BERNARD-HENRI LÉVY TO JPOST: TRUMP HAS NO REAL LOVE FOR ISRAEL

Jewish French intellectual says Israelis should be wary of US president

jpost

Israelis who are have embraced Donald Trump as president “should be very careful,” prominent French-Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy told The Jerusalem Post Monday during an interview at Bar-Ilan University, which was due to award him with an honorary doctorate on Tuesday evening.

Asked whether he believes that the friendship between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be positive for Israel in the long-term, Lévy was quick to respond with a decisive “no.”

Talking to the Post at the university’s Brain Research Center – where he would later deliver a lecture about his latest book – Levy was wearing his trademark black suit and a partially unbuttoned white shirt. His expressive eyebrows often answered the questions before his words.

While he explained his view that Israel is in no position to refuse the friendship of other countries, he opined that “to have Trump as a friend is not a source of happiness.”
“He has no real love for Israel because he does not know Israel. He does not know the Jewish history, he refuses to condemn antisemitism – so what is the value of this friendship?” he asked. In February, Trump issued his first public condemnation of antisemitism, after being criticized for remaining silent in the face of an uptick of anti-Jewish incidents across the country.

Many figures on the Right of Israel’s political spectrum celebrated Trump’s election, particularly following Netanyahu’s strained relationship with former US president Barack Obama.

“These rightist people should be aware that it can change. Friendship without love or love without roots can always turn into its contrary. This is the story of the Jewish people. Beware of philo-semitism when it is not on solid ground,” he added.