The United States may review its ties with countries it deems as being anti-Israel after what a U.S. envoy said on Sunday was a shift in policy toward equating anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.<\/span><\/p>\n U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a March speech that anti-Zionism – opposition to Israel\u2019s existence as a homeland for the Jewish people – was a form of anti-Semitism, or hostility toward Jews, that was on the rise worldwide and that Washington would \u201cfight it relentlessly\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n The State Department\u2019s special envoy for monitoring and combating anti-Semitism, Elan Carr, said this U.S. position could spell reviews of ties with foreign governments or leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe United States is willing to review its relationship with any country, and certainly anti-Semitism on the part of a country with whom we have relations is a deep concern,\u201d he told Reuters during a visit to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI will be raising that issue in bilateral meetings that I am undertaking all over the world,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is something we are going to have frank and candid conversations about – behind closed doors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Carr declined to cite specific countries or leaders, or to elaborate on what actions the Trump administration might take.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI obviously can\u2019t comment on diplomatic tools that we might bring to bear,\u201d he said. \u201cEach country is a different diplomatic challenge, a different situation, number one. And number two, if I started disclosing what we might do it would be less effective.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Some U.S. political analysts say that President Donald Trump and other Republicans hope support for Israel will attract Jewish voters, including those disaffected by pro-Palestinian voices within progressive Democratic Party circles.<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, critics have credited Trump\u2019s confrontational, nationalistic rhetoric with encouraging right-wing extremists and feeding a surge in activity by American hate groups. The administration has flatly rejected that charge.<\/span><\/p>\n Carr said the administration\u2019s equating of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism \u201ccertainly breaks new ground … by making clear that something that a lot of us who are involved in the Jewish world and a lot of us who are proponents of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship have known for quite some time, and that is that one of the chief flavors of anti-Semitism in the world today is the flavor that conceals itself under anti-Zionism\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n