‘Disgraceful Slur’: Democrat Slammed for Attacking Trump Holocaust Memorial Council Appointee

Richard Grenell has been a singular fighter against antisemitism. The preeminent Jewish organization against antisemitism, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said this of Grenell:

https://twitter.com/simonwiesenthal/status/1341605388630691840?s=20

No US Ambassador posted to Berlin in recent history has done more to combat anti-Semitism in Germany, from neo-Nazis to Islamists linked to Iran and #Hezbollah than Richard Grenell
.

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‘Disgraceful Slur’: Democrat Activist Slammed for Attacking Trump Holocaust Memorial Council Appointee

By Patrick Goodenough | CNS News December 23, 2020 |

(CNSNews.com) – The head of a Jewish Democratic organization sparked a firestorm on Twitter on Monday after she accused a prominent Republican appointed by President Trump to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council of having “emboldened actual neo-Nazis.”

The charge directed by Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) CEO Halie Soifer at Trump ally Richard Grenell prompted strong reactions from supporters who pointed to his record.

As ambassador to Germany – from May 2018 until last June – Grenell spoke out repeatedly against anti-Semitism, was credited for helping to secure the deportation from the U.S. of a Nazi fugitive, pressed Germany and other E.U. governments to adopt a stronger stance against Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy terrorist group in Lebanon, and at a rally in Geneva last year lashed the U.N. Human Rights Council for persistently singling out Israel.

Grenell also periodically upset his hosts by scorning European outreach to the regime in Iran, some of whose leaders deny the Holocaust and have called for an end to the Jewish state.

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In her accusatory tweet, however, Soifer – a former national security advisor to Sen. Kamala Harris – pointed to a controversy that erupted briefly in mid-2018 after Grenell was quoted by Breitbart London as saying that wants to “empower” conservative leaders in Europe.

“Today, Trump appointed Richard Grenell to the Holocaust Memorial Council,” Soifer tweeted. “As US Amb to Germany, Grenell sought to ‘empower’ far-right parties & anti-establishment conservatives in Europe. Others have been unqualified, but he’s emboldened actual neo-Nazis.”

(In his remarks at the time, Grenell said, “I think there is a groundswell of conservative policies that are taking hold because of the failed policies of the left.” Amid criticism from some quarters in Germany and the U.S., he tweeted, “The idea that I’d endorse candidates/parties is ridiculous. I stand by my comments that we are experiencing an awakening from the silent majority – those who reject the elites & their bubble. Led by Trump.”)

Reacting to Soifer’s tweet, Omri Ceren, national security advisor to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former managing director at The Israel Project, called it “a disgraceful slur of Grenell, who cares passionately about the well-being and security of the Jewish people.”

Others on Twitter drew attention to Grenell’s involvement in bringing to an end a long legal battle over the deportation from the U.S. of Jakiw Palij, a 95-year-old former Nazi SS labor camp guard.

When Palij was deported in August 2018, the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) commended Grenell, saying he had made the matter “a diplomatic priority.”

Grenell at the time gave credit to Trump, saying the president’s “instructions were clear and his leadership crucial” in getting the deportation done.

Zionist Organization of America president Morton Klein, who was born to Holocaust survivors in a displaced persons’ camp in Bavaria shortly after the war, came out in support of Grenell’s appointment, calling him “a great Zionist & strong advocate for

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