Critics of the order have maintained that Republicans and many in the pro-Israel camp use too broad of a definition of supporting terrorism — particularly when it comes to pro-Palestinian activism — and that cracking down on pro-Palestinian speech would hurt American Jews in the long run
Amy Spitalnick, head of the liberal Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said in a statement opposing Trump’s executive order,
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“It is both possible and necessary to directly confront and address the crisis of antisemitism, on campus and across our communities, without abandoning the fundamental democratic values that have allowed Jews and so many others, to thrive here”
Mainstream Jewish groups have so far broadly applauded Trump’s stated desire to fight antisemitism while expressing concern over the more controversial aspect of the order
In a statement, the American Jewish Committee said it would “endorse without hesitation” Trump’s push to apply existing laws to addressing antisemitism
But the group was more circumspect about the deportation concept, stating,
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“It is vital that other provisions in the Executive Order which have the potential to be broadly interpreted to threaten certain ethnic and religious groups be implemented with strict adherence to existing law”
