Saying “they” vs “we” would make me think he means a group he isn’t a part of. Now what that group is could be debated, could even be as broad as white people or foreigners or friends/people close to you. Hard to know without context, but the fake friends hashtag does somewhat allude to being back stabbed by people close to you (though one could apply the term friends to any group too).
I think his excuse makes sense, but I also understand how people could easily jump to assuming Jews (I’ll admit that would be my first gut reaction)