Notorious American ‘alt-right’ figure likens white supremacy to Zionism

Notorious white nationalist Richard Spencer created a stir on Tuesday by comparing his brand of white supremacist ideology to Zionism during an event at Texas A&M University.

Spencer, who heads the far-right National Policy Institute, fielded a question from campus-based Rabbi Matt Rosenberg, who invited Spencer to join him in Torah study.

“My tradition teaches a message of radical inclusion and love,” Rosenberg said. “Will you sit down and learn Torah with me, and learn love?”

According to the Forward, Spencer declined, and suggested “that the objectives of Zionism and Jewish continuity were close to his own goals for white people.”

“Do you really want radical inclusion into the State of Israel? And by that I mean radical inclusion. Maybe all of the Middle East could go move in to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. Would you really want that?” Spencer responded.

Rosenberg said he wouldn’t answer the question.

Naomi Dann, a spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace, commented: “The fact that white nationalists see something to admire in Israel is alarming. In this new political era, we need to be able to have conversations in the Jewish community that grapple with the deep questions about what Israel has become.”