Understanding the Dramatic Jewish Shift Towards President Trump and the Republican Party
Rabbi Moshe B. Parnes
The Jewish vote is, for the first time since Reagan beat Carter 44 years ago, likely to be close. Considering that Hillary Clinton garnered over 70% of the Jewish vote in 2016, and Trump less than one-fourth, this is a tectonic shift in Jewish allegiance away from Democrats. But it’s not hard to understand why even Jews with leftist leanings are reevaluating their loyalties this year.
As a community rabbi, director of a popular Jewish study center that attracts Jews from all backgrounds, and an officer of the largest rabbinic public policy organization in America, I am very well acquainted with local and national Jewish thought. But honestly, no expertise is needed: wherever Jews gather to chat, whether in synagogues, kosher supermarket aisles, community centers and on social media, we all hear the same conversations. Where once Jews would be embarrassed to admit they planned to vote for a Republican, today the opposite is true.
Those Jews whose priorities are progressive, or who consider Trump a dictator in waiting, will remain Harris voters. Many others are reconsidering. Amongst Orthodox Jews, the shift is nearly universal. It is driven by the fear Jews have for their personal safety and their concern for the continued viability of Israel and their dismay at the the credence Biden and Harris give to antisemitic tropes, that embolden our enemies.
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https://townhall.com/columnists/rabbimoshebparnes/2024/10/15/understanding-the-dramatic-jewish-shift-towards-president-trump-and-the-republican-party-n2646223
