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<\/a><\/p>\nPresident Donald Trump mimics firing a gun during a news conference in the White House briefing room about the war in Iran on Monday, April 6, 2026. (Tom Williams\/CQ Roll Call)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,\u201d wrote Trump in a post on Truth Social. \u201cI don\u2019t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS?\u201d<\/p>\n
The president\u2019s comments came hours before his 8 p.m. deadline for Iran on Tuesday to reach a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, and were met by swift condemnation by a group of Senate Democrats, including Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe speak today with one voice and one purpose: to condemn President Trump\u2019s threat to extinguish an entire civilization,\u201d Schumer wrote in a joint statement. \u201cThis is not strength. Intentionally destroying the power, water or basic infrastructure upon which tens of millions of civilians depend to punish the very civilians who suffer at the hands of the Iranian regime would constitute a war crime, a betrayal of the values this nation was founded on and a moral failure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Less than two hours before the 8 p.m. deadline, Trump announced that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran proposed by Pakistan, writing in a post on Truth Social, \u201cThis will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate,\u201d Trump wrote. \u201cAlmost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, condemned the president\u2019s remarks, saying in a statement that there were \u201csimply no words to describe the danger of a U.S. president openly threatening to erase an entire civilization.\u201d She alluded to Jews\u2019 history of facing genocidal leaders in her comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cMake no mistake: the president\u2019s threats are deeply reprehensible to us as Jews and as Americans, and must be condemned by all leaders \u2013 regardless of their stance on the war with Iran,\u201d Spitalnick said. \u201cWe know what it means when leaders call for communities and populations to be wiped out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spitalnick was not the only Jewish leader to weigh in. Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the liberal pro-Israel lobby J Street, said in a statement that the group was \u201cappalled by President Trump\u2019s heinous remarks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis language \u2013 a threat to carry out war crimes \u2013 is a searing violation of Jewish and American values, certainly will not lead to the de-escalation we desperately need and is a terrifying example of the senseless violence that has characterized Trump\u2019s leadership,\u201d Ben-Ami said, calling on Congress and the Cabinet to \u201cdo everything in their power to restrain and remove him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other progressive Jewish groups and leaders accused Trump of promoting genocide, including Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, which wrote in a post on Instagram, \u201cThis is not strength. This is not safety. This is a call for genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Timothy Snyder, a historian of the Holocaust, also leveled the accusation against the president in a Substack post published on Tuesday titled \u201cThe president speaks genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo bomb a bridge or a dam or a power plant or a desalinization facility, very likely a war crime in any event, could very well have a different legal significance, a genocidal one, if it takes place after the expression of genocidal intent by the commander and head of state,\u201d Snyder wrote.<\/p>\n
For some Jews, the president\u2019s looming deadline for Iran carried added significance as it came during the final days of Passover \u2014 and as Iran continued to barrage Israel with missiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, I pray that the Pharaohs who insist on our demise recognize the harm that they may bring on themselves,\u201d Rabbi Arie Hasit, associate dean of the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Israel, wrote on Facebook. \u201cThat they recognize that Iran can put aside its insistence that Israel must be destroyed and that they can make the necessary steps to end this war.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I pray that if they are overcome by Pharaoh, that no leader try to play the part of God,\u201d Hasit continued. \u201cThat in the name of my future, we do not wipe out any civilization. That we understand that even the worst of enemies does not justify the use of the fiercest of our power.\u201d<\/p>\n