Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

ZOA to honor Trump, calling him ‘best friend Israel ever had in the White House’

Additionally, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will receive the organization’s Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Defender of Israel Award.

U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017. Credit: GOP.
U.S. President Donald Trump visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017. Credit: GOP.

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Friday announced that it will honor former President Donald Trump with its Theodor Herzl Medallion.

Trump will receive the honor, which ZOA said it “rarely gives,” at the organization’s national award dinner in New York City on Nov. 13.

ZOA stated in an email that it is honoring Trump “for being the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.” It listed a number of items in the context of Trump’s pro-Israel and pro-Jewish record, including brokering the Abraham Accords, relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, an executive order strengthening Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, pulling the U.S. out of the Iran deal, halting U.S. funding of the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, recognizing the legality of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, becoming the first U.S. president to pray at the Western Wall, and more.

At the same event, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will receive ZOA’s Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Defender of Israel Award. Miriam Adelson will present both Trump and McCarthy’s the awards.

“Not everyone can go to a rally,” Aaron Herman, who leads the nonprofit IMPACT, told JNS. “Not everyone can go out in the streets, but they can go from their couch.”
The diplomatic move comes as Israel presses for Hezbollah’s disarmament.
The Israeli defense chief vowed strikes on critical infrastructure, noting economic troubles could push Tehran into desperate measures after repeated defeats.
Europe “cannot allow products from illegal settlements in the West Bank to illegally enter the territory of the European Union,” said Jean-Noel Barrot.