Fast Forward

Netanyahu Condemns Charlottesville Violence — 3 Days Later

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu after Trump’s speech at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017 Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman August 15, 2017

Three days after the deadly car attack by a white supremacist in Charlottesville, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued his first condemnation.

In an English-language tweet Netanyahu wrote: “Outraged by expressions of anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism and racism. Everyone should oppose this hatred.”

The Israeli prime minister seems to have waited to hear a clear condemnation from Trump before weighing in on the issue himself. His ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer also spoke out about the event, which included clear anti-Semitic themes, only Monday evening, after Trump provided his second response.

Other Israeli leaders, not affiliated with Netanyahu’s party, including Natan Sharansky and Naftali Bennett spoke out earlier and urged the U.S. administration to offer a clear condemnation to the neo-Nazis and white supremacists responsible for the violence and the outburst of anti-Semitism in Charlottesville.

In instances of Muslim-extremists attacks against Jews in Europe, Netanyahu was quick to respond and even encouraged Jews in Europe to leave their countries and move to Israel. The uptick in anti-Semitic events in the United States in recent months, however, was met with little response from the Israeli government, except for praise from Netanyahu to Trump for his “strong stand” against anti-Semitism.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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