In a 2016 interview with Billy Penn, I told the reporter that I would be voting for then Republican candidate Donald J. Trump for president because I wanted a president who would grow our economy by reducing government regulations and bringing home American jobs that were shipped overseas. The president promised he would do that. And he delivered.
The president promised he would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish community in America and around the world. The president promised that he would improve our damaged relationship with Israel and withdraw from the disastrous Obama-Biden negotiated JCPOA deal with Iran. Again, the president promised. And he delivered.
President Trump has done what many U.S. presidents promised to do but never did.
He was the one who finally moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and he was the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Kotel. Another campaign promise that he delivered on.
In addition to the campaign promises that he made and delivered on, he has taken other actions that further illustrate his unwavering commitment to the Jewish community.
President Trump recognized Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights.
He was the one who signed the bi-partisan Taylor Force Act and cut off all U.S. foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority.
President Trump was the one who signed an Executive Order titled “Combatting Anti-Semitism” to address the rise of attacks against Jewish students on college campuses by applying Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect Jews in America. This was a bold decision by the president.
It was under President Trump that a rarely discussed glass ceiling was shattered when he named an Orthodox Jewish woman, Anne Neuberger, as the Head of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) Cybersecurity unit. She now serves as the Deputy National Manager of the NSA.
Finally, it was President Trump who brought the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to Washington D.C. to sign the Abraham Accords, a document effectively normalizing relationships between Israel and these two Arab nations. President Trump has publicly stated that there are at least five more Arab countries who will also be normalizing their relations with Israel. He took a major step forward for peace between Jews and Arabs around the world – and without any wars or placing American soldiers in harm’s way.
Thus far I've listed the president’s many accomplishments in office, but let’s also take a step backwards to look at what he did for the Jewish people before being elected to become the 45th president of the United States of America.
President Trump fostered a strong and long-standing relationship with the Jewish community. Many Jewish Americans don’t know this. They make baseless claims that President Trump is anti-Semitic – false accusations not based in truth or reality.
In 1983, then citizen Donald Trump was awarded the prestigious “Tree of Life” award from the Jewish National Fund. In 2004, then citizen Donald Trump was the Grand Marshall of the “Salute to Israel Parade,” the nation’s largest Pro-Israel parade. As CEO of the Trump Organization, he surrounded himself with Jewish executives and advisors.
Donald Trump has stood with the Jewish community throughout his entire life and has now used his platform as president to advance a long overdue support of the Jewish community.
The president has stood with us his entire life, but the majority of Jews in America are not standing with him. I am calling on the Jewish community in America to take a non-emotional and objective look at what President Trump has done for our community in America, Israel, and around the world. President Trump has earned four more years in the White House.
I hope that you will join me in supporting President Trump on November 3rd. Thank you President Trump for your unwavering support of the Jewish community.
Bryan E. Leib is a Jewish Voices for Trump Coalition Member and he is a former U.S. Congressional Candidate in 2018 for Philadelphia, PA. He is the Chairman of HaShevet and he has served on the boards of the National Museum of American Jewish History, United Way, Jewish National Fund, Jewish Business Network and the Camden Youth Soccer Club.
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