TEL AVIV – As President Donald Trump embarked on the next stop of his overseas trip, Jewish-American organizations from the right and left hailed his visit to Israel as a resounding success.
“We applaud President Trump’s historic declaration of support for Israel, for her security and for her right to exist as the free and sovereign nation of the Jewish people in their ancient homeland,” the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) said in a statement.
The statement continued, “Trump’s words stood in stark contrast from the previous American administration’s policies. The Obama administration gave us eight years of ‘daylight’ between the U.S. and Israel, a dangerous nuclear deal with Iran and a set of policies that allowed terrorist groups to grow and thrive across the region. That era is over.”
“As the president noted, a deal can be reached with determination and compromise, and it will rest upon a foundation of security for Israelis – which requires that Palestinian incitement be seriously addressed – and dignity and self-determination for Palestinians,” the IPF said.
“This is a unique moment to take advantage of a regional alignment that will integrate Israel into the broader Middle East, should it successfully resolve the Palestinian issue, and all parties should seize the opportunities that arise,” the IPF continued.
Washington-based Israel lobby AIPAC wrote, “We appreciate that the president went to the Jewish state as part of his first foreign trip in office — and he is the first sitting president to go to the Western Wall, near Judaism’s holiest site. This visit underscores the unwavering strength of the US-Israel relationship and the Jewish state’s vital importance as America’s strategic partner in a volatile region,” AIPAC said.
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations praised Trump’s condemnation of the PA’s continued incitement to terror.
The organization’s Chairman Stephen M. Greenberg and Executive Vice Chairman Malcolm Hoenlein said, “In the president’s remarks during his meeting with President Abbas in Bethlehem earlier in the day, he pointedly observed that, ‘Peace can never take root in an environment where violence is tolerated, funded or rewarded.’ Until the Palestinian Authority ends its loathsome policy of financial incentives for perpetrators of terror attacks against Israelis, President Abbas’ readiness cannot be taken seriously by the Israeli people.”
Hoenlein added, “The president unambiguously acknowledged the ‘ancient and eternal’ connection of the Jewish people to Israel.”
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) said it “saluted President Trump for his steadfast support of the U.S.-Israel relationship, Israeli security and its age-old quest for peace, the eternal link between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, and firm commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“President Trump has demonstrated that the U.S.-Israel bond, based on shared democratic values, remains unshakable and is central to his world view,” said AJC CEO David Harris.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also commended Trump. “He was clearly moved by his visit to Jerusalem and its holy sites. In particular, his clear acknowledgement of the Jewish people’s ties to Jerusalem was significant in light of recent anti-Israel UNESCO resolutions. His recitation of the thousands of years of Jewish connection to and presence in the land of Israel was an important rebuke against anti-Israel forces and those who seek to deny that unalterable connection,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
“The president’s remarks at Yad Vashem were an important statement about his appreciation for the horrors suffered by the Jewish people during the Holocaust and the need to remain vigilant in the face of anti-Semitism today,” added Greenblatt.