When Confronted with Progressive Anti–Semitism, Jewish Liberals Blame Trump

Many Jewish democrat liberals would probably only feel rain if spat upon by antisemitic progressives. 

The undeniable rise of vulgar antisemitism on the left and in the Democratic Party is a reality that has caused many liberal American Jews to finally take notice, though some go to great lengths to rationalize it as a reaction to President Trump and ignore the foundational influence of Jew-hatred in progressive ideology. Self-delusion is a powerful tool for maintaining political dogmas.

Unlike Jewish members of the British Labour Party who staged a protest exodus when antisemitism roiled their ranks under leader Jeremy Corbyn, Jewish Democrats cannot seem to muster the same resolve to chastise their own establishment, despite its embrace of radicals and socialists whose ideologies are steeped in hatred of Jews and Israel. Indeed, some even justify supporting radical candidates for the sake of party unity, as did those national Democratic leaders who endorsed Abdul El-Sayed — an anti-Israel Senatorial candidate — after he won the Michigan primary.

Only Alan Dershowitz seemed to get it right when he resigned his membership and described the Democrats as “the most anti-Israel, most anti-Semitic, most pro-terrorist, most anti-American party in modern American history.” He was so alienated over the Democrats’ embrace of radicalism that he registered Republican for the first time in his life.

In contrast, many Jewish liberals would probably only feel rain if spat upon by antisemitic progressives.

This point was underscored in a recent discussion with a friend who was outraged at the increase in Jew-hatred across the American political, cultural, and academic landscape, but felt compelled to blame Trump. While she conceded that neither Trump nor conservatives hold any sway over the academic establishment, Democratic party, or legacy media, she theorized that they are emboldened in their Jew-hatred because of Trump’s supposed antisemitism.

I pointed out the logical disconnect between statement and fact by challenging her to provide specific examples. She could not. And when I mentioned the Trump family’s decades-long charitable relationships with assorted Jewish institutions, she argued they were politically motivated – although these associations long predated Trump’s entry into politics.

Trump’s father, Fred, for example, donated land and funds for construction of the orthodox Beach Haven Jewish Center. He also contributed to Long Island Jewish Medical Center and numerous Jewish charities and was a longtime booster for Israel Bonds. Given the father’s longstanding support for Jewish causes and the State of Israel, it should not be surprising that the son would continue the family tradition, supporting among other institutions Beit El Yeshiva in Israel, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Jewish National Fund, and some Chabad centers in the United States.

I then subtly goaded my friend by asking whether, despite these connections, prejudice could be inferred from earlier associations with bigoted organizations and personalities, to which she replied “of course.” Thinking I had thrown her a lifeline, she asserted that relationships with antisemitic churches or anti-Israel zealots could clearly indicate Jew-hatred. I then informed her that Trump had no such associations, but Barack Obama did – for example, his twenty-year membership in the church of Jeremiah Wright (a well-known radical pastor criticized for antisemitic rhetoric and falsely accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing) and his validation of Israel-haters like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, in whom he expressed personal pride.

If those criteria are suggestive of antisemitism, I asked, how could she justify voting for Obama twice, especially given his tendency to downplay hostility against Jews or falsely equate it with “Islamophobia,” and his failure to acknowledge the Jew-hatred that permeated his progressive base (and perhaps correlated with the more than seven-thousand antisemitic incidents and hate-crimes reported during his presidency)?

My friend had no comeback, so she declared our debate a stalemate — though such can only occur when neither side has a winning argument. Our colloquy ended, however, simply because she was confounded by facts she did not like but could not refute. That’s not a stalemate. I told her she is free to dislike Donald Trump for any reason or none at all – he certainly can be polarizing and is given to dramatic hyperbole. But faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary, she could not justify her dislike based on nonexistent antisemitism. Neither could she prove her thesis that liberal antisemitism is stimulated by Trump’s supposed hatred of Jews, considering his multigenerational history of philosemitism and support for the Jewish state.

Part of her problem — and in fact the problem of many on both left and right — is the inability to define Jew-hatred or recognize its uniqueness. Antisemitism is referred to as the “world’s oldest hatred” because of its breadth, scope, and antiquity; and though not exclusive to right or left, religious or secular, its meaning is shaped by multifarious ideological orientations.

Indeed, doctrinal antisemitism can be found in the scriptures of other so-called Abrahamic religions because of their foundational need to delegitimize the people and faith they claim to supersede. Jews are demonized throughout Christian scripture, for example, which depicts them as deceitful spawn of the devil (e.g., John 8:44-47), bloodthirsty murderers of Jesus and the Prophets (e.g., Matthew 23:31-33; 1 Thessalonians 2), bearers of hereditary blood guilt (e.g., Matthew 27:25), and denizens of “the synagogue of Satan.” (Revelation, 2:9; 3:9.)

And despite liberal claims of Muslim tolerance, Jews are likewise villainized in the Quran, which accuses the Jews of perverting their own scripture (e.g., Sura 3:71; 4:46), and Hadith, which contains eschatological passages foretelling the Jews’ end-times annihilation (Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 56, No. 791). Muslim scripture also contains multiple references concerning the use of hudnas (false treaties) to facilitate belligerent conquest over non-Muslims.

Though progressives may be familiar with anti-Jewish themes throughout Christian literature, they tend to describe Islam as “a religion of peace.” However, they do so not because they understand the Quran (most have not read it) or the lengthy history of anti-Jewish persecution under Islam. Rather, progressives feel political kinship, particularly with Islamists who share their rejection of western values — even though their endorsement of feminism, gay rights, and trans advocacy would subject them to discrimination or death under Sharia law.

Jewish conservatives often downplay Christian hatred or ambivalence regarding Jews to avoid scuttling political alliances, particularly “friendship evangelism,” which uses affinity for Jews and Israel as subterfuge to proselytize. While evangelicals claim they do so out of love, they are guided by the belief that Jews are spiritually doomed unless “saved” by Christian doctrines that, in truth, are pagan in origin and opposed by Torah law. Moreover, their actions reflect profound ignorance of Tanakh and disrespect for the Jewish spirit. Yet, some conservatives turn a blind eye to preserve Gentile support for Israel, which may be an important policy, but should be judged with open eyes.

This can lead to uncomfortable situations, however, like one that occurred during a recent Christian Zionist conference featuring multiple speakers, including a “messianic Jewish” influencer whose presence offended Jewish guests and prompted some to walk out. When a rabbi explained to the organizers that “messianic Judaism” is not Judaism at all, but rather a deceptive Christian movement created by missionaries to evangelize Jews through the dissimulative use of misappropriated cultural symbols and customs, they could not satisfactorily explain the motivation for inviting this presenter in the first place.

Clearly, anti-Judaism is not always physically violent; sometimes it presents surreptitiously as goodwill to seduce Jews away from the faith of their ancestors.

Whereas doctrinal Jew-hatred can be expressed both physically and spiritually, the root cause is not always religion. It can arise from ethnic and economic stereotypes and tensions, folk myth, racial presumptions, or xenophobia, as well as secular intellectualism. Quite famously, Voltaire attacked the Jews’ religion and culture, Immanuel Kant depicted them as a “nation of cheaters,” Schopenhauer derided their moral values, and Houston Stewart Chamberlain demonized them as racial parasites (well before Hitler).

Hatred of Jews is so widespread and disparate that it would seem to be supernatural. And in fact, this is what Biblical prophecy suggests, as stated in the Torah: “The Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other…and among those nations, you will not be calm, nor will your foot find rest. There, the Lord will give you a trembling heart, dashed hopes, and a depressed soul.” (Sefer Devarim, 28:64-65.) However, the Tanakh in Nevi’im also prophesies the Jews’ collective redemption and integral role as a “light to the nations” during the messianic era. (Sefer Yeshayahu, 49:6.)

Perhaps what Jewish liberals fail to understand is the paradigmatic diffuseness of antisemitism and that no ideology or culture is singularly responsible for it or immune to it. Before they blame their political opponents for spewing hatred, they should hold a mirror to their own worldview and acknowledge that moral impurity knows no partisan bounds; and then they should rediscover the beauty and relevance of Tanakh.

©2026 Matthew Hausman, J.D. All rights reserved.