In the final weeks before the election, a concerted effort by a prominent Orthodox Jewish leader to rally support for former President Donald J. Trump among influential rabbis produced a striking result: Ninety Orthodox rabbis publicly endorsed the Republican incumbent.
The endorsements, secured by Rabbi Tuly Weisz, the director of Israel365 and a prominent figure in the Orthodox community, signaled a significant political realignment within the American Jewish electorate.
“This election demonstrated that the traditional Jewish community who overwhelmingly supported Trump is now in the driver’s seat and a part of the establishment,” Rabbi Weisz told the Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva in a post-election interview.
The shift represents a challenge to the long-held dominance of liberal and progressive voices within the American Jewish political landscape.
“It was a very bad day for liberal and progressive Jews who have controlled the establishment for far too long,” Rabbi Weisz said.
The push for the rabbinic endorsements was part of a broader effort by the Trump campaign to make inroads with Orthodox Jewish voters, a constituency that has typically leaned Republican but saw its support for the president increase significantly in 2020.
The endorsements, which were publicized in the final weeks of the campaign, were seen by many as a symbolic rebuke of the overwhelming support for President Biden among non-Orthodox American Jews.
Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, who interviewed Rabbi Weisz for the Arutz Sheva and Israel365 election coverage, said the endorsements represented a “political realignment” within the American Jewish community.
“What we’re seeing is a shift in the balance of power,” Rabbi Wolicki said. “The traditional Jewish community that has often been overlooked or marginalized is now asserting its influence in a very visible way.”
The question now is whether the newfound political clout of Orthodox Jewish leaders and voters will have lasting implications for the shape of the American Jewish political landscape.
