President also told Israeli American Council summit some Jewish people in the US don’t love Israel enough and attacked Ilhan Omar
If Jared Kushner cannot achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Donald Trump claimed on Saturday, “it can’t be done”.
The president also told the Israeli American Council national summit some Jewish people in America don’t love Israel enough, a remark some said was antisemitic, and attacked the Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar for what he called her “despicable rhetoric” about Israel.
Speaking in Hollywood, Florida, after addressing a Republican dinner in nearby Aventura, the president introduced Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser who has played a leading role in helping the administration craft its Middle East peace plan.
Trump said he had long been told that achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians would be the hardest deal of all. But “if Jared Kushner can’t do it, it can’t be done”, he said.
The White House has said its peace plan is complete and had promised to release it after Israeli elections in September. The long-delayed plan remains under wraps, and Israel appears headed for its third round of elections this year.
The plan also faces rejection by Palestinian officials, who object to the pro-Israel leanings of the Trump administration.
In his remarks on Saturday, Trump said, to some laughter and applause: “We have to get the people of our country, of this country, to love Israel more, I have to tell you that. We have to do it. We have to get them to love Israel more. Because you have Jewish people that are great people – they don’t love Israel enough.”
Aaron Keyak, a former head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, said the remarks were antisemitic.
“Trump’s insistence on using antisemitic tropes when addressing Jewish audiences is dangerous and should concern every member of the Jewish community – even Jewish Republicans,” Keyak said.
Trump has been accused of trafficking in antisemitic stereotypes before, including in August, when he said American Jews who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”. A number of Jewish groups noted that accusations of disloyalty have long been made against Jews.
Greeted by some laughter and cheers, Trump also told his audience in Florida that “a lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all but you have to vote for me you have no choice.
“You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas” – a repeat of a racist slur Trump uses against the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, who has claimed Native American ancestry – “I can tell you that. You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax.
“Yeah, let’s take 100% of your wealth away, no, no, even if you don’t like me, some of you don’t, some of you I don’t like at all actually. And you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’ll be out of business in about 15 minutes if they get in.”
Trump said Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than him because, unlike his predecessors, “I kept my promises”.
He recounted an extensive riff on his promise to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Trump also highlighted his decision to reverse more than a half-century of US policy by recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.
Trump also mentioned Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, criticizing her for supporting the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. In August, at Trump’s urging, Israel denied Omar and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan entry to the country. The first two Muslim women elected to Congress are outspoken critics of Israel over its treatment of Palestinians.
“My administration strongly opposes this despicable rhetoric,” Trump said. “As long as I am your president, it makes no difference. It’s not happening.”
The Israeli American Council is backed by Miriam and Sheldon Adelson, leading Trump donors. Both introduced Trump, Miriam Adelson asserting that Trump “has already gone down in the annals of Jewish history, and that is before he’s even completed his first term in office”.