Analysis Guns, Trump and anti-Semitism: Pittsburgh Shooting Highlights Vast Divide Between Liberal U.S. Jews and Israel
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PITTSBURGH – On Sunday night, two letters addressing the terror attack against the Jewish community
in Pittsburgh were made public. The letters – one written by Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the other by a small group of Jewish
activists in Pittsburgh – provided useful glimpses into how Saturday’s
tragedy at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue is being perceived in
Israel versus how it is viewed by many Jews in the United States. The two reactions could not have been further apart.
In a public letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, Netanyahu chose to praise President Donald Trump
for his reaction to Saturday’s mass shooting that killed 11 Jewish
worshippers. “I want to express my appreciation to President Trump for
unequivocally condemning this heinous crime and for pledging to fight
those who seek to destroy the Jewish people,” the prime minister wrote.
>> From lynchings to mass shootings: The history of deadly attacks on Jews in America ■ Opinion: Trump didn’t pull the trigger on Jews in Pittsburgh, but he certainly prepped the shooter ■ Trump, the Jews and anti-Semitism: A dangerous double game
A
short time after his letter went public, 11 activists from the
Pittsburgh branch of Bend the Arc – an organization for progressive Jews
focused on social justice – published an open letter in which they urged Trump to stay away from the city unless he changes his rhetoric on racism and violence in politics.
“President Trump, you
are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you commit yourself to
compassionate, democratic policies that recognize the dignity of all of
us,” the activists wrote.
Continuing
to address the president, they added that “for the past three years
your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist
movement. You yourself called the murderer evil, but [Saturday’s]
violence is the direct culmination of your influence.”
Their open letter made national headlines in the United States and has so far been co-signed by over 21,000 people online.
These two anecdotes
tell a larger story about how the Pittsburgh tragedy is being viewed by
the current right-wing government in Jerusalem and by the overwhelmingly liberal American-Jewish community.
In conversations with
Jewish residents in Pittsburgh over the past two days, it was common to
hear complaints and direct accusations aimed at Trump – especially
regarding the violent rhetoric at his political rallies, such as the
calls to “lock up” his political rivals, or his recent praise of Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte who physically attacked a journalist last year.
Jewish residents of
Pittsburgh who spoke with Haaretz also expressed concern about Trump’s
constant use of phrases that have a history of anti-Semitic
connotations, such as “globalist.” In addition, national Jewish groups –
most notably the Anti-Defamation League – have warned of the constant
attacks by Trump and other prominent Republicans against Jewish
philanthropist George Soros, who is portrayed in far-right conspiracy
theories as a “puppet master” who secretly controls U.S. immigration
policy.
Robert
Bowers, the suspected Pittsburgh shooter, shared anti-Semitic
conspiracy theories that accused Jewish Americans of trying to flood the
United States with illegal immigrants. That theory was very similar to
the conspiracy theories targeting Soros – including some that were
spread by prominent right-wing, pro-Trump commentators.
Yet almost none of
these comments came up in remarks offered by Israeli government
officials in the days after the attack. To the contrary, Israeli
officials have made sure not to even hint at any form of criticism
toward Trump or anyone in his political-ideological orbit. Instead,
Israeli officials have thanked Trump for denouncing the incident and
ordering U.S. flags in government institutions to be lowered to
half-staff.
On Sunday, Dani
Dayan, Israel’s consul general in New York, emphasized in an interview
on Israeli radio that Bowers had criticized Trump for being “controlled
by Jews.” Dayan said the anti-Semitism
espoused by Bowers in social media posts was not ideologically
different from a November 2012 statement by a Democratic congressional
nominee in Minneapolis, Ilhan Omar, who wrote that Israel had
“hypnotized the world.”
The consul general
arrived in Pittsburgh on Saturday night and was the first Israeli
official to visit the community and crime scene. He enjoys good
relations with the leaders of the local Jewish community, as well as
with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. (The city falls under the diplomatic
“jurisdiction” of Dayan’s consulate.)
“I like this
community a lot,” Dayan told Haaretz during a late-night visit to the
Tree of Life synagogue. “It has wonderful and inspiring people. Our job
right now is to be here for them and to see how we can support them.
When something like this happens to Jews in another country, it is
considered an internal issue for Israelis. Whenever Jews are attacked
for being Jews, Israel as a country needs to be involved,” he said.
His words were
appreciated by the leadership of the local community, but they also
clearly showed how different the Israeli reaction to the event has been
from the widespread sense of anger among many community members.
For Israel,
anti-Semitism is the only issue that played a significant role in the
Tree of Life massacre. And in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday,
Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, said that “when people
attribute anti-Semitism to one side of the political debate, they make a
very big mistake. To simply say that this is because of one person
[and] only comes on one side, is to not understand the history of
anti-Semitism or the reality of anti-Semitism.”
But for many
Americans Jews, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere, there are other issues that
should also be discussed, from gun laws to right-wing extremism and
incitement to political violence.
Aaron Bisno, a Reform
rabbi at a synagogue located a mile away from the Tree of Life
congregation, told Haaretz that he was not surprised by the attack,
linking it to “a culture filled with guns and angry rhetoric.” At a
vigil Saturday night held not far from the site of the attack, the crowd
erupted in chants of “Vote” – emphasizing the importance of next week’s
midterms for anyone who wants to see a check on Trump’s rhetoric, or a
change to current laws that allow people like Bowers to purchase
semi-automatic rifles. Many of the crowd were Jewish residents of the
Squirrel Hill neighborhood where the shooting occurred.
When asked how the
incident would impact the community, one woman in her 50s, who lives a
block from the synagogue, told Haaretz that “it would make everyone here
even more likely to vote.”
The woman, whose name
could not be transcribed due to a technical difficulty, explained that
“this is a voting community. But after this incident, people aren’t just
going to vote. They’re going to make sure every person they know is
voting. They’re going to do everything they can to put a check on this
madness.”
Clearly, Israeli
officials cannot be expected to espouse such rhetoric. They are no
different in that regard from diplomats from other countries stationed
in the United States. For some American Jews, though, the obvious
differences between the Israeli response and the widespread
Jewish-American response is yet another indication of the widening gap
between the world’s two largest Jewish communities.
Following the attack
in Pittsburgh, journalist Julia Ioffe wrote, “A word to my fellow
American Jews: This president makes this possible. Here. Where you live.
I hope the embassy move over there, where you don’t live was worth it.”
Television writer David Simon was more blunt, calling on Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett to stay away from Pittsburgh
after the right-wing leader announced his intention to visit the city
on behalf of the government. “Go home,” Simon tweeted, adding that
Israel’s government had failed the American Jewish community by
embracing Trump.
Bennett didn’t take
that advice. He arrived in Pittsburgh on Sunday morning, met with
leaders and members of the community, and laid a wreath at the site of
the massacre. While he was was warmly welcomed by many leaders and
members of the community, one prominent local Reform rabbi, Jamie Gibson
of Temple Sinai, told Haaretz he wasn’t interested in hearing from
Bennett.
His reason had little to do with Trump or American politics, though. Instead, it was a protest over the government’s discrimination against non-Orthodox Jewish movements in Israel.
Bennett’s party has been supportive of that policy for the entire
duration of the current government, despite verbal statements about the
importance of respecting the American-Jewish community.
“He doesn’t recognize me and my colleagues as rabbis – certainly not in Israel,”
Gibson told Haaretz. “I think it’s hypocritical.” Gibson added he
believes the entire Jewish community in Pittsburgh, across all religious
denominations, needs to come together at this time.
The difference, he
noted, is that local conservative, Orthodox and Reform Jews all
acknowledge and respect one another. The Israeli government, however,
doesn’t.
Bennett said during a
public appearance in Pittsburgh that the shooter did not care “who is
who” among the Jews he attacked. Netanyahu expressed a similar message
in a previous statement.
The limitations of these statements became clear a day later after Israel’s Chief Rabbinate refused to refer to the Tree of Life congregation as a synagogue,
because it isn’t Orthodox. Steven Strauss, a professor at Princeton
University, encouraged Bennett in a tweet to “maybe do something about
this.” And New York Times Op-Ed staff editor Bari Weiss tweeted that
“it’s time for a mass Jewish movement to abolish Israel’s Chief
Rabbinate.”
As long as the current right-wing, religious coalition is in power in Israel, though, such a step is nearly impossible.
Israeli officials
will continue to express support and solidarity with Jewish communities
in the United States at times of tragedy, just like many American Jews
do when Israel suffers terror attacks. There is clear potential, though,
for the shooting this weekend to have the same impact that the
far-right violence in Charlottesville had on Israel’s relationship with
the American-Jewish community last year: After the hugs and words of
support, the gap between the two sides will only be more clearly
defined.
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