Herzog thanks Biden, calls Trump ‘champion of peace’ in speech at DC Jewish confab

In an address to the Jewish Federations’ General Assembly, President Isaac Herzog congratulates Donald Trump on his victory in last week’s US presidential elections. The Israeli head of state’s appearance at the three-day DC confab is part of his first visit to the US since October 7.

Herzog calls the president-elect a “champion of peace and cooperation” and tells the crowd that he wished him “every success in leading Israel and the Middle East towards a future of security and prosperity” in a conversation following the elections.

“We spoke of the urgent need to bring our hostages back home, President Trump reiterated his love for Israel,” he continues.

Herzog also pays thanks to US President Joe Biden, whom he dubs his “dear friend,” for his “steadfast support from the very beginning of the war.”

Herzog plans meet with Biden tomorrow morning at 11:30 a.m, to bid the outgoing president farewell.

Invoking last week’s attack on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, Herzog voices concern about the “startling wave of antisemitism,” which is “flooding the United States and the Jewish world.”

“The civilized world cannot tolerate a mob seeking out Jews, and we will not allow this to be normalized,” Herzog says.

He voices his concern for Diaspora Jewry as the president of the Jewish nation-state, calling antisemitism a “struggle which we share and a challenge we face together.”

Herzog goes on to blame Iran and its allies for contributing to the spread of anti-Jewish sentiment. Israeli authorities ruled out Iranian involvement in last week’s Amsterdam riots, though.

“For many years now we have seen the engine behind the modern-day antisemitism: the Iranian regime and its allies,” he continues. “It is truly an empire of evil, spreading hatred through its numerous proxies, social networks and agents all over the globe.”