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One-Man ‘Rabbi for Trump’ Dumps The Donald After Iowa

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By Nathan Guttman February 3, 2016

Donald Trump not only lost Iowa, he also lost his rabbi.

Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg, the founder and sole member of the Facebook group named “Rabbi for Trump” announced Tuesday he is closing the group.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Facebook: Rabbi For Trump will be closing down,” Rosenberg, a rabbi from Edison, New Jersey, announced. Rosenberg went on to accuse Trump’s campaign of ignoring Jewish supporters in the Republican primary race.

“It seems to me that representatives of his campaign don’t care about the Jewish vote. They think they can win without it,” he wrote, explaining that he had “pleaded” with the campaign to clarify Trump’s platform on Israel and express complete support for the Jewish state. “This has not happened and I doubt it will.”

Rosenberg had told the Forward last month that he wants the New York billionaire to make clear that if elected he will not support dividing Jerusalem into its Jewish and Palestinian areas. Rosenberg had hoped to get enough supporters on his Facebook page to force Trump’s advisers to meet and discuss the issue of Israel, but at the end of the day he remained the only member.

“I do not dislike Trump and wish him well, but I can not fight for him if I do not believe he fully supports Israel and the Jewish people,” he wrote, adding that he is considering other GOP candidates. “If the (Ted) Cruz or (Marco) Rubio people want my support, I will be happy to give it to them.”

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.

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