Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett Wednesday defended President Donald Trump as a "great friend" to Israel and to Jews, and denied claims made by protesters over his arrival in Pittsburgh in the wake of the mass murder at the Tree of Life Synagogue.
"The president moved the embassy to Jerusalem and is fighting Israel's biggest enemy, the terrible regime in Iran, and so the president is no anti-Semite," Bennett told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"I think that we have to not turn this into a partisan issue."
Bennett traveled to Pittsburgh to speak with community leaders about how to face the current surge of anti-Semitic violence, and commented that there has been a rise along with social media, as it allows anti-Semites to connect easier than they could in the past.
He said he does not, though, think Trump's decision to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem has played a role in last Saturday's shooting deaths.
"That was the right thing to do and the state of Israel wall-to-wall thanks President Trump for that courageous move," said Bennett. "I'm not in the business of giving excuses for anti-Semites and murderers. This guy clearly hated Jews. We should never ask ourselves are we to be blamed for anti-Semitism?"
He added that he thinks blaming Trump for the shootings is "unfair" and "flatly wrong."
"President Trump is a great friend of Israel, of the Jewish state," he said. "His family is Jewish. He came out, I guess, with the most powerful words I can recall. He said that anyone who is out to destroy the Jewish nation, he will destroy them. Iran is out trying to murder Jews across the world and foment terrorism. With Donald Trump we feel he has our back."