Conference of Jewish Affairs spokesman Rabbi Aryeh Spero today praised Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for expanding the definition of anti-Semitism to include declarations by malicious propagandists, such as Ilhan Omar, who draw “comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of Nazis.”
Rabbi Spero stated: “Under the Nazis, the Jewish population of Germany and Poland was reduced and exterminated. While under Israeli statehood and leadership the Arab/Muslim population within Israel and its territories has grown. Within Israel, the Arab/Muslim population has achieved ever-growing entrance to professions, colleges, and good jobs. In contrast, under the Nazis Jews were forbidden to be in trades, professions or attend universities. Jews were expelled from the lands of Europe while Arabs are free to remain within the territory of Israel. The intent of the Nazis was to exterminate an entire race, Jews; Israel has never desired to do or done such things to its Arab population. On the contrary, we often hear imams and others in the Arab/Muslim world speak of exterminating the Jewish race, as was the goal of Hitler’s Nazis.
“The use of this calumny, Nazism, is a deliberate attempt to delegitimize the existence of the Jewish state and is thus anti-Semitic,” Rabbi Spero continued. “The use of the Nazi label against Jews is done precisely because the attackers want to stain Jewishness with the very symbol unique to Jewish destruction. It is not simply a false description but a dastardly targeting when used specifically against Jews.
“President Trump and Secretary Pompeo deserve special accolades for fighting anti-Semitism to a higher and more comprehensive degree than any other previous administration, and doing so consistently and constantly. The Jewish People have unequaled friends in the Trump Administration.”