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Former President Donald Trump's criticism of 'U.S. Jews' prompts backlash

Jewish Americans have to 'appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!'
Former President Donald Trump at a rally at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Friday, Oct. 14, to overturn a judge's appointment of an independent arbiter to review documents seized during an FBI search of former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.
Posted at 12:01 PM, Oct 17, 2022
and last updated 2022-10-17 12:14:07-04

Former President Donald Trump wrote Sunday on his social media platform that "U.S. Jews have to get their act together" and that "no president has done more for Israel than I have."

It's unclear what prompted him to make the post on his Truth Social account.

The former president also said that Jewish Americans have to "appreciate what they have in Israel - Before it is too late!"

His comments are drawing significant backlash from several American-Jewish organizations and the Anti-Defamation League.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America described the comments as "unabashed antisemitism."

"(Trump's) threat to Jewish Americans and his continued use of the antisemitic dual loyalty trope fuels hatred against Jews," the council said in a tweet.

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt denounced Trump's comments, calling them "insulting and disgusting."

"We don't need the former president, who curries favor with extremists and antisemites, to lecture us about the US-Israel relationship," Greenblatt wrote on Twitter.

Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who testified before Congress regarding the Trump-Ukraine scandal in 2019, said the former president "is executing the fascist playbook to turn his mob on Jews.

"Too often, media lets statements like this be forgotten. Sometimes it doesn't even break through the news cycle. Most of the time, GOP isn't pinned down to tell people if they agree. It CANNOT happen this time," Vindman wrote on Twitter.

During his time in office, Trump made the highly-controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israel also signed a historic diplomatic agreement with Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates at a White House ceremony in 2020 that prompted Trump to declare the "dawn of a new Middle East."