This Pro-Israel Group Loves Trump’s Mar-a-Lago — Even As Others Scrap Events

Mar-a-Lago golf club Image by Getty Images

By Nathan Guttman August 25, 2017

Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club is going through a rough patch. In past years it hosted more than 40 charity events each season. This year there are so far only 6 events booked. In part, due to President Trump’s comments following the Charlottesville protests that led several groups, including American Friends of Magen David Adom, to cancel fundraisers they had planned at the beachfront estate.

But one pro-Israel activist sees these cancellations as an opportunity, both to book the club on short notice, and to show his support for Trump. The Palm Beach Post reports that Steven Alembik, organizer of the Truth About Israel event, decided to move his February 25 dinner to Mar-a-Lago after hearing about the wave of cancellations. “I’m reading about these groups pulling out of Mar-a-Lago and I’m thinking, ‘This is ridiculous,’” Alembik told the Palm Beach Post. “Somebody needs to take a stand here and do something. My president is my president. I like what he stands for. With him as president, I don’t have to worry. He’s got Israel’s back.”

Alembik’s event will commemorate the 1972 attack on Israeli athletes at the Munich olympic games and will honor former Israeli ambassador to the UN Danny Ayalon.

Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO