Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
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

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.