California synagogue shooting: Donald Trump calls for ‘all-out’ fight against anti-Semitism at White House prayer service

Washington: US president Donald Trump called on Thursday for an all-out fight against anti-Semitism as he hosted a rabbi shot in a deadly weekend gun rampage at a California synagogue. [caption id=“attachment_5466761” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of US president Donald Trump. Reuters[/caption] Yisroel Goldstein was among four worshipers hit — one fatally — as a gunman burst into a service and opened fire in the town of Poway, near San Diego, on Saturday. “We will fight with all our strength and everything that we have in our bodies to defeat anti-Semitism,” Trump told a national prayer service at the White House. Addressing the gathering, Goldstein, who lost an index finger in in the assault at the Chabad of Poway synagogue, said his “life has changed forever.” “I should have been dead by now,” said the 57-year-old. “I was in the line of fire, bullets flying all the way.” A 19-year-old teen, John Earnest, has pleaded not guilty to murder and hate crimes charges over the attack. The Poway shooting came exactly six months after a white supremacist shot dead 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — the worst attack against Jewish people in the modern history of the United States. Trump used the prayer service to speak out against “evil and hate-filled” attacks that have targeted religious communities around the world in recent months, from New Zealand to Sri Lanka, to Pittsburgh. “As we unite on this day of prayer, we renew our resolve to protect communities of faith and ensure that all people and all of our people can live, pray and worship in peace,” Trump said.