Contact: LTheodore@urj.org, 212-650-4154
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, responded today to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s remarks at the AIPAC Policy Conference:
A commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship is essential for any candidate for president. It was important that Mr. Trump addressed that relationship today when he spoke at AIPAC.
We were disappointed but not surprised that Mr. Trump did nothing tonight to allay our deep concerns about his campaign. It still seems that he does not share our values of equality, pluralism, and humility.
AIPAC was right to invite Mr. Trump to speak. But it is wrong to believe that the AIPAC audience is an accurate reflection of the American Jewish community. Indeed, it was powerful to see that both before and after Mr. Trump’s speech, AIPAC itself chose to highlight people and organizations – a soldier with autism, an Israeli aid organization rescuing Syrian refugees, and Jewish and Arab Israeli children playing sports together – which reflect the values we applaud and we fight for on Israel’s behalf.
We will have further analysis of all of tonight’s speeches in the hours and days ahead.
