Jewish and Israel-related groups reacted to the ouster of John Bolton as national security advisor on Tuesday amid disagreements between the two on a number of matters regarding Iran, North Korea and other foreign-policy issues.
“@AmbJohnBolton thank you for your longstanding friendship, moral clarity and passionate defense of America and our allies, especially Israel,” tweeted Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks.
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“I have known John Bolton for more than three decades,” American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris told JNS. “He’s always been a stalwart defender of America’s global interests; steadfast ally of Israel and the Jewish people; and fierce adversary of anti-democratic, weapons-proliferating and terrorist-sponsoring regimes, mostly notably in Tehran. We thank him for his service to the country as National Security Advisor to President Trump, and for his consistent friendship to AJC.”
President of the National Council of Young Israel Farley Weiss said, “National Security Advisor John Bolton has always been a great friend of Israel and the National Council of Young Israel. We appreciate his support for Israel during his service, and we only wish him the best.”
Zionist Organization of America president Mort Klein told JNS that Bolton is “a great American patriot, deeply committed to the security of all Americans, and an extraordinary friend of the Jewish State of Israel.”
“I am deeply saddened that he has left the administration and am worried about what it might signal vis-à-vis our willingness to negotiate with Iran, said Sarah N. Stern, founder and president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET). “I am hoping the president does not just surround himself with ‘Yes men,’ but with a ‘team of rivals’ on which to bounce ideas.”
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee and IAC for Action declined to comment.
On the other side of the spectrum, J Street spokesperson Logan Bayroff told JNS: “He will not be missed.”
The Jewish Democratic Council of America remarked how Bolton’s ouster exemplified the Trump administration’s national security and foreign policy—or, as many say, his lack of it.
“John Bolton’s departure means that President Trump will have four national security advisors in less than three years,” said JDCA executive director Halie Soifer. “This national security- and cabinet- level turnover is unprecedented and a clear sign of Trump’s failed leadership, domestically and in the world.”
She added that “it also indicates the incoherence and danger of Trump’s erratic foreign policy, especially with regard to Iran and other critical issues. It remains unclear—to our adversaries and allies, including Israel—what American leadership under Trump stands for.”