Rabbis, Holocaust survivors decry use of ‘kapo’ by Trump nominee

Letters to the Senate from hundreds of rabbis and cantors, dozens of Holocaust survivors, and scholars say the abuse of the term “kapo” by David Friedman, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Israel, should be a factor in considering his confirmation.

An array of liberal Jewish groups organized the three separate letters this week to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: One from rabbis and cantors, one from Holocaust survivors, and one from Holocaust scholars. The letters will be delivered to senators on the committee before Friedman’s confirmation hearing commences on Thursday.

The letter from the rabbis and the cantors, which so far has accrued more than 600 signatures from clergy of all streams, and the letter from 31 Holocaust survivors urge the committee to reject Friedman.

The letter from 29 Holocaust scholars – including a handful not based in the United States – stops short of a call to reject him, but says: “We hope that you will keep Mr. Friedman’s disrespectful and politically cynical use of the Holocaust in mind as you consider his nomination to serve as our ambassador to Israel.”

Each of the letters focuses principally on Friedman’s use of the term “kapo” to attack J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle Eastern policy group.

The survivors call Friedman’s use of the term “slanderous, insulting, irresponsible, cynical and immensely damaging to our people.” The rabbis call it the “very antithesis of the diplomatic behavior Americans expect from their ambassadors.”

— JTA