Trump Makes Claim Dems are "Anti-Israel and Anti-Jewish".
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Democrats have very much proven to be anti-Israel. There's no question about that. And it's a disgrace. I mean I don't know what's happened to them, but they are totally anti-Israel. Frankly, I think they're anti-Jewish.</s>BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump making the bold and unfounded claim, the Democratic Party is anti-Jewish. At the same time, the Trump administration is now planning to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the disputed Golan Heights territory for the first time in more than five decades. But the move looks openly political coming weeks before the election for Trump's embattled friend and ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. CNN's senior diplomatic correspondent Michelle Kosinski picks up the story.</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stood beaming next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump's proclamation of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights referring to the long- disputed land as --</s>MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Hard fought real estate.</s>KOSINSKI: He sat down with the Christian Broadcasting Network.</s>POMPEO: The task that I have is informed by my understanding of my faith, my belief in Jesus Christ as the savior.</s>KOSINSKI: But then came this.</s>QUESTION: Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from an Iranian menace?</s>POMPEO: As a Christian I certainly believe that's possible. I am confident that the Lord is at work here.</s>KOSINSKI: Pompeo frequently makes references based on his religion. He's mentioned the rapture, keeping a Bible open on his desk and that he views homosexuality as perversion. But this comment now on such a sensitive foreign policy issue doesn't sit well with some.</s>FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: He's laughable on his face. But it is actually quite concerning. It gives comfort to extremists around the world who look at the West and want to look at the West as an upfront to Islam and as crusaders. There is nothing wrong with a cabinet official, a government official, when asked, talk about their own personal beliefs system. What is wrong is for him to apply as he appeared to do, those Christian values, those specifically Evangelical Christian values to the task of foreign policy.</s>KOSINSKI: The U.S. and Israel right now are the only countries that have recognized Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights which it seized from Syria in 1967. U.S. allies say this move by Trump is in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that used the annexation as illegal. And it all comes just as Netanyahu faces a tough reelection battle with Trump seen by critics as trying to help him. But Pompeo denies doing that.</s>POMPEO: I'm going to stay far away from the decisions that the Israeli people will make here in a few weeks.</s>KOSINSKI: But there he is -- in Israel, standing alongside Netanyahu right before an election. As Netanyahu calls this decision a holiday miracle. Remember, President Obama wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when he visited the United States because it was close to an election. So, how could this be seen as anything but a huge gift to him? Also, some U.S. allies tell us that they are also confused by the timing of this. They want to know how this decision relates to broader policy. But they say the State Department isn't answering any questions about this right now. Brianna?</s>KEILAR: All right, Michelle Kosinski at the State Department. Thank you so much. And to hear the president talk about this it is as if he didn't even know there was an election going on in Israel. Bill, is there any -- I mean the motive here, is there any way that it is not to put a finger on the scale of this election for Netanyahu?</s>BILL KRISTOL, CONSERVATIVE WRITER: That's probably a key part of the motive. There is a reasonable -- I think it's a reasonable policy to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan for 52 years. It already --</s>KEILAR: But the timing?</s>KRISTOL: But the timing is unusual. And it was done the way that gotten Netanyahu wise on board ahead of time. And I think it is really unfortunate about the timing if you actually sit, think if you're pro- Israel is that it seems to discredit what is a legitimate - I mean you can make an argument that it is a bit of Israeli sovereignty of the Golan as this put a force for stability in the Middle East. They were never giving it back to Syria anyway. Syria is deeply problematic state to say the least at this moment with Assad, the Iranians on the Golan and near the Golan and so forth. So that's as if a foreign policy debate. But Trump unfortunately, as with some of the other things, has taken what would be I believe a reasonable thing for a U.S. government to do after deliberation in consultation with allies not in the middle of an election season and made it look like a very cheap political gimmick to help his friend, the Prime Minister, who has an election coming up.</s>KEILAR: You're shaking your head.</s>MEHDI HASSAN, COLUMNIST AND SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "THE INTERCEPT": Well I agree with Bill that it was a cheap political gimmick. There's no doubt about the timing three weeks from an election to do it in this way. There is also the factor of Iran. It's not just about for election. They have made it very clear - the administration. This is about saying to Iran we are going to stand up to you in Syria. We're not going to let you have roam freely. I don't think it is a reasonable position. It's a violation of international law. Everyone in the world thinks that to be the case. And this is how far Donald Trump has move the U.S. on Israel. In 1981 when Israel annexed the Golan Heights illegally, the Ronald Reagan administration voted with every single member of the U.N. Security Council to say this is null and void. And yet, here we have Trump on Twitter undermining 52 years of settled U.S. foreign policy. Look, previous president basically - Bill is right. It was a reality on the ground. But saying that quite part loud is a big deal. I mean it can - I guess sends another message again the international law - who cares. How are you going to go to Ukraine and tell Vladimir Putin you can't annex Crimea? And suddenly a Mike Pompeo tells that's bad in Crimea but in Golan Heights, oh, it's fine.</s>KEILAR: I wonder, Jen, you have been to Israel 20 times. You have been in meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu --</s>JEN PSAKI, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Maybe less than Bill.</s>KRISTOL: No, Amy (ph) is more than me, I think.</s>KEILAR: Even as --</s>KRISTOL: Better received.</s>KEILAR: Even as an administration being clearly very pro-Israel and certainly very pro-Netanyahu, knowing that some of these things would be carrots at the table of a Mideast peace negotiation. What does this tell you about the seriousness with which this administration is actually approaching the possibility of peace in the Mideast?</s>PSAKI: Well, the important backdrop here is you've referenced is that Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, is supposedly working on a Middle East peace proposal. Now, if you're coming down on one side hard on a negotiation which is the Israeli side, there is no way you can be a fair arbiter. And the United States has tried many times and failed. And I have lived through that. I've been a part of that to do this. But this is really killing the role that the United States can ever really play in the immediate future in this and be fair to both sides. If you a good plan, both sides should be angry about it and they should both feel like they have things they are giving up. But the other piece just to add to the political analysis here is that Trump is not doing this because he likes Bibi Netanyahu. He expects something in return. As we've seen him, he is out there touting how Democrats hate Jewish people. It's working. Every Democrats ask, do you hate Jewish people. And he wants to move the, you know, Jewish American vote towards his side. He wants a pack to be fully in the Republican pocket. And he wants Netanyahu to help with that. And that's exactly what he expects in return.</s>KEILAR: I want you to listen to something that Mike Pompeo is saying he is traveling through the Middle East right now. And this was something that perked up a lot of ears.</s>QUESTION: Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?</s>POMPEO: As a Christian I certainly believe that's possible. To see the remarkable history of the faith in this place and the work that our administration's done to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state remains. I am confident that the Lord is at work here.</s>KEILAR: There's also according of the Evangelical vote clearly. This is the Secretary of State though, Mehdi. What do you think?</s>HASSAN: I think it's madness. I think it's another reminder that the Trump phenomenon is a cult movement. It is amazing to see long- standing veteran politicians like Mike Pompeo signing up to the cult, saying this kind of stuff. You know we have a word that is used since 9/11 especially in recent years we talked about kind of politicized Muslims as Islamists which had a lot of issue with that word. But if we're going to use that word, let's talk about Christianists. I mean the politicization of religion in this way. I'm sorry. For an American politician to talk about the president being sent by God is absurd.</s>AMANDA CARPENTER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SEN. TED CRUZ: If there are Democrats that have a problem with the vision that Donald Trump and members of his administration are articulating, there's a place they could go and give a big speech about their 2020 presidential candidate. All of the Democratic presidential candidates are boycotting AIPAC. Why is that? Last time, Kamala Harris went. She had a talk with them. This time she didn't. Why? Because move on that org and code peak which are on the fringe told them to boycott that. I don't think that's a right answer. If you disagree -</s>HASSAN: -- Trump was sent by God.</s>CARPENTER: No, I don't.</s>KRISTOL: But neither of those -</s>CARPENTER: If you want to have a debate about this, you people need to go --</s>KRISTOL: But you can't debate, Angela - Amanda, sorry about this. Well, you can't debate is that Trump is saying the Democratic party is anti-Jewish. That is really unbelievable.</s>CARPENTER: Sure. But why - the ground.</s>KRISTOL: Unbelievable thing. That is an unbelievable thing.</s>CARPENTER: I am not disagreeing with you. I'm telling you how people if they want to counter that kind of talk, they should show up into those spaces.</s>HASSAN: Why? Does any part own that space?</s>KRISTOL: No.</s>CARPENTER: No.</s>KRISTOL: That's not about Israel.</s>CARPENTER: I would be a great setting -</s>KRISTOL: AIPAC is not about Jews. AIPAC is a pro-Israel organization.</s>HASSAN: President agreeing with -</s>KRISTOL: For the president to say - that one of our two major parties is anti-Jewish is just way beyond any enormous - saying one of our two major parties dislikes one of the major --</s>HASSAN: It is also ironic coming from a president who is one of --</s>KRISTOL: Chuck Schumer is anti-Jewish and Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, John Kerry -- it is unbelievable to say that. And people need to denounce that. If we are going down the road of politics.</s>PSAKI: And there are a number of Democrats who are actually going to AIPAC. So, to be fair, on Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and a number of them are going.</s>KEILAR: Amanda -</s>HASSAN: -- Jewish are leading the field by the way.</s>KEILAR: Amanda.</s>CARPENTER: They have an opportunity to go to AIPAC. Donald Trump is pinning the Democratic Party is being anti-Jewish because they're making it so easy.</s>PSAKI: But who cares about AIPAC? I mean there are a lot of Jewish organizations that are more fair arbiters that aren't wings of the Republican Party right now. And that's where -</s>HASSAN: And the guy leading the polls is Jewish.</s>KEILAR: All right. More ahead with this feisty bunch at the rate that he will be standing on the podium at the first debate. Beto O'Rourke keeps climbing on things. As President Trump says he won't stand a chance against him.