Analysts: Trump’s use of Israel accelerating decline of bipartisan support

US President Donald Trump’s racist attacks on Democratic members of Congress, which included allegations about their views on Israel, is a dangerous development for Israel, reported analysts.

“Trump’s use of Israel in his Monday morning attack will cause the country more damage than good”, declared Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post.

It “will further undermine what Israel has long prided itself on having accomplished: keeping Israel an issue that receives bipartisan support in the halls of Congress”, Katz continued.

The senior Israeli journalist noted that while “Israel has long fought to retain bipartisan support for itself on both sides of the aisle in Congress”, this status quo “has been undermined” recently.

One factor is a changing Democratic Party – where “support for Israel is not what is used to be”, as demonstrated by polls over the years. “As the Democratic Party keeps moving leftward, support for Israel will continue to decline”, Katz noted.

READ: Trump’s theatrics are bad news for Palestine

But, he added, “we cannot ignore the contribution Israel’s intimate relationship with Trump is also making to that decline [in bipartisan support]. When Americans look at Israel and Netanyahu, they see Trump. And vice versa”.

Meanwhile, reported The Times of Israel, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also warned of the impact of Trump’s comments on support for Israel.

“While ADL has publicly disagreed with these congresswomen on some issues, the president is echoing the racist talking points of white nationalists and cynically using the Jewish people and the state of Israel as a shield to double down on his remarks”, said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO.

“Politicizing the widespread, bipartisan support for Israel and throwing around accusations of anti-Semitism is damaging to the security of Israel and the Jewish community,” he added. “He [Trump] should lead by example, stop politicizing these issues and stop smearing members of Congress”.