(JTA) — The New York Young Republican Club called Andrew Cuomo’s director of Jewish affairs a “court Jew” and tweeted that he is “working for the most antisemitic Governor in America.”
Responding to a tweet by the director, Jake Adler, disparaging an upcoming in-person conference hosted by the state’s Young Republicans, the GOP club was repeating a claim by Cuomo critics that he has been biased against Hasidic communities in Brooklyn during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Imagine being Jewish and working for the most antisemitic Governor in America,” the group tweeted. “You are a disgrace and pathetic. Shouldn’t you guys be arresting Orthodox Jews in BK? Keep being a good boy for your failed corrupt boss.”
When David Greenfield, an Orthodox Jew who is CEO of the Met Council on Jewish Poverty, vouched for Adler on Twitter, the Young Republicans responded by deriding “court Jews.” The reference was to Jews who would work in royal courts in exchange for special privileges not afforded other Jews. It has become a slur disparaging Jews who are seen as selling out communal interests to advance their own status.
“Court Jews defending the blatant antisemitism of Cuomo is so repugnant & vile its almost too unreal to behold,” the Young Republicans tweeted. “Thankfully our Club leadership is full of proud Jews who are happy to call a spade a spade and not cover up the systemic discrimination and persecution of Hasidic Jews.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s regional office tweeted in response that “Everyone has the right to disagree w/ public policy & political positions, but resorting to tropes should be off limits.”
In response, the Young Republicans tweeted that the ADL is a “sham” and told the civil rights group to “shut up.”
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