History was made July 21 at the Republican National Convention inside Quicken Loans Arena when Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination.
Jason Greenblatt, a key part of the Trump campaign, was there to see it all. As executive vice president and chief legal officer for The Trump Organization, the Teaneck, N.J., man is playing a prominent role advising Trump on Jewish issues and Israel.
Greenblatt spoke to the Cleveland Jewish News in a wide-ranging ranging interview inside Downtown Chabad at 55 Public Square, hours before the RNC was to conclude its four nights of festivities July 21 in downtown Cleveland.
Greenblatt is an Orthodox Jew who has worked for Trump nearly 20 years. Few may know the man trying to become the 45th president of the United States better than he.
He said Trump has been understanding and encouraging when Greenblatt has had to leave work to be home for Shabbat or take time off for Jewish holidays. Sometimes that has meant halting negotiations on a deal for days. That’s why Greenblatt finds it difficult to believe people accuse Trump of being anti-Semitic, as happened in connection with a recent Trump tweet involving the Star of David.
“The accusations are absolutely disgusting,” said Greenblatt, who has relatives in Beachwood. “He’s been phenomenally respectful of me being an observant Jew for almost two decades. I’m so troubled by people (who) are so quick to condemn and to fund ugliness, to use social media as a tool to spout hate, and what they’re accusing him of is not only not true … but the kind of hate I get on my Twitter feed because of my role is far worse than anything he has ever said.”
On social media
Greenblatt wants to change the way social media handle hatemongers.
“I’ve reached out to some journalists who’ve had this hate spewed at them,” Greenblatt said, noting he’s asked one “whether she would work with me on a task force to reach out to the social media companies. I think they all have some formal policy in place; I haven’t studied them yet. This really was just an idea that came to me in the past couple of days and if they have a policy in place, are they really enforcing it?”
If not, they should, he said, adding random enforcement isn’t enough.
“I’m not looking for censorship, but I am looking for the social media companies to not allow the spread of hate,” he said.
He urged tolerance.
“I think people need to realize that it’s OK to disagree, but you need to disagree respectfully,” he said. “Dialogue is always useful. We’re not always going to agree. Some people think (Democrat) Hillary (Clinton) is the better candidate. We have to unite ourselves as a country.”
Blaming Trump for anti-Semitism is wrong, Greenblatt said, adding, “We need to work together maybe to talk to the social media companies or find other solutions. It’s just a terrible thing they’re trying to cast him as the villain.”
The Trump viewpoint
Greenblatt admires Trump.
“He’s not stuck in the political world,” he said of his boss. “He wasn’t from the political world. He’s a doer. He creates things. He knows how to run the government like a business on a very basic level as a taxpayer. The government is a business. It needs to be run by a businessman, not a politician. So I know that my tax dollars will be spent wisely.
“Secondly, he’s a very strong person. I have six children, ranging in age from 5 to 17 years old. I fear for my 5-year-old and even my 10-year old like I’ve never had to think about for my 17-year-olds. It’s become a very, very chaotic and dangerous world. I think the way Mr. Trump looks at things, with a clear vision and a no-nonsense vision, he will help create a safer America and a safer world.”
At the same time, Greenblatt suggested flexibility in regard to Israel.
Two-state on the table
“I wouldn’t say the party has rejected the two-state solution,” said Greenblatt. “What we’ve won is very consistent with Mr. Trump’s message about Israel and the peace process, which is (that) we need the parties themselves to sit down and figure out how they want to resolve it, and he will be with them every step of the way to ensure to help them try to resolve the differences and get them to have peace together and (figure out) how to implement that.
“So it’s not that the two-state solution has been rejected, but to try to impose a two-state solution on the parties doesn’t make sense to him, nor does it make sense to the parties. Let’s let the parties involved figure out what they want, and we’ll be there to help them get there.”
Trump, whom Greenblatt said has a “good relationship” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recently appointed Greenblatt; attorney David M. Friedman, a senior partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP; and Dr. Richard H. Roberts of Lakewood, N.J., to lead his new Israel advisory committee.
The Jewish vote
“I think traditionally Jewish voters have voted for the Democratic Party,” Greenblatt said during the 20-minute interview. “I’m really hopeful this year that this is going to have a major shift because I think that Donald is the best candidate for the country, including the Jewish voters. I think there’s no comparison to where he stands on the Israel issues. Not that we’re single-issue voters, but some of us are … I think for Israel he is far superior, for national security, he is far superior, for jobs, he is far superior, for America’s standing in the world, he’s far superior.”
He’s curious about Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, a Beachwood Republican who endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio during the GOP presidential primary.
“I’m not sure that I would fault him for endorsing Rubio back then,” Greenblatt said, “but now you have Hillary and Donald, so the question is, who is he going to endorse?”
BDS movement concerns
Greenblatt worries about the hatred toward Jews and Israel expressed on college campuses across America. His triplets are seniors about to prepare college applications.
“They’re going to be applying to a number of schools, including some that are very prestigious, but that also have BDS and anti-Israel movements on campus – and it scares me,” he said.
“At the same time, we believe in Israel, we believe in what it stands for and we can’t just shy away from the situation. We have to educate everybody and explain what Israel really is, not the Israel the media has painted it out to be. Israel is a democratic country, respects everybody’s rights, freedom of religion, freedom of access to holy sites, and it’s really our responsibility to go out on campus, as scary as it may be for students. I recognize that and I fear for my own children in some respects.”
He hopes his children are leaders and educators on the issue, noting there are campus organizations that can help. Greenblatt also believes the landscape is shifting.
“On the BDS issue, we’ve seen a lot of traction in the last couple of months; state legislatures are starting to pass laws against that, and it’s a tremendously positive step in my view,” he said. “I don’t think it’s going to disappear anytime soon, but I’d like to think to some degree, the tide has turned against that a little bit.”
More than 10 states have passed laws that make it illegal for the state to do business with companies that support the BDS movement. A related bill was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives in February.
“To me this is similar to the anti-Semitic tweet controversy in the sense that our society has become sound-bite oriented,” Greenblatt said. “Our society has become very click-bait-oriented ... Hopefully, people will recognize what BDS is and what anti-Semitic hatred is.
“I would really love for the Jewish community generally to not get caught up on people trying to make stories out of six-pointed stars or things like that. There are so many issues that our country faces – indeed, that our world faces – and we need to focus on those things and not try to distract from the main issues by creating stories where they don’t really exist.”
