Protests planned for Trump speech at pro-Israel conference

Dozens of rabbis are planning to boycott a scheduled speech by Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump to the U.S.'s largest pro-Israeli lobbying group to protest what they feel is his divisive rhetoric.

The rabbis plan to hand out fliers urging hundreds of attendees at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee gathering in Washington either to skip Trump's speech on Monday or to stand up and silently walk out when he starts speaking.

About 18,000 people are expected to attend AIPAC's three-day annual conference. It is not clear how many will accede to the rabbis' request and boycott or walk out of Trump's address.

"He [Trump] embodies 'sinat hinam,' senseless hatred," said one of the protest's organizers, Rabbi David Paskin of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. "We are against the ugliness that has engulfed this election season. And he has driven much of it, from his comments about Mexicans and Muslims to the violence at his rallies."

Trump, who holds a significant lead in the quest for the Republican presidential nomination, has left some Jewish leaders uneasy with what they feel is a lack of understanding about the Middle East and his inflammatory speech.

One of the former leaders of the liberal Reform movement, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, believes the walkout will signify that "American Jews are beginning to wake up. And they are getting ready to take on Donald Trump."

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin of Hollywood, Florida, has asked rabbis across the country to join him in the boycott. He said 40 had agreed and signed a protest letter he hopes to distribute at the conference. Trump "has taken every opportunity to vilify women, Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and the disabled," Salkin said.

A group of rabbis and students called Come Together Against Hate is planning to walk out of the room after Trump takes the stage. Jesse Olitzky, one of its organizers, said he did not know how many people would participate. The group's Facebook page had 300 members.

Some of the students received an email earlier this week from AIPAC warning that if they disrupt the speech, they would have their conference access revoked. An AIPAC official said on Thursday the message "went out in error and was not authorized."

Asked in a Reuters interview on Thursday if he had heard about the planned protests and whether he intends to respond, Trump relied, "I know nothing about that."

When he announced his candidacy last summer, Trump said some people crossing the U.S. border from Mexico were criminals and rapists, and promised to build a wall along the border. In December, he called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country, on national security grounds. Last week, he told CNN: "Islam hates us." The Anti-Defamation League and an organization of Reform rabbis condemned his comments.

Trump has frequently touted his warm feelings toward Israel, noting that his daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism when she married into a prominent Orthodox family, and that he was the grand marshal of a pro-Israel parade in New York City in 2004.

AIPAC, which is non-partisan, routinely hosts presidential hopefuls at its conference. Trump's remaining Republican rivals, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Ohio Governor John Kasich, will address the group as well. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has also confirmed her attendance.

"The job of AIPAC is not to decide whose policies we like or look into the souls of people," said Seth Siegel, an AIPAC veteran who said he was not speaking on behalf of the organization.

"It's the organization's job to try to educate elected officials about how to deepen the U.S.-Israel relationship for the benefit of both parties," he said. "Having Trump speak at the policy conference is unambiguously part of that mission."

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