Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Jewish Democrat, told Politico magazine that it is wrong that opposition to policies of the Israeli government has bled into Jew-hatred.
“Antisemitism has often been connected to people’s views about Israel,” he told Politico. “If you don’t like what Israel and, in particular, Netanyahu are doing, now it’s OK to have slurs that you’re spewing about Jews. It’s not. It’s never okay.”
One can disagree with the leader of another country, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or American leaders, according to Pritzker. “But it’s not OK to issue slurs about somebody’s religion in particular,” he said.
Pritzker, billionaire who is part of the family that owns the hotel chain Hyatt and who is widely considered a potential candidate for president, told Politico that he blames Netanyahu for making it “near-impossible” to obtain peace.
“There are a lot of people, who don’t like Netanyahu, but you shouldn’t take it out on Israel,” he said. “lt’s a democracy that elected him. There are a lot of people who don’t like Trump. I mean, should we be tossed into The Hague as a country because of Trump?”
“I’m just saying that we have to be careful about how we’re treating other countries when they elect somebody that we don’t like,” he said.
He told the Washington magazine that he thinks it’s a “minority of folks” who use opposition to the Jewish state as an excuse for antisemitism.
“I think very importantly, I’m not going to change because there are some people out there that will equate those two things,” he told Politico. “I’m very forthright about my views, and if people don’t like it, they’re not voting for me.”
Pritzker also said that threats against him and his family have increased in recent years, as Jew-hatred has spiked in the United States.
“Because of the political violence, I think that the antisemites out there and the people who are racist, because they know that I stand up for communities of color, have come out of the woodwork,” he told Politico.
“I’m sure that politicians across the country are receiving more threats than they have before, but I hear about it,” he said. “In particular, sometimes I hear the mention of my Judaism, of my religion.”
“I don’t want to overstate it, but it’s true,” he said in the interview. “It’s more than it was in years before.”
Even so, the United States remains a safe haven for Jews, according to Pritzker.
“Unfortunately, you’ve seen a rise of antisemitism, and that’s something terrible, and we’ve got to, again, push back,” he told Politico. “We’ve gotta speak out about it and do everything we can.”
Pritzker, who is mentioned as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, as is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is also a Jewish Democrat, said that it is not impossible for a Jewish politician to become president
“This is what should give people hope,” he said. “First of all, there was a time when people said a Catholic shouldn’t be president of the United States. There was a time when people said that a black man shouldn’t be president of the United States.”
“The truth of the matter is that we’ve overcome these things in the past,” he said. “We can do so much better.”
In the interview with Politico, Pritzker continued to endorse a Palestinian state alongside Israel and acknowledged that Jew-hatred has been connected to views about Israel.
“I’m unapologetically in favor of having a peaceful sanctuary that Jews can live in, in Israel,” he said. “I’m also unapologetically in favor of a Palestinian state, where Palestinians can live peacefully in the Middle East.”
“By the way, we’re never, ever gonna get to peace until we have that,” he told Politico.
Pritzker added that his religion had no impact on his two successful runs for governor, when he was elected by 16 points the first time and 13 the second time.
“I think the people of Illinois are past that,” he said. “That’s what matters to me. It really has not been an issue to me.”
He also blamed U.S. President Donald Trump for having “set a tone where political violence is OK.”
“He’s advocated it himself before. It’s a terrible thing,” he told Politico. “I’m a big believer in it’s OK to disagree but not be disagreeable.” (JNS sought comment from the White House.)
Pritzker noted of Trump, who has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, that “he’s experienced the other side of that,” but some, like conservative political commentator and writer Guy Benson, called the governor’s remarks about Trump “truly shameless.”
“It’s not just about antisemitism. It’s about racism,” Pritzker told the magazine. “There’s a rise in all of these hate groups that are out there.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told JNS that “no one should take these comments from Pritzker seriously when he just recently compared the Trump administration to the Nazi regime.”
“As the survivor of multiple assassination attempts, and watching his dear friend Charlie be assassinated last year, no one understands the dangers of political violence more than President Trump,” Jackson told JNS, referring to Charlie Kirk. “President Trump, and the entire administration, will not hesitate to speak the truth and call out Democrats for smearing their opponents as Nazis, fascists and more.”
