Author Archives: Rabbi

It is impossible to underestimate the historic nature of Donald Trump’s victory, an epic personal and political triumph. For the first time since Grover Cleveland in 1892, a defeated president ran again and won a second, non-consecutive term. How rare is this? The only defeated presidential candidate even to run again was Richard Nixon in 1968 (of course, he won). No other defeated candidate has even run again; each loser has been one and done for the past century (except for Adlai Stevenson who lost twice in the 1950’s). Trump persevered.

Moreover, the United States has shifted from relative stability in its leadership to great volatility. Three recent presidents (Clinton, Bush, and Obama) each served two full terms, the first time in almost two centuries (Jefferson, Madison, Monroe) that three presidents in a row each completed three terms. The most recent two-term threesome will now be succeeded by three one-term presidents (Trump, Biden, Trump), the first time that has happened since the aforementioned Grover Cleveland (Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland). These are indeed extraordinary times.

What is even more stunning and unexpected was Trump’s popular vote victory, only the second time in thirty-six years that a Republican outpolled a Democrat in a presidential election (Bush, 2004). Contrast that with Cleveland – to whom Trump will always be linked – who won the popular vote in all three of his elections. Trump did not come close to prevailing in the popular vote in his prior elections. His victory this week is personal vindication, as well as the product of political skills that tapped into something deep in the American electorate that has effected a re-alignment of the American political system. It is quite unusual for a politician to grow in popularity the longer he is exposed to the public. How did it happen? Reasons abound.

Americans instinctively recoil from limitations on their personal autonomy, so much so that there is no national ID number in the United States such as is ubiquitous in Israel. People resent being tracked by the government, often to a ridiculous extent, another reason the Coronavirus era is recalled so unfavorably by Americans. Most states even prohibit asking voters to verify their identity before they vote. And the woke excesses that Democrats championed (such as men dominating women’s sports – grated on many Americans. But most elections are won and lost because of the economy, and inflation and rising prices sapped the real income of American workers. Reagan’s rhetorical question from 1980 – “are you better off now than you were four years ago?” – still resonates, and Trump borrowed it to great effect. Americans recalled not just the chaos of the first Trump term, most of it orchestrated by the Democratic resistance, but also its relative peace and prosperity (until the pandemic). Few took seriously the notion of Trump as insurrectionist or dictator.

Of course, Trump benefited also from the turmoil in the Democratic party, especially the forced ouster of Joe Biden which (although everyone knows why) has never been satisfactorily explained, particularly how a president too enfeebled to run for re-election is still robust enough to handle affairs of state. The ongoing coverup of Biden’s debilitation orchestrated by Kamala Harris, the Democratic establishment, and the American media exasperated many Americans, and in the process made a mockery of the Democratic primaries.

Most of all, Trump was blessed with an inept opponent, famous only for failing upwards in her previous offices. She did little to distinguish herself as a senator or vice-president and was noted primarily for checking the right identity politics boxes, and a nervous cackle employed to mask vacuity and, away from the teleprompter, her persistent, halting verbal incoherence.

To be fair, she tried to run an unprecedentedly brief campaign, never having run a really contested campaign before. That she did so well owes more to Trump’s, shall we say, provocative personality. A different Democrat might have defeated Trump handily, although he or she would still be saddled by the immoderation of the Democratic party and the unpopular policies it pursued while in power. A different Republican would have trounced Harris even more soundly as even Trump routed her.

American Jews are stuck in a time warp and victims of their ideological and spiritual confusion. They remain wedded to a Democratic party that no longer represents anything that even remotely resembles Jewish values. Abortion on demand? Identity politics? Judging individuals not as individuals, and not on the content of their character, but solely based on their skin color and ethnic attachment? Moral relativism? Antagonism towards tradition? Schizophrenia towards Israel – assistance and hostility intermingled? Support for Israel – and our enemies?

The good news is there was a sizable increase in the Jewish vote for Trump, although it will not be reflected in the exit polls. I sense that many liberal Jews voted for Trump. Discomfited by the Harris’ flirtation and sympathy with our enemies, they voted for Trump but then could not bring themselves to admit to a pollster – or even to themselves. Obviously, the Orthodox vote for Trump was overwhelming, which bolstered his popular vote total. In Jewish districts in Brooklyn, Rockland County, NY, and New Jersey, the Trump tally was enormous. Once again, those Jews closest to tradition voted in ways that best reflect their deepest Jewish values.

It was wise that PM Netanyahu rushed to congratulate Trump, after being falsely accused of being among the first to congratulate Biden in 2020. (In fact, Netanyahu delayed so long that he was criticized in Israel for that tardiness.) Israelis are jubilant at the Trump triumph, which should be tempered by the realization that Trump was not elected prime minister of Israel but president of the United States. The interests of our two countries generally overlap but they also occasionally diverge and they will as well in the future. Trump naysayers will then (nay)say “We told you so!” but all that means is that every leader should act in his own country’s interests. And much depends on who is appointed to senior positions in the new administration. Floated names like Mike Pompeo, Marco Rubio, David Friedman, and others should gratify Jews and supporters of Israel, peace, freedom, and world stability.

Nevertheless, the immediate shift in tone was palpable. Biden’s support for Israel was always “ironclad” and “unshakeable,” in his words, but also heavily contingent on Israel acting in a way that frustrated our war objectives. For all the assistance lavished on Israel in the last year, Iran profited far more from its association with Biden, to our great detriment. Neither Biden or Harris ever saw the destruction of Hamas as warranted or necessary. They have gone to great lengths (under the guise of concern for “civilians”) to ensure Hamas’ survival to fight another day and they remain enthralled by the two-state delusion in a way that has become pathological.

Biden can do damage to Israel in the coming months, as did his patron Obama. In the waning days of the Obama administration in 2016, Obama pushed through a UN Security Council resolution declaring Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria illegal. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Biden will seek another UNSC resolution (as did Obama, thwarted only by Vladimir Putin) demanding the creation of a Palestinian state. By contrast, the Trump administration went on record as declaring the settlements “not inconsistent with international law” and Trump himself has stated his opposition to the two-state delusion.

If past is prologue, we might have some difficult months ahead, as Biden does have a vindictive side, and he will leave office bitter and dejected, having essentially been overthrown by his own party with his legacy in tatters.

Trump prizes and rewards loyalty. He should remember how most faithful Jews backed him and how Israelis appreciate him, his first term, and his achievements in office. Not least, his victory is a repudiation of the Democratic party’s slide towards neutrality in the Middle East, neutrality defined as seeing both sides – Israel’s side, and the side of those who want to exterminate us. That type of neutrality should be perceived as hostility to Israel. If Harris had prevailed, then Jew hatred, already mainstreamed in much of American society and among Democrats, would have been incentivized.

We can only hope for the lessening of the rancor in American politics, which has unfortunately become a staple of democracies (in Israel, too). That Trump should be consistently and casually referred to as “Hitler” and his supporters as “Nazis,” and his recent rally at Madison Square of reminiscent of the Bund rally in 1939, is beyond the pale. Shame on the ADL, which has functioned for years as a constituent of the Democrats, for remaining silent. In the past the ADL hastened to denounce anyone who even mentioned Hitler or Nazis in any context with which it disapproved, decrying the “abuse of the Holocaust on the memory of the victims.” A person who, outside the confines of a baseball stadium, even uttered the syllable “Hit…”  would be immediately lambasted by the ADL. The ADL’s obsession with locating Jew hatred on only one side of the political spectrum, and its silence here, in service of the Democrats, are embarrassing, and harms Jews. They too, and this too, shall pass.

Donald Trump’s physical survival is near miraculous and his political resurrection is astonishing. It is an opportunity to do important things.

In the best circumstances, the Trump triumph is good for America, good for the Jews, and good for Israel. It brings ultimate victory over our enemies closer, if we have the psychological and political stamina to see it through. Iran and its proxies should be fearful – not that America will attack (it won’t) but that President Trump will provide us with the tools and support to prevail and perhaps even bring about regime change. With the help of the Almighty, there can be a sea change in the Middle East – a strong Israel, more Jewish and confident, with a military and civilian presence in lands conquered from our enemies who invaded us, and at peace with an Arab world mostly deradicalized and defanged.

And we can pray that this should be a harbinger of ultimate redemption, speedily and in our days.

(First published at Israelnationalnews.com)

The challenge: How could Democrats replace a feeble Joe Biden who refused to step aside with a younger identity-politics driven candidate, without subjecting that candidate to the voters?

The solution: The only way for Democratic bigwigs to get Biden to quit was to expose his frailty to himself and the public. This was accomplished in a remarkably shrewd way by playing to Biden’s vanity and have him debate Donald Trump in June. Such an early presidential debate – even before the nominating conventions – was unprecedented! They knew he would fail, and then intense pressure could be applied coercing him to step down, too late for primaries and right on time to install their candidate of choice. And Trump fell for it – there was no need for him to agree – owing to his own narcissism issues.

It was a brilliant strategy, marred only by three realities: that almost the entire Democrat establishment had collectively lied to the American people for years about Biden’s incapacity (including Kamala Harris); that Harris had been perceived by that same establishment as a mediocrity who could not win or govern; and the doubt that Dems could get away with not explaining to the American people why Biden changed his mind so abruptly and how, if he is too incapacitated to run for re-election, he is still vigorous and lucid enough to govern.

These three statements are all true and on each score the Dems have escaped accountability. Chalk that up to a compliant media and a willfully blind public. How was it that Joe Biden swore that only a direct message from God would cause him to drop out – and then just days later he’s passing the torch to a new generation? Who was it that kneecapped him with the torch? Americans would surely know by now if they weren’t either so incredibly docile or politically ossified into two rigid camps in which each camper just votes for his or her team.

Harris is an unserious individual being adroitly handled by serious people who want to win at all costs. They know exactly how to market her, how to fool a gullible population, and how to obscure her vulnerabilities, which primarily means hiding her. She has made a career of failing upwards, the beneficiary of social promotions with an undistinguished record in every office she has held and placed in critical positions by powerful male patrons. The disappearing trick can work not only because the American voting public is easily manipulated but also because of the weaknesses of her opponent.

Donald Trump is in an uphill battle. He should not be but he is, owing to the quirks, so to speak, of his personality. Even supporters (like me) should accept the reality that Trump, to my mind, was a good president, but he is a weak candidate, even a horrible candidate. The fact is that campaigning and governing are two different skill sets. Few people possess even one of them, much less both.

There are visible problems with Trump as campaigner. His rallies have become boring, although there has recently been a slight uptick in enthusiasm. He repeats the same lines, jokes, insults, clichés, and boasts. Perceptive viewers see the empty seats at his rallies and the disengaged audiences. But worse than that, the substance of his remarks is always designed to win the laughter, applause, and approval of his audience, but never to reach beyond that audience to other voters. Like Harris, he speaks in ambiguities, endlessly repeating the same hyperbolic clichés – “the worst ever… the best ever…a disaster…never would have happened…we will have to see…, etc.”  It is as if he sees his primary function to be entertainer rather than leader, such that he would rather get laughs than votes. It is not just that Trump is undisciplined; it is that he thinks discipline itself is a detriment to his brand.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that there are no second acts in American lives. In the last century, only one man has lost a presidential election and then won on another attempt (Richard Nixon was defeated in 1960 and prevailed in 1968). It is well known that only one man has won two non-consecutive terms to the presidency – Grover Cleveland, who won in 1884, lost in 1888, and then won again in 1892. What is less pondered is that Cleveland won the popular vote in all three elections against his opponents. Trump, by contrast, has lost the popular vote in his two elections and, by all accounts, stands to lose the popular vote a third time as well. Worse, Republicans have won the popular vote for the presidency only once in the last 32 years, the George W. Bush second term victory in 2004.

That is not a good formula for electoral success because it means that the Republican message is not permeating or persuading the electorate. True, Democrats get to run up the popular vote margin in such heavily blue states like California and elections are won by majorities in the electoral college. Nevertheless, it should be exceedingly rare to lose the popular vote and win the electoral college majority. It is not healthy for democracy for that to be the norm. That Republicans are behind the popular vote eight ball in every election is worrisome. The path to victory requires threading the needle and winning just the right number of votes in several swing states by, as has become the pattern, extremely slender electoral majorities.

That too is a sign of the deep polarization in American politics that will be exacerbated by this year’s election outcome, whatever it is.

Kamala Harris is even more inept, arguably a worse campaigner except when reading a teleprompter, and flirts with incoherence every time she opens her mouth without a script in front of her. But with Harris peculiarly but wisely under wraps, the Democrats have a far better approach. She can be controlled; Trump cannot. To illustrate the problem, Harris’ nomination speech was 37 minutes long, not particularly illuminating, or inspirational, but mercifully brief. By contrast, Trump’s nomination speech was a good 37-minute speech that he delivered over a rambling 97 minutes. It was replete with half thoughts, run-on sentences, and boasts, and it was designed to appeal to no one except those already in his camp. But given the built-in Republican deficit in the popular vote, Trump is far less capable of squandering or turning off independent voters then is Harris. Someone should realize that before it’s too late.

The debate is unlikely to change any minds. An unprepared Trump simply repeated clichés and embellishments, was reticent on details, and could have challenged Harris on multiple issues but was easily sidetracked. His best moment came at the end – “why haven’t you done this already?” – but that is a point he should have pounded repeatedly. Harris dabbled in jumbled words in search of a cogent thought but adroitly – with the moderators’ assistance – dodged every question that attempted to pierce her shell and pin her down on past or present policy. Harris will return to her protective casing and Trump will be left to wonder why his message is not resonating. It is because his message is generally meandering, focused on what was, as devoid of substance as are Harris’ word salads, and speaks only to his base.

The only escape from this predicament is for Trump to expand his base and cut into the traditional Democratic voting blocks. That is easier said than done. With each election cycle, the hope builds that Republicans will gain more black votes and Hispanic votes and Jewish votes and urban votes, and yet it really never materializes. It could, and it should, but it does not. American politics is exceedingly tribal; most people vote for their team regardless of what their team represents or proposes. Jews especially will find every reason – and they are not beyond fabricating reasons or denying the reality that is right in front of them – to vote for the Democrats. For most American Jews, voting for the Democrats is akin to a religious obligation, and the only such religious devotion that they take seriously and perform enthusiastically. Israelis especially should internalize that American Jews’ attachment to Israel is waning – owing primarily to the impact of intermarriage and assimilation – and the Middle East situation ranks very low on the American Jewish list of electoral priorities, far behind abortion and the American economy.

The race remains unpredictable because every poll is within the margin of error and any victory will be narrow. Trump won in 2016 because of an electoral margin of about 70,000 votes in three states and lost in 2020 by a margin of around 42,000 votes in three states. That is volatility.

It is a shame that Trump is such a poor campaigner and digressive debater because he would again be a fine president, even with the uproar his triumph will cause in a hopelessly polarized society. It is a choice between the chaos that follows Trump but whose policies are mostly sound, and the chaos symbolized by the US retreat from Afghanistan, or on the southern border, or on the streets of American cities where the aggrieved can riot without consequence and Jews can be attacked without redress. Choose your chaos.

The United States of America needs strong leadership as does the world. Israel needs an American president whose support is not conditional, who doesn’t mouth supportive platitudes in public while wielding the hammer in private, an American president who prefers an Israeli victory instead of the survival of Hamas and is willing to do what is necessary to achieve it, an American president who will help ensure that Iran does not become a nuclear power rather than one who subsidizes Iran’s nuclear program and other global, terrorist mischief.

One dramatic difference between the two parties is that Trump has ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state as impossible at this time in history, whereas Democrats have made it their passion project regardless of its effect on Israel. Biden and Harris have never called for the defeat of Hamas, surely an American and Israeli interest, only for a cease fire which, by definition, will allow Hamas to survive to murder, maraud, and molest another day. Anyone who feels that Trump is not the better candidate for world stability, for a stronger America, and for a more secure Israel is hopelessly partisan and beyond reason.

That being said, would that Israel always act in a way that furthers our interests and advances our strategic goals rather than looking over our shoulder at our patron. When American support for Israel declines – as it invariably will given the demographics of American society – we will be compelled to do that anyway. Why not do it now – and show the free and sane world what leadership is?

It is a good time of year to purchase my “Repentance for Life” (Kodesh Press, 2023). It is available at their website or here or at fine stores everywhere. Enjoy!