War Secretary Pete Hegseth laughed off accusations of antisemitism leveled by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), who objected to his labeling of opponents as “Pharisees.”
During Hegseth’s testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Rosen pressed him on his use of the term “Pharisee” as an insult, a word referring to the Second Temple era Jewish establishment sect best known for their opposition to Jesus Christ.
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“You keep doubling down on this phrase, Mr. Secretary,” she said, drawing audible laughter from Hegseth. “You compare journalists, you compare us, you compare so many to Pharisees. Pharisees, it’s a problematic and historically weaponized term that cast Jewish communities as hypocritical or morally corrupt. You doubled down again and said it. Words matter. Words matter. What you choose to say, how we choose to say it. How do you justify using this language?”
“Senator, I feel like it’s a pretty accurate term for folks who don’t see the plank in their own eye and always want to see what’s wrong with an operation, as opposed to the historic success of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” Hegseth responded, alluding to another Biblical reference. “So I stand by it.”
Rosen, who is Jewish, expressed anger over his answer, calling him an antisemite in the process.
“You stand by calling people Pharisees, sir,” she said. “I cannot. I cannot stand for that. That is wrong. It is not respectful to people. And I expect anyone who is in leadership in our country to be respectful and use respectful terms and not be an antisemite.”
The Pharisees were distinguished by their stress on upholding tradition and adhering to Jewish law during the Second Temple period. Their beliefs clashed with those of Jesus, who frequently accused them of hypocrisy and of sacrificing inward piety for the sake of outward appearance. According to the Christian Gospels, their feud culminated in the Pharisees turning Christ over to the Roman authorities for crucifixion, securing their perception as a popular villain in Western culture.
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Most modern Jews have a different perception of the Pharisees, viewing them as positive upholders of Jewish tradition.
The Christian conception of the Pharisees is so ingrained in Western culture that they’ve become an adjective, pharisaical, defined by Merriam-Webster as “marked by hypocritical censorious self-righteousness.” The term is usually applied to denote moral shortcomings, rather than a religious insult against Jews.
