Despite those who ridiculed President Trump’s pro-Israel achievements as being ‘token steps’ or for his Christian base supporters at home, President Trump accomplished more in helping & protecting Jews & Israel, than all his predecessors combined.

By Rabbi Uri Pilichowski

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1. President Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel
2. President Trump moved the American Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
3. President Trump closed the Jerusalem consulate and made it an Embassy branch
4. President Trump has never publicly criticized Israel
5. President Trump pulled America out of the Iran deal
6. President Trump raised military aid to Israel by $400 million
7. President Trump raised sanctions on Iran as soon as pulled out of the deal
8. President Trump recognized the sovereignty of Israel on the Golan Heights
9. President Trump designated IRGC (Iranian special forces) a foreign terrorist group
10. President Trump banned BDS head Omar Barghouti from America
11. President Trump banned the head of ICC and staff from coming to America
12. President Trump backed Israel’s right to self-defense in Gaza
13. President Trump left the United Nations Human Rights (sic) Council
14. President Trump cut off all aid to the Palestinian Authority
15. President Trump closed the PLO office in Washington, DC
16. President Trump was the first president to visit the Western Wall as President
17. President Trump sent the first official American visit to the Western Wall with an Israeli Prime Minister
18. President Trump allowed consulate and Embassy staff to meet/visit with Jews of Judea and Samaria
19. President Trump announced that America will not support Israeli soldiers being tried at the ICC
20. President Trump called out the anti-Israel antisemitism of Ilhan Omar
21. President Trump flew to Israel on his first foreign trip
22. President Trump issued no waivers on increased sanctions against Iran
23. President Trump offered a $10 million reward for information on Hamas and Hezbollah financial networks
24. The Trump administration wrote op-eds blaming Hamas and the Palestinians for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
25. President Trump stopped the lame-duck last-minute Kerry and Obama $221 million payment to the Palestinian Authority on January 20, 2017
26. President Trump signed the Taylor Force Act
27. President Trump supported Israel in the May 2019 flare-up with Gaza.
28. President Trump refused a visa to Israel hater Hanan Ashrawi to America
29. President Trump sanctioned three leading members of Hezbollah in July 2019
30. The Trump administration blocked an attempt to get the UN Security Council to issue a formal condemnation of Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes on the edge of Jerusalem in July 2019
31. President Trump sanctioned Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
32. Ambassador Friedman refused to advocate for a two-state solution unfavorable to Israel
33. President Trump removed “Palestine” from the list of countries on The State Department list of nations.
34. President Trump stopped a French $15 billion credit line to Iran
35. President Trump stopped a UN Security Council statement on tensions between Israel and
36. Hezbollah that did not single out violence by the Lebanese terror group
37. President Trump cut a $120 million from aid to Lebanon to ensure it didn’t get to Hizballah
38. President Trump sanctioned 9 Iranians in November 2019
39. President Trump supported Israel after rocket fire in its skirmish with Islamic Jihad.
40. President Trump said nothing about Israel limiting retaliation.
41. President Trump and America was the only country besides Israel to vote against all 8 UN 4th committee resolutions in November 2019
42. President Trump declared that Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (“settlements”) aren’t illegal under international law
43. President Trump hasn’t supported two-state solution as the only solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
44. Vice President Pence visited Israel during his first year in office
45. Secretary Pompeo wrote a letter to Congress clarifying that Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support
46. Secretary Pompeo says that claims that Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria have impeded peace are foolish
47. President Trump didn’t comment when Defense Minister Bennet green-lighted a new Jewish neighborhood in Hebron
48. Secretary Pompeo announced that Iran is behind all the unrest in the Middle East
49. President Trump blamed Iran for Lebanon protests
50. President Trump’s US deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates reportedly meets with envoys from UAE, Oman, Morocco, Bahrain to gauge willingness Israeli-Arab non-belligerence agreements
51. President Trump denounced Iran brutal crackdown on protesters
52. New US Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft says she’ll defend Israel. In first United Nations press conference, Kelly Craft also warns Iran that Washington has ‘other tools’ if Tehran continues its bad behavior
53. President Trump regales Israeli-American group with tales of his pro-Israel moves retells extensive account of embassy move, tells Israeli American Council that he’s Israel’s best friend in the White House
54. President Trump signed an executive order on anti-Semitism that protects Jewish students on college campuses. The order includes anti-Israel activity
55. Robert O’Brien tells Meir Ben-Shabbat that ‘common interests between Israel and Arab states… have made new regional partnerships possible to counter Iran’
56. The Trump administration denounced Iranian human rights abuses and imposed sanctions on Iranian judges
57. After President Abbas hailed the ICC declaration that it will investigate Israel as an historic day for Palestinians, Secretary Pompeo said US ‘firmly opposes’ ICC announcement on alleged Israeli war crimes. He said the International Criminal Court’s move ‘unfairly targets’ Jewish state, calls for direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians
58. The Trump administration announced seven joint US-Israeli clean energy projects — including an energy-storing system for electric cars and a hydrogen-powered drone that takes off vertically — have received $6.4 million in funding from the US-Israel binational research and development program for energy
59. America struck Iranian-backed militia in Iraq; 19 reported killed. Israeli Air Force chief said ‘US strike on Iran-backed Iraqi militia is a ‘potential turning point’
60. President Trump ordered deadly strike on Iran’s Soleimani
61. President Trump said new Iran sanctions have come into effect. President Trump said, “We’ve increased them. They were very severe, but now it’s increased substantially.”
62. President Trump mocked Iranian supreme leader, and wrote in support of the ‘noble people of Iran,’ after Khamenei attacks America and Europe in speech
63. President Trump releases his incredibly favorable-to-Israel peace plan to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict
64. Trump administration official Jared Kushner slams Palestinian leadership, urges giving up ‘fairy tales’ for peace. Kushner said Palestinians have been lied to, chiefs ‘screwed up every opportunity in the past’; rejecting Trump plan shows they aren’t ready for a state
65. Secretary Pompeo said If Palestinians unhappy with the Trump peace plan, they should present counter offer. He warned that Trump proposal could be last opportunity for Palestinian state
66. Jared Kushner says that if Palestinians are unable to meet the conditions of the new Middle East peace plan he crafted, Israel should not take “the risk to recognize them as a state.”
67. Israeli and UAE officials met in secret in US to discuss countering Iran
68. National security adviser Robert O’Brien warns Palestinians that resurgence of anti-Jewish hatred around the world means more Jews will immigrate to Israel and West Bank
69. Jared Kushner says Abbas responsible for spike in violence since release of peace plan
70. Jared Kushner tells UN Palestinian leadership has long history of ‘inciting intifadas when they don’t get their way’
71. Due to American diplomacy, Abbas, lacking votes, pulls request for UN vote against Trump peace plan
72. The US military seized Iranian-made weapons in Arabian Sea. The USS Normandy warship seized 150 ‘Dehlavieh’ anti-tank guided missiles, which are Iranian-manufactured copies of Russian Kornet ATGMs.
73. Trump advisor Jason Greenblatt warns that if traditional positions on conflict are readopted, ‘Israel will likely continue to thrive and the Palestinians will continue to suffer’
74. Secretary Pompeo says UN settlement blacklist shows UN’s ‘unrelenting anti-Israel bias’
75. The US State Department expressed concern over a report that Iranians were threatening to raze an ancient shrine revered by local Jews as the burial place of the biblical Esther and Mordechai, in an act of revenge against Israel and Washington
76. The US gave Israeli prime minister the green light for Givat Hamatos construction
77. Israel advanced plans for nearly 1,800 new settlement homes America doesn’t criticize
78. Ambassador Friedman said under the Trump administration, the Biblical heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, will never be judenrein
79. An Israeli delegation traveled to the United States for talks on coordinating a joint US-Israeli campaign against the International Criminal Court
80. Secretary Pompeo said the Israelis will ultimately make the decisions about annexation. That’s an Israeli decision, but we’ll work closely with them to share our views of this in a private setting
81. American diplomats circulate draft of Security Council resolution that would scrap expiration of 2015 nuclear deal’s ban on weapons sales to Tehran
82. State Department says Washington ready to approve ‘sovereignty and the application of Israeli law’ in some areas
83. US officials emphasize West Bank annexation not contingent on Palestinian state
84. Ambassador David Friedman asserted that Israelis across the political spectrum supported the Trump plan and that “just as Americans would never relinquish the area on which the Statue of Liberty stands, even though it’s a very small area, Israel would never agree to give up settlements like Beit El and Hebron
85. Secretary Pompeo praises Israel on visit, “You’re a great partner, you share information, unlike some other countries that try to obfuscate and hide that information.”
86. Secretary Pompeo warned the International Criminal Court against asserting jurisdiction over Israel, saying the United States will “exact consequences” for any “illegitimate” investigations
87. Secretary Pompeo called the ICC a “kangaroo court” and announced that sanctions in the form of asset freezes would be enacted against chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda and another senior ICC official
88. Serbia announced that it would move its embassy to Jerusalem, while Muslim majority Kosovo is to recognize Israel. The moves come as part of US-brokered discussions to normalize economic ties between Belgrade and Pristina
89. In a rare move, US sanctions 2 Lebanese politicians allied with Hezbollah who are former cabinet ministers that ‘provided material support’ to terror groups. America warned of new measures targeting organization’s allies
90. US envoys helped broker a framework agreement for Lebanon and Israel to start discussing their disputed maritime border
91. Jared Kushner says Saudi Arabia, Bahrain to allow all Israeli flights to use airspace Saudi flights also able to use Israeli airspace; White House advisor says Arabs losing patience with Palestinian leadership, will do ‘what’s in their best interests’
92. The Trump administration warned Palestinians if they continue to reject Trump peace proposal ‘the situation is just going to get worse and worse for them’; The US won’t ‘chase’ Ramallah
93. President Trump brokered peace between Israel and the UAE
94. President Trump brokered peace between Israel and Bahrain
95. US sanctioned 2 Lebanon-based firms, Hezbollah-linked businessman, Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction targeted ‘for being owned, controlled, or directed’ by terrorist group
96. Defying the UN, the Trump administration unilaterally asserts sanctions on Iran are back in effect. Secretary Pompeo vows Trump administration will ‘impose consequences’ on any state violating ‘snapback’ sanctions to ensure Tehran ‘does not reap the benefits of UN-prohibited activity’
97. The Trump administration unveils additional ‘UN’ sanctions against Iran, will enforce arms embargo
98. US, Israel, UAE announce establishment of $3 billion regional investment fund
99. The Trump administration brokered peace between Israel and Sudan and the two signed a normalization deal.
100. President Trump brokered peace between Israel and Morocco

reprinted with the author’s permission

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About the Author:

Uri Pilichowski

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski grew up in Fair Lawn,  New Jersey then moved to Israel and studied in Mevaseret Zion for eight years, earning a Bachelor of Talmudic Law and Rabbinic Ordination. While living in Israel, Rabbi Pilichowski taught and mentored gap year students. 

An Israeli citizen and former member of the Israel Civil Defense, Rabbi Pilichowski prided himself with his involvement with the Pro-Israel community in America. He created the first teen pro-Israel political group in the country that taught students to advocate in Congress for a stronger US-Israel relationship. 

In July 2014, in the midst of Operation Protective Edge, Rabbi Pilichowski moved his family to Mitzpe Yericho, Israel. Rabbi Pilichowski founded and directed “Crossing the Line,” where American students studying in Israel are taken to Judea and Samaria and shown that Israelis have every right to live and govern Judea and Samaria and treat Palestinian Arabs fairly and with all human rights.  

READ MORE articles by Rabbi Uri Pilichowski here

Follow Rabbi Uri Pilichowski on Twitter at @RationalSettler

ISRAEL

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