Over Charlottesville response, Rabbis cancel annual call with Trump

Top rabbis have denied holding an annual conference call with U.S. President Donald Trump due to his response to the violence at a Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist rally.

The Hill reported that "the Rabbis from four main Jewish organizations said on Wednesday that they won't hold the annual call with the president to mark the upcoming Jewish holidays because they found his reaction to Charlottesville was "lacking in moral leadership and empathy."

"We have concluded that President Trump's statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year," The Hill quoted the rabbis' statement as saying.

"The President's words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia," they wrote.

"Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels".

The rabbis representing groups like the Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Rabbinical Assembly said that they pray president Trump "will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred."

The Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism also signed on to the statement, The Hill reported.

Trump is facing major backlash after he blamed "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville.

One person was killed and many others injured while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on August 12 when a car was driven into counter protesters at the rally. Shortly thereafter, Trump said there were many sides to what happened at the event and that there were good people on both sides. His comments were almost universally condemned.

"What about the alt-left that came charging at the - as you say, the alt-right?" Trump said in response to the violence.

"Do they have any semblance of guilt? What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day.