Jerusalem Ultra-Orthodox Deputy Mayor Casts Vote for Donald Trump in Ohio
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
JERUSALEM — Jerusalem’s deputy mayor Yitzhak Pindrus, a member of the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party, is a registered voter in Ohio and cast his ballot for Donald Trump.
Pindrus told the B’Charedi Charedim news website that he decided to vote in this presidential election because Ohio is a swing state and it increased the importance of his vote.
He told the haredi site that his mother helped him with the technical issues of registering and filling out the forms.
“The rabbinic leadership of the haredi world has instructed us to get involved in politics globally,” he said, adding “Agudath Israel of America has called on Orthodox Jews to exercise their power at the ballot box and I accepted the call.”
He called the lifting of the construction freeze on Jerusalem the “biggest motivator” for voting for Trump, saying he believes that “there is a greater chance for the building freeze that has been imposed by the Obama administration to be lifted with a change in government.”
He added that “as an American citizen, I am not comfortable with the Obama administration’s policies regarding Arab countries.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
