Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Rabbi Riskin: Trump's victory is a victory for the Jewish people

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat and head of and head of the Ohr Torah Stone institutions, said in an interview with Channel 7 that he believes Trump's victory is auspicious both for the world and for the State of Israel.

“This is a victory for the ‘common American,’” he said. “The US does not like hypocrisy and is very much in favor of equality and democracy.” “Clinton,” he said, “is the opposite of that, and there was a lot of talk about her corruption and the large sums of money she took from special interests, and Trump talked about all this openly.”

Regarding the failure of the polls, Rabbi Riskin said that, “because Trump seemed coarse and crude, people were reluctant to publicly say that they supported him. But people felt that he spoke the truth. American Jews also voted for Trump, but did not publicize it because of the demonization of Trump.”

According to Riskin, the American people could also not forgive those who made a deal with dictators. “America’s founders wanted the US to be a supporter of democracy and to oppose tyrants. When he designed America’s seal Thomas Jefferson included the motto ‘ Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.’ The truth is that President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary didn’t hear this message, especially when they made the agreement with Iran.”

“Iran is Israel’s biggest enemy today threatening Israel’s existence, and when he made the deal with them, he allowed them to continue to have nuclear power, even while they were shouting ‘death to Israel and death to America.'”

Rabbi Riskin is very hopeful about the impact of the elections on Israel. “Obama was the first American president who did not recognize the large Jewish 'settlements' that have been built here. Previous presidents had recognized these communities as important for Israel’s security.” “Trump speaks very differently than Obama about Israel and our Prime Minister, and supports the need to transfer the US embassy here to Jerusalem, so I have a lot of hope.”