Trumps embrace of Bannon sparks divisions, angst among Jewish groups
In the days after President-elect Donald Trump appointed a far-right senior adviser to his White House staff, the Anti-Defamation League sent out a searing condemnation. The appointment of Stephen K. Bannon to a top White House job was an act “hostile to core American values,” the group said.
The more conservative Zionist Organization of America also mounted an attack. But its target was the ADL, which it accused of engaging in “character assassination.” It has invited Bannon to speak at its annual gala in New York on Sunday.
Most of the rest of the major Jewish groups in Washington, eager to maintain influence with a Trump administration and unsure about the extent of Bannon’s ties to the white nationalist movement, have stayed silent.
Among the country’s leading Jewish organizations, Trump’s election has provoked an unusual level of angst and uncertainty, widening the rifts among groups that have largely tried to stay out of partisan political fights. The debate has divided those who believe the Jewish community’s support for Israel requires leaders to build good relations with the new president from those who argue that Jewish groups should speak out against views they see as anti-Semitic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-embrace-of-bannon-sparks-divisions-angst-among-jewish-groups/2016/11/17/8a0442c2-ac19-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html?wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
