Will Jared and Ivanka Seize Their ‘Mordechai And Esther’ Moment To Rein In Trump?

Trump and the Jewish-son-in-law paradox. Image by Getty Images

By Larry Cohler-Esses August 16, 2017

Former Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham Foxman thinks now may be Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump’s “Mordechai and Esther moment.”

Amid the uproar over President Trump’s blaming “both sides” for violence in Charlottesville, Foxman urged the president’s daughter and son-in-law to act like the legendary queen of Persia and her uncle, who famously blocked King Ahasverus from killing the Jews.

“For (Trump) to have seen the torch parade and the epithets against his daughter, his grandchildren, his son-in-law, and stand up and say both sides are equal? Shame, shame, shame,” Foxman told Jewish Insider.

“They need to sit down with him, and say to him, face-to-face: ‘Do you understand what message you’re sending to your grandchildren?’” Foxman asked. “That it’s OK for people to march down and yell, ‘Get rid of the Jews, we don’t want the Jews.’”

“And you say this is nothing?” Foxman said.

Kushner and his wife reportedly advised Trump to moderate his initial comments blaming both sides. But the couple were on vacation in Vermont when Trump backtracked went back to his original stance on Tuesday.

Kushner was once seen as an influence in preventing Donald Trump from issuing inflammatory tweets, with observers noting that some of his most egregious missteps have come when his son-in-law was offline for Shabbat.

Larry Cohler-Esses is a freelance journalist who worked for years as a reporter and editor at the Forward. He has written extensively on the Arab-Jewish relations both in the United States and the Middle East.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO