Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Yair Lapid: Trump Could Become Most Popular President In Israeli History

Israelis are big fans of President Trump — and even local opponents of Benjamin Netanyahu are admitting it.

Yair Lapid, chairman of the centrist Yesh Atid party, told the political news site Axios that Trump was on his way to being the most popular American president in Israeli history.

Israelis across the political spectrum have praised Trump’s support for the Israeli government and particularly for moving the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Sites around Israel are in the process of bearing Trump’s name. Israeli Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz told CNN in December that a planned high-speed rail station in the Old City of Jerusalem will be named after the U.S. president.

And, as more nations announce intentions to move their embassies to Jerusalem, the country’s housing minister is moving to build a new diplomatic district, which he said could be called “Trump Town.” Construction Minister Yoav Gallant told The Jerusalem Post in April that his ministry is actively working to clear space for new diplomatic buildings in the ancient city.

The Axios report that noted Israeli enthusiasm also included a quote from a senior European official claiming that the relationship between the U.S. and Europe had reached a state of “crisis.”

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.