What do the people of Israel think about President-elect Trump?
Tensions during the election and campaign were not only thick in the United States but around the world as well, especially here in Israel.
By DAVID WEISSMANDonald Trump speaks at his election night rally in Manhattan(photo credit: REUTERS)
The United States of America has a new president, and his name is Donald John Trump.Tensions during the election and campaign were not only thick in the United States but around the world as well, especially here in Israel.The exit polls in Israel showed Donald Trump won by a decent margin of 65 points. So how are Israelis reacting to the US election results? From my own observations, it seems that the majority of Israelis are in favor of a Trump victory, why because of an excellent ground campaign in the Holy Land.I was part of the campaign team led by Marc Zell and the campaign team out of the State of Florida, which was my last home of record before I made aliya. I was grateful that the campaign team in Florida sent me a Trump hat and shirt, which I wore throughout the general election.The responses I received while wearing the Trump gear was 95 percent positive, even after the election.Besides having “Trump awareness” in Israel, the campaign team talked to people about the elections and encouraged them to vote.Zell among others held a Jerusalem Forever program. The program was originally intended as a response to UNESCO’s terrible decision to not recognize any Jewish ties to Jerusalem, the Western Wall and even the Temple Mount. It ended up turning into a Trump rally with very pro-Israel remarks from Trump himself and his running mate, Mike Pence. There were many Trump hats and shirts at this event, and pro-Trump comments from speakers at the rally caused lots of cheers.There has never been a pro-Israel candidate quite like Trump, which has won him the votes, loyalty and trust of the Israeli people, local and American olim.When I wore the Trump hat and shirt, I was able to get a feel from Israelis as to how they felt about Trump, including after the election. Only a few people gave me dirty looks and even fewer said they disapproved of Trump – but mostly everyone else yelled “TRUMP!” with a victorious cheer and a fist in the air. Many smiled and said how much they liked Trump and his policies for America as well as Israel. There were also prayer meetings for Trump during the election, even at the Kotel. On social media, like the non-political group Secret Jerusalem, whenever someone posted about Trump or anything election related the debate got heated, but the majority of the people posting were for Trump.Without a doubt, in all kinds of venues, whether social media or in person, whether olim or local, the majority of Israelis are happy with a Donald Trump presidency.