In a few weeks, on Rosh Hashanah, Jews worldwide will pray for the good of humanity in the Jewish year to come, 5786. An end to war and to hunger, an end to injustice and to persecution – a year of peace and a personal resolve to do better. Jews will also pray for their country, its leaders and its government.
In the United States, Jews in many synagogues will intone a prayer for the wellbeing of the President and his Administration – and quietly murmur under their breath: “May God bless and keep Donald Trump… far away from us!”
Trump’s first year has been defined by unpredictability and uncertainty, a dismissal of the opinions of Congress, a wave of executive orders and a desire to sell out to dictators. It is government by real estate agents.
On the Jewish level, this represents a reversal of the Jewish Enlightenment, the Haskalah which promoted modern Jewish values – a reverence for democracy, rationalism and the rule of law. Trump’s regime has delighted the haredim who never historically accepted the Haskalah and its openness. Instead, they preferred to rebuild the ghetto walls from which they had been liberated.
Another group of Jews which has welcomed the second coming of Trump has been a section of the Jewish business community and several now have important posts in government. Jewish communities have always depended on the generosity and munificence of Jewish philanthropists.
Donors have always played an integral part in fighting for Jewish causes. In the United States, however, part of the Jewish business community has joined together with the evangelicals and the MAGA Republicans. This secession is from the overwhelming percentage of American Jews who did not vote for Donald Trump and who remained faithful to the values of their forefathers.
This change has manifested itself in acquiescence in being fellow travellers with Netanyahu and in a belief that only they can fight antisemitism globally. Many leaders in the Diaspora quietly resent the interference by the US Jewish far-right in their communal work by those who often do not understand local conditions.
Last week, Charles Kushner, father of Trump’s son-in-law and US Ambassador to France, told President Macron: “Today, many French Jews fear that history will repeat itself in Europe… Surveys show most French citizens believe another Holocaust could happen in Europe.”
In 2025, the Forbes List of Jewish Billionaires lists 163 in the US – more than the rest of the world put together. Israel comes second with 39 and Russia third with 21. The UK and Australia came in with a mere nine and six respectively. While tariffs on the nations of the world give Trump leverage, the very large number of Jewish billionaires in the US inevitably allows those on the far Right amongst them to exert a leverage on Diaspora communities. It permits them to support minority groups in the Diaspora which are often totally unrepresentative of their communities’ outlook.
Netanyahu understood this scenario very well and cultivated many up-and-coming Jewish entrepreneurs during his time in the US during the 1980s. The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) was formed in April 1985 during Netanyahu’s American sojourn and was funded in those early days by figures such as Max Fisher and George Klein. They were supporters of the Nixon and Reagan school of republicanism. Today moderate Republicans cower before Trump’s shrill commands.
The RJC has expanded tremendously since its early days. It does this by conflating support for the State of Israel with support for the government of Israel. This lack of nuance is often meaningful to those Jews who relate to Israel in a time of darkness. There is no mention of the fact that the hostages’ families continue to criticise Netanyahu for his conduct during the Gaza war or that tens of thousands of Israelis continue to demonstrate each week or that a majority of Israelis, according to a series of surveys, have consistently called for a ceasefire. This antipathy to Netanyahu’s policies is mirrored in the plunge of support for Israel by US Democrats to a mere 8% in July 2025. (JTA 29 July 2025).
Does this spell condemnation of Netanyahu’s policies, an instance of antisemitism and a hidden desire to destroy the State of Israel? Or is it a wish to see the end of the Netanyahu government and its replacement with representative politicians, fortified by a strong support for the State of Israel?
Recently the Israeli Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi, posted on X that “the Ha’aretz newspaper continues to show its antisemitic, anti-Zionist face that incites against IDF soldiers”. It was a response to Ha’aretz’s Gideon Levy who called Major General Avi Bluth, a “general of bloodshed”. (Ha’aretz 28 August 2025)
Yet the day before, Peter Wertheim, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry wrote a well-crafted and informative article in Ha’aretz about Iran’s involvement in the terrible antisemitic attacks in Australia.
The answer is that any criticism of Netanyahu and his acolytes – whether it comes from respected Diaspora figures, Holocaust survivors or Australian politicians – is fobbed off with cries of antisemitism. Ha’aretz, in particular, is a thorn in the side of Netanyahu’s government.
Earlier this year, the Minister for the Diaspora, Amiḥai Chikli, devoted the opening of his speech at the International Conference on Combatting Antisemitism to denouncing Ha’aretz as “a beacon of lies” and “a tool of anti-Zionism”. The British Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, did not go due to “the attendance of a number of far-Right populist politicians”.
Chikli’s “antisemitism” was little more than a deflection from criticism of the Netanyahu coalition. It actually demeaned the fight against genuine antisemitism in the Diaspora. It was more an indication of Netanyahu’s irritation with investigative journalism and the freedom of the press – a leaf out of the Trump playbook of diversion and subversion.
It will be remembered that Case 2000 in Netanyahu’s trial involved allegations that his politics and his family would receive a more sympathetic coverage in the daily Yediot Aḥaranot if a nefarious deal was done with the publisher. In November 2019, Netanyahu was charged with fraud, breach of trust and attempted bribery.
In Israel, figures such as the late Sheldon Adelson bankrolled the daily freebie Israel Hayom and funded the establishment of the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) in the US to rival the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. All this was carried out to promote Netanyahu’s views.
The Jewish Chronicle (JC) in London also started to publish material from the JNS, downgrade any critical comment of the Netanyahu government and shout from the rooftops about even the most minor antisemitic incident to the exclusion of all else. It has changed dramatically from being a marketplace for all views.
A consortium saved this hallowed newspaper from closure five years ago. Until today, no one categorically knows who actually owns the JC although the suspicion is that far Right Jewish funders in the US were heavily involved in turning the newspaper into yet another item in the Netanyahu stable. (Prospect Magazine April 26, 2024)
In these difficult times, an unrepresentative minority on the US far Right is attempting to gain influence and control in the Jewish world. One weapon in their arsenal is to tar any critic of Netanyahu and his minions with antisemitism and accusations of a blood libel.
Do they really believe that an intelligent global audience will be convinced by a Hasbara campaign which evoked medieval slanders?
Jewish Independent 4 September 2025