Former U.S. President Donald Trump received an award from the Israel Heritage Foundation on Monday in appreciation of his efforts to forge normalization agreements between the Jewish state and four Arab nations under the guise of the Abraham Accords.
The award—a menorah—was presented to the former president at Mar-a-Lago by IHF executive director Rabbi David Katz, executive vice president Joseph Frager, executive president Stephen Soloway, executive chairman Sam Nahmias, Lewis Topper and Harley Lippman.
“This menorah, which represents the eternal light of the world, is presented to President Donald J. Trump in honor and celebration of doing what no other man has ever done and that is to make peace between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan in the extraordinary Abraham Accords,” reads a plaque on the menorah’s base.
According to Rabbi Katz, President Trump “was very happy to see everybody; he was in a very good mood.”
“The president was very excited to see us. He remembered me from July, when we gave him the crown of Jerusalem for moving the [U.S.] embassy to Jerusalem,” Katz told Israel National News.
The rabbi said that Trump was “very worried about the situation in Israel. He is very much in favor of Israel having to win the war, destroy Hamas. We spoke a little about antisemitism as well.”
In addition to the Abraham Accords, Trump’s achievements on Israel include moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to the country’s capital; recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; and recognizing Israeli sovereignty over communities in Judea and Samaria.
A poll of registered New York voters suggests that a majority of Jews in the state intend to vote for Trump in November. New York Jews now favor Trump over U.S. President Joe Biden 53% to 44%, according to the Siena College poll released last week.
Sam Markstein, national political director at the Republican Jewish Coalition, has said the poll reflects a shift among Jewish voters.
“Jewish voters moving towards the GOP is a clear trend, long in the making,” Markstein said, citing Lee Zeldin’s comparative success attracting Jewish votes in the 2022 New York gubernatorial election.
