To: Les H who wrote (50774 ) 1/15/2026 3:36:20 PM From: Les H Respond to How Trump's Chauvinistic Immigration Policy Leaves Jews on the Losing SideIn the wake of the killing of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, antisemitism sneaks into American discourse and exposes hypocrisy among the Jewish establishment Etan Nechin U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in her car in Minneapolis on Wednesday. The Trump administration painted her as a domestic terrorist, but state and local officials have rejected that characterization. The circumstances of the shooting are being investigated by prosecutors, and in the meantime, two fundraisers for the ICE agent have drawn support from the American right and Trump's MAGA base. The first fundraiser, on GiveSendGo – a crowdfunding website popular with the right – blamed the killing on "anti-American traitors like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey," adding "(who is Jewish)" in the description before scrubbing it after public pressure. "This patriot ICE agent faces smears from open-borders radicals, sanctuary city traitors like Frey," the post says. "Stand tall: Donate today to send a message that we back the men removing illegals and invaders from our soil." The fund was set up by Tom Hennessy, a self-proclaimed "white independent journalist" who sports a string of antisemitic and anti-immigrant posts. Despite the scrutiny, notable right-wing figures like Megan Kelly and Jack Posobiec have donated, and as of Tuesday morning, it has raised $250,000. The other, on the popular GoFundMe platform, has raised over $600,000. Its top donor is Jewish hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who donated $10,000. Ackman explained his decision to donate, writing that "I am a big believer in our legal principle that one is innocent until proven guilty." The campaign was set up by a person whose Facebook profile picture was reportedly, until recently, a Nazi sign . These campaigns serve as examples of the antisemitism thriving in the fallout over Good's shooting and America's ICE policy, adding to the growing crisis of antisemitism within Trump's MAGA base. Because nationalism and antisemitism are intertwined. The aim of ICE raids in American cities is not primarily to remove gangs, but to create an us-versus-them binary: citizens versus invaders, Christians versus "woke Marxists," whites versus people of color, patriots versus traitors. Yet figures such as Ackman and others in the Jewish establishment have consistently framed the main threat to Jews as coming from the left. Ackman has waged a public campaign against college administrators, students and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, branding their criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Just this weekend, former antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt rushed to claim the Mississippi synagogue arson was "another step in the globalization of the intifada," despite the alleged arsonist being a white, teenage Christian. The ADL creation of a " Mamdani monitor" to track whether the mayor has strayed too far in his criticism of Israel, while excusing Elon Musk's "Roman salutes ," is another example of the trend. This outsized outrage – branding anyone overly critical of Israel as antisemitic while paying only lip service to right-wing antisemitism – is dangerous. It minimizes the most urgent threat facing Jews in the United States: a violent, deadly nationalist movement fueled in no small part by the Trump administration. While fringe elements of the pro-Palestine movement may be riddled with antisemitic views, they are nowhere near centers of power or policymaking. A slim pro-Palestinian minority may shout support for Hamas , but it is the White House that is funding and empowering forces that terrorize its own citizens in the streets. In this chauvinistic, nationalist worldview, the government decides who is loyal and who is a "traitor." And when this zero-sum game plays out in the real world, Jews are cast on the wrong side. Haaretz Today is our daily newsletter summing up the main events of the day in Israel and the region with a fresh perspective on the stories dominating headlines. Click here to sign up for the latest news from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Haaretz's team of writers and editors. Haaretz
