Let’s Not Confuse Disagreement with Disloyalty, Mr. President

President Donald Trump with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2017. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

On behalf of all my Jews, I’d like to say a few words about ouralleged “disloyalty” toward Israel, except I wouldn’t dare. I can only speakfor myself. If I attempt to speak for any other Jews, I’ll have half of themhollering so loudly you wouldn’t believe it.

Because, as the old saying goes, “Two Jews, three opinions.”

So I’ll just try to give you my sense of what PresidentDonald Trump’s getting at lately when he says any Jews who vote Democratic forpresident, he’s got to question their “disloyalty” to Israel.

What he really means is we’re being “disloyal” to DonaldTrump, since he considers himself the best friend Israel ever had in the WhiteHouse.

“I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I thinkit shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump said earlythis week. A day later, doubling down despite outrage from many Jews, he added,“If you vote for a Democrat, you’re very, very disloyal to Israel and to theJewish people.”

Are Jews, in fact, loyal to Israel?

Yes, of course. It’s loyalty of the heart that millions ofJews feel toward extended family. It’s a loyalty toward tribal membersdispersed around the globe for 2,000 years, who returned home and openly tookup their ancient faith, and found new life only moments after near-annihilationwhile much of the world seemed utterly indifferent.

But that’s not necessarily the same as blind loyalty to the politics of Israel – and it’s certainly notthe same as loyalty to Trump.

On this, you don’t have to take my word for it. You can lookat the numbers. Polls show American Jews have plenty of problems with Israelipolitics, particularly in the contentious era of Benjamin Netanyahu.

The numbers also show more than 70 percent of Jews votedDemocratic in the last presidential run. That nearly 80 percent votedDemocratic in the 2018 midterms. And that in every presidential election goingback to Warren G. Harding a full century ago, the Jews have voted Democratic.

And are likely to vote Democratic in 2020.

All of this is eating away at Trump, who thinks we shouldvote for him next year because he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, took ahard line on Iran – and took a stand against a few newly elected Democraticcongresswomen who have criticized Israel.

Are Jews “disloyal” to Israel if we happen to disagree withsome of these Trumpian moves? Are Jews “disloyal” if we happen to like thosemoves, but still want to vote Democratic? Do we not have the right to disagree?

The fact is, Jews are no more single-issue voters thananyone else. We live in a big world. We’re loyal to America. And we know DonaldTrump for what he is, and what he’s doing to our homeland, and we know that somuch of who he is violates not only Jewish values but human values – on race, on ethnic slander, on treatment ofchildren, on sexual aggression, on justice.

As for Trump being a friend to Israel, consider a few wordsfrom Tom Friedman’s column earlier this week in the New York Times.

“Trump, with the knowing help of Netanyahu, is doingsomething no American president and Israeli prime minister have done before:They’re making support for Israel a wedge issue in American politics.

“Few things are more dangerous to Israel’s long-terminterests than its becoming a partisan matter in America, which is Israel’svital political, military and economic backer in the world.

“Trump’s campaign to tar the entire Democratic Party withsome of the hostile views toward Israel of a few of its newly electedcongresswomen … is part of a process that will do huge, long-term damage toIsrael’s interests and support in America.”

Sometimes “disloyalty” is just a misnomer for disagreement. Jewishvoters can make the distinction, even if Donald Trump wants to imagineotherwise.

A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books, most recently “Front Stoops in the Fifties: Baltimore Legends Come of Age” (Johns Hopkins University Press).

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