Trump aims to expel millions of undocumented Mexican immigrants and to prevent Muslims, or at least those from Arab countries, from being admitted altogether鈥攈e has used the term extreme vetting more recently. Beyond these commitments, or ostensible commitments, Trump鈥檚 outlook resembles traditional Republican views on the benefits of deregulation and lower tax rates domestically.

Fears and Anxieties

Basic to the about Trump鈥檚 ascent to the presidency is his apparent endorsement of racial, religious and ethnic bigotry. His call to build a wall on the country鈥檚 southern border鈥攖o prevent Mexican immigrants from entering the country illegally鈥攁nd his comments about radical Islamic terrorism between American shores has struck a major chord with resentful voters in many parts of the country.

Accordingly, Trump鈥檚 flirtation with white revanchism won him the enthusiastic support of David Duke, the longtime neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader, the current KKK itself and the loose aggregation of white nationalists, right-wing populists and anti-Semites who have recently attempted to rebrand themselves as the .

The latter generally perceives the white race as the only source of invention and creativity in the world. In their narrative, the US is threatened from other racial and/or religious groups who have gradually invaded and occupied the whites鈥� traditional European and North American homeland. The more conspiracy-minded activists among these white nationalists see American Jews as, once again, behind efforts to undermine American greatness and white leadership.

As evidence, radical (aka alt-)right ideologues like Richard Spencer cite the role of Jewish figures in the mainstream media, public radio and television; and in particular, The New York Times, The Washington Post and the leading social media websites. He and other white nationalist leaders stress the role of these key news outlets in undermining Trump鈥檚 presidential campaign. And, of course, they have a point. Every major big city newspaper around the country (save the , ironically enough, owned by Sheldon Adelson), including those with long-time Republican commitments, endorsed Hillary Clinton. The latter鈥檚 near-unanimous support from the country鈥檚 foreign policy establishment was widely publicized by the news outlets.

At the street level, such watchdog organizations as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), as well as the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, have called attention to the rapid rise in hate crimes and acts of hate driven vandalism since Trump鈥檚 election. Swastikas have been painted on a variety of public buildings. Just 10 days after Trump won the Electoral College vote, were nearing 900.

These developments have led some commentators to observe that Trump鈥檚 campaign expressed a thinly-veiled form of anti-Semitism in the country. For one, the appointment of Steve Bannon as a White House adviser appeared to strengthen the case for a new anti-Semitic tone in the Trump transition team and, therefore, incoming administration. Bannon, a well-known veteran of white nationalist and other far-right enterprises, has caused more than 100 US Congressmen to sign a petition demanding that Trump rescind the appointment. Even in these early days of astonishing Trump鈥檚 paramountcy, spines are stiffening.

The Red Herring

Whatever the truth about Trump鈥檚 sexist attitudes and his xenophobic expressions against Latinos and Muslims, the accusation of anti-Semitism does not conform to reality. This is largely a red herring.

President-elect Trump鈥檚 daughter Ivanka is a convert to Orthodox Judaism, a result of the fact that her husband, Jared Kushner, is a religiously-observant Jew. Moreover, Kushner, whose business background, like Trump鈥檚, is in property development, has become a close adviser to the incoming president. He will likely remain in this position, or in one similar, after Trump takes office in January 2017.

Yet the story does not end with the Trump family. Trump has surrounded himself with a substantial list of Jewish business partners, legal advisers, upper echelon employees and campaign contributors. Here are some examples: Jason Greenblat, another Orthodox Jew, is Trump鈥檚 principal attorney. Another lawyer, David Friedman, handles Trump鈥檚 bankruptcy filings. Michael Cohen has served as a campaign spokesman and was recently called on to chair Trump鈥檚 council of economic advisers. Boris Epshteyn is also listed as a spokesman and senior adviser. Lewis Eisenberg chaired Trump鈥檚 victory committee. and fundraisers for the Trump presidential campaign included the hedge-fund manager and recently named treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and the billionaire casino owner Adelson.

If we add to this list the fact that Trump spoke recently before a meeting of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and has advocated moving the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a position long-advocated by the Israeli far-right. In fact, Israel鈥檚 right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has expressed a close friendship with the American president-elect. The claim he is an anti-Semite appears shaky.

Indeed, if there is some underlying conflict at work here it has to do with the Jewish community itself. Trump鈥檚 Jewish supporters and confidants are drawn largely from the world of business, investment banking and law and, especially, New York property development. Trump鈥檚 loudest and most visible critics have also tended be Jewish. But these academics, newspaper and blog reporters, columnists, magazine editors and writers occupy a completely different social and political milieu than Trump鈥檚 Jewish supporters.

What we appear to be witnessing then is not a conflict between anti-Semites and the principles of constitutional liberalism, but a sectarian struggle over American Jewish values.

The views expressed in this article are the author鈥檚 own and do not necessarily reflect 51吃瓜鈥檚 editorial policy.

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