--- ---  # Rabbis to Boycott Donald Trump Speech at Pro-Israel Conference  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Mar 17, 2016 4:25 PM UTC  Donald Trump stirred controversy by asking voters to "swear" to vote for him while extending their right hands during a campaign event in Orlando, FL on March 5, 2016. Donald Trump stirred controversy by asking voters to "swear" to vote for him while extending their right hands during a campaign event in Orlando, FL on March 5, 2016.The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Mar 17, 2016 4:25 PM UTC At least 40 rabbis [are set to boycott](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rabbis-call-for-boycott-of-trumps-speech-to-pro-israel-group/2016/03/17/8e2f2ea6-ea14-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html?postshare=7661458228067650&tid=ss%5Ftw) Donald Trump’s Monday remarks at a conference about Israel. Boycott organizers at this year’s meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said they did not want Trump’s participation in the annual conference to lend him any legitimacy, the Washington _Post_ reports. Some seemed uncomfortable with Trump’s sometimes abrasive rhetoric about immigrants and minority groups. “Jewish history teaches that when hatred is unleashed, it takes on a life of its own,” organizing Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin [told the _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rabbis-call-for-boycott-of-trumps-speech-to-pro-israel-group/2016/03/17/8e2f2ea6-ea14-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html?postshare=7661458228067650&tid=ss%5Ftw)_._ **MORE:** [**Donald Trump’s Complicated Relationship with Jewish Voters**](http://time.com/4254408/donald-trump-jewish-people-florida/) Trump has called himself pro-Israel, but has said he would like to appear “neutral” when it comes to Israel-Palestine peace talks, so as not to endanger any possible “deals.” The Republican Jewish Coalition, an organizational group of donors, will address its stance towards Donald Trump at its meeting in April this year, the [_Post_ ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rabbis-call-for-boycott-of-trumps-speech-to-pro-israel-group/2016/03/17/8e2f2ea6-ea14-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html?postshare=7661458228067650&tid=ss%5Ftw)[reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rabbis-call-for-boycott-of-trumps-speech-to-pro-israel-group/2016/03/17/8e2f2ea6-ea14-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html?postshare=7661458228067650&tid=ss%5Ftw). \[[_The Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rabbis-call-for-boycott-of-trumps-speech-to-pro-israel-group/2016/03/17/8e2f2ea6-ea14-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html?postshare=7661458228067650&tid=ss%5Ftw)\] Rabbis to Boycott Donald Trump at Pro-Israel Conference ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4262924/rabbis-protest-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4262924/rabbis-protest-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Rabbis to Boycott Donald Trump Speech at Pro-Israel Conference","datePublished":"2016-03-17T16:25:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:59:53.414Z","description":"Over 40 people are taking part in the boycott so far","url":"https://time.com/4262924/rabbis-protest-donald-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e961fa8a7f3fdef/69888b63428a9e0ba1cd1d7c/donald-trump-rabbis-protest-pro-israel-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e961fa8a7f3fdef/69888b63428a9e0ba1cd1d7c/donald-trump-rabbis-protest-pro-israel-event.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"donald trump rabbis protest pro-israel event","caption":"donald trump rabbis protest pro-israel event","creditText":"The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4262924/rabbis-protest-donald-trump/","name":"Rabbis to Boycott Donald Trump Speech at Pro-Israel Conference"}}]}] ```