President Trump opened his address to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday by condemning the hateful attacks on Jewish cemeteries and centers.
"We are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms," he said.
This was after Sen. Bernie Sanders warned the Trump administration on Monday that "the world is watching" how they respond to the anti-Semitic attacks currently sweeping the U.S.
We witnessed the vandalism of Jewish cemeteries. Then we learned of the growing number of bomb threats aimed at Jewish Community Centers. Vice President Mike Pence flew to Missouri to help clean up one of the destroyed cemeteries and President Trump condemned the violence. Despite these efforts and strong messages, Sanders doubts that the Trump administration is truly dedicated to defending the Jewish people, judging by the administration omitting them in their message on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“I hope very much that President Trump and his political adviser Mr. Bannon understand that the entire world is watching, that it is imperative that their voices be loud and clear in condemning anti-Semitism,” Sanders said in a speech to J Street, a group in favor of a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.
Is Sanders suddenly Israel's greatest champion? This is the same senator who just last year accused Israel of exaggerating the threat they face from Hamas. The government's response to the 2014 Gaza war, Sanders claimed, was "disproportionate."
In his speech to J Street, Sanders also demanded Israel end its "50 year occupation" of Palestinian land. Relatedly, the senator has also expressed support for the Iranian nuclear deal, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned would only embolden Iranian aggression.
Sanders is Jewish and in the past has defended Israel, but judging by the above examples he could do a much better job of practicing what he preaches.