I recently shared a (socially distanced) meal on a Jewish holiday with an Orthodox rabbi I know and his family. The subject of President Trump came up, and I shared the perspective of an Israeli diplomat who felt that for all the hype, the Trump administration has been bad for Israel. The rabbi, a brilliant, sensible and compassionate man, was surprised. “I’ve never heard that perspective before,” he told me.
His surprise would certainly surprise a lot of American Jews, most of whom view Trump’s record on Israel and antisemitism the way the Israeli diplomat does — as an abysmal failure. But these Jews, too, have a blind spot: They simply cannot comprehend how their fellow Jews could support Trump.
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