Israeli expat in US explains gap in Trump’s popularity between countries

At the iconic Barney Greengrass deli just five minutes away from the Louis Brandeis High School polling station on the Upper West Side, friends Eli and Charley are having a post-vote brunch.

Though both of them voted early by mail, they say they wanted to use the opportunity to support a local restaurant that’s been hit hard by the pandemic.

“It was nice to have a choice regarding how to vote,” Charley says.

“A couple days ago, I got a notification that my mail-in ballot was validated and that was that,” he adds.

As a server brings out a couple servings of apple sauce and potato pancakes, Eli, an Israeli, gives his take as to why Trump is wildly popular in the Jewish state while Jews across the pond find him far less palatable.

A recent poll showed over two-thirds of Israelis prefer the president, while another survey indicated that roughly 70% of US Jews support Biden.

“It makes senses as our interests are different,” says Eli.

“I care about what’s going on here and how the president’s decisions affect my family. And of course, Trump’s an idiot,” says the now veteran New Yorker of 30 years.

— Jacob Magid