Israel Ambassador Kvells At White House — Jewish People Are Blessed By Trump
Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer speaks at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC on March 4, 2018. Image by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
By Aiden Pink April 17, 2019
Speaking as the guest of honor at a White House reception for Jewish leaders on Tuesday, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer fulsomely praised President Trump and the administration aides responsible for formulating a Middle East peace plan.
“It is true that in every generation they rise up against us (Sheb’chol Dor VaDor…). But it is a rare thing — a very rare thing — a president like President Trump and an administration like the Trump administration — that doesn’t happen every generation,” Dermer said, according to Jewish Insider. “It may happen once in many, many, many generations. And Israel, the Jewish state, and I believe, the Jewish people are blessed to have a real friendly administration.”
Dermer also gave shout-outs to the four people most responsible for formulating the plan – senior advisor/presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, and Kushner aide Avi Berkowitz. “I think that you have in Jared, in Jason, in Avi, in David, in this whole team — you have the best chance to take advantage of this historic moment of opportunity that exists, because everybody that speaks to them knows that they speak for the president of the United States,” Dermer said.
“I know a lot of people are concerned that the peace plan is going to be coming out soon,” he also said. “But I have to say, as Israel’s ambassador, I am confident that this administration — given its support for Israel — will take Israel’s vital concerns into account in any plan they will put forward.”
Other speakers included Elan Carr, the State Department’s new anti-Semitism envoy, and Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the director of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), who spoke about the upcoming Passover holiday. Trump issued a proclamation on Wednesday declaring the day “Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.,” an annual event that every president since Jimmy Carter has issued on the anniversary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s birthday.
Official representatives of the Reform and Conservative movements were not invited to the reception, though there was at least one Conservative rabbi there in an individual capacity. Reform and Conservative organizations have sometimes been blackballed from White House events ever since they boycotted a 2017 High Holiday conference call with Trump.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor for the Forward. You can reach him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
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