Report: Trump mulling axing antisemitism envoy as part of budget plan
As part of federal budget cuts, Trump is allegedly considering whether to nix some special envoy positions, including ones dealing with antisemitism, climate change and Muslim communities.
By JTAUpdated: FEBRUARY 28, 2017 14:58Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington , DC on Feb. 15, 2017 with an Israeli flag in the background(photo credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP)
President Donald Trump reportedly is considering cutting a number of special envoy positions, including one dedicated to fighting antisemitism, as part of a forthcoming budget proposal.Trump will propose increasing defense spending by $54 billion and make cuts to federal agencies to accommodate the 10 percent defense increase in the new budget plan, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing unnamed administration officials.As part of these cuts, Trump is considering whether to nix some special envoy positions, including ones dealing with antisemitism, climate change and Muslim communities, according to Bloomberg.Trump says antisemitism is "horrible" and has to stop (credit: REUTERS)Congress mandated the position of special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism in 2004 with the passage of the Global Antisemitism Review Act. The measure directs the State Department to establish the Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, to be headed by the special envoy.The State Department page for the Office to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism now comprises a brief description of the office, with a link to the archived reports compiled by the office during the Obama administration. Still on the website is the State Department definition of antisemitism, including how certain types of attacks on Israel qualify.The White House did not respond immediately to JTA seeking comment on the Bloomberg report.Ira Forman, the former executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council, most recently served in the envoy position under President Barack Obama. Forman’s LinkedIn page lists him as having served in the position; Trump has not named a replacement.On Monday, the Trump administration denounced vandalism of Jewish cemeteries and bomb threats made against Jewish community centers across the country hours after at least 21 Jewish community centers were hit with bomb threats in the fifth wave of such incidents this year, and a day after about 100 headstones were found toppled at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia in the second such incident in a week.“The president continues to condemn these and any other form of anti-Semitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer, adding that “[n]o one in America should feel afraid to follow the religion of their choosing freely and openly.”Last week, Trump — following pressure from Jewish groups and political leaders to condemn antisemitism in the wake of what has been called an uptick in incidents since he was elected — said “Antisemitism is horrible and it’s going to stop, and it has to stop.”
Trump came under fire earlier this month for his response to a reporter who asked at a news conference about the prior JCC bomb threats and what the government’s response would be to “an uptick in anti-Semitism.” Although the reporter did not suggest Trump was anti-Semitic, the president answered by denying he is an anti-Semite and called the question “insulting.” He ordered the reporter to sit down and did not answer the question.