Historian Jonathan Sarna Warns Of ‘Backlash’ For Jews Over Kushner Ties To Russia
Jonathan Sarna
By Ari Feldman June 13, 2017
If Jared Kushner is indicted, all Jews might suffer. At least, so says Jonathan Sarna, a respected historian of anti-Semitism at Brandeis University.
“We ought to be prepared for that eventuality. Somebody ought to be writing a memo,” Sarna told the Times of Israel. “If Kushner is indicted, we need to be prepared.”
Kushner is expected to meet with the Senate intelligence committee in the coming days, and will likely be asked about his role in setting up a diplomatic backchannel with the Russian government and his ties to a state-owned Russian bank.
“[I]f God forbid it turns out that he utilized kind of ‘Jewish’ connections, then I think it will inevitably raise insinuations, discredit, doubts, from people who have always believed that Jews have multiple loyalties, and they will point to this and say, “See, we were right all along. We knew that Jews are not really loyal,” Sarna said.
“I think every Jewish community needs to worry,” he added.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman.
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