By COLlive reporter
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump hosting a meeting with Orthodox Jewish news outlets at the Trump Tower in New York City, Thursday.
Representing COLlive.com was publisher Mica Soffer and photographer Itzik Roytman.
Trump Water and kosher cookies and fruit were served before the people present sat around a rectangular black marble table to hear from the billionaire who has dominated the 2016 election.
Trump showed up in a suit and navy tie and headed directly to the head of the table facing some 30 reporters equipped with recorders and even pen and papers.
He was introduced by Yossi Gestetner who organized the meeting and founded the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council (OJPAC) which counters defamation and generalization of the Orthodox Jewish community in the media.
Trump opened the meeting with strong statements in support of Israel and attacking the current administration of President Barack Obama, as relayed in past speeches and interviews.
“I’m going to be very strong for Israel,” he stated. “Israel is our best ally in the Middle East. Obama has been tremendously disloyal to the Middle East.”
He went on to attack the controversial nuclear deal with Iran which he once said he won’t repeal. “The Iran deal is one of the worst things ever happened , it is a disgrace,” Trump said.
But when push comes to shove –when questions were asked– Trump offered general answers or generally avoided them all together.
Responding to a question about Israel’s security, Trump did defend Israel’s right to defend itself against its enemies. “When missiles are being shot into your country, I don’t know what ‘disproportionate force’ is supposed to mean,” Trump said.
“Israel is being attacked to an extent that is very rarely seen, and so obviously you have to use very strong force,” he continued.
The GOP frontrunner was responding to a question about recent remarks made by Democratic presidential hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during separate meetings with the editorial board of the New York Daily News. The former, after inflating the death-toll figures of innocent Palestinian civilians killed during Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, accused Israel of using “disproportionate force;” the latter called Israeli settlements “unhelpful.”
With regard to the issue of settlements, Trump deferred to his executive vice president and chief legal officer Jason Greenblatt, an Orthodox Jew whom he summoned from another part of the building to assist him on Israel-related matters.
Trump is hoping to win a majority of votes in New York’s Republican primary election this Tuesday, April 19. At stake are 95 crucial delegates.
According to a new poll published in the New York Post, Trump holds a shrinking — but still double-digit — national lead over primary pursuer Texas Senator Ted Cruz. He’s well ahead of Ohio Governor John Kasich.
Both of his rivals visited the Orthodox Jewish community in recent days. Cruz baked Matzah with children at the Chabad Neshama Center in Brighton Beach and Kasich visited a Judaica store in Boro Park.
Most Orthodox Jewish residents of New York are registered Democrats.
one should vote for what the daas torah says we should vote for, meaning the gedolim in our generation and not based on our own opinionns
in the detroit rebublican debate cruz said a point that is so true u have to agree: he said slogans wont help america become gr8 again, u need action. he can even print it on a red baseball cap but action and keeping ur word is important. trump is a baby who wants more money it seems some of u vot ehim cuz of hi s$ but that will make it worse cruz is the true person who u can rely on and by the way Hillary is winning not that i want her to but whether u like it… Read more »
besides saying yes or no to a real estate deal what else did trump do? so his father taught him how to make a few bucks and gave him some money, not at all impressive.
Cruz fulfilld tons of promises from fighting Obamacare to every one of the crazy budget plans to allways standing with Israel. he’s Someone you can trust, thats why you should vote for Ted Cruz.
you’re right but tha’ts only as of now once trump would start fighting the democrats he would beat them like we’ve seen him do to most of hhis opponents and if clinton woyld fight against cruz i dont think he’s strong enough to bring her down
we get some COLlive polls?
😀
And yeah, #Trump2016
i am number 6#
all these polls don’t matter until after we know the nominee.
and by the way Ted Cruz id losing Clinton in the polls.
you obviously didn’t read any polls. cruz is kicking trump against clinton!!!!!!!!
i am number 6#
besides voting yes and no, what else did Ted Cruz do?a senator does nothing besides votes yes and no.
tell me one promos that he fulfilled.
show me one dollar that he has manged.
a senator cant get a track record.
and on the other hand Donald John Trump Sr has a huge business. how would someone give him a loan if he is not trustworthy? how would someone make a deal with him if he is not trustworthy?
listen u guys might be right about trump that he’s not a politician not consistent bla bla bla. but lets face it cruz is not strong enough to beat clinton or sanders and trump is and i don’ think anyone wants to see sanders or clinton in the house so that pretty much leaves u with trump
CRUZ 2016 whoever is voting gor trump is making a great mistake!
How can you translate trumps words like that!? You know he didnt mean that! As for Cruz, he has the biggest track record for being the biggest fighter in senate and keeping to his word!
Bernhard Rosenberg I represent a very large group of people and I was promised a meeting with Trump. Showing a picture with right wing black hat Rabbis is nice but that is not the group I represent on face book and on the media
Looking at all the comments and crying how many people have the Internet
i am 6#
i will be glad to have a one on one, or if possible more debate,
but i prefer to use email if you could post you email address i am sure we could make arrangements.
thanks for the offer.
i am number 6#
as i said in my past comments Donald Trump will let Israel have there own opinions and that is what Israel needs.
and for you information Trump hated the Arabs more then you do.
and for Ted Cruz, he is a senator with no track record of anything.
He may not be a proper diplomat- but he’s a proper human being.
To #6.
Find me on Facebook so we can have an open discussion regarding Cruz v. Trump. You seem sure of yourself, so why hide under the number six. Let’s have an open honest discussion, using our real names, our real identities.
Surely you stand behind everything you wrote (under #6), you have nothing to worry about.
I hope to see you soon.
Cruz is known to be the best friend of Israel and the Jewish community as opposed to Trump who said he’ll be neutral when it comes to the israeli-palestinian conflict. Cruz is known to keep his word even when he has to fight for it as he did in Congress against Obamacare he is someone you can trust and that’s why you should vote for Cruz.
TRUMP HAS TO WIN!!! He is the only real!! deal
i am 6#
when trump does things that other candidates dont do, and you think is bad is doing a good thing. he is showing who he is he is showing what kind of president he will be not like Ted Cruz who pretends to act like a angel that is not who he is, i am sure he is just as vulgar as Trump. and can we trust someone who is not telling the truth about himself?
i am 6#
when he said i will negotiate it means to let Israel have there own opinions not like America these days that tell Israel what to do. this way Israel can defend them self much easier.
trump is the number one comedian. if you want him, go to the circus. dont let him rule the u.s.
trump is the only republican candidate that said he will try to negotiate a peace deal. Anyone who follows the rebbe cannot vote for such a person, we know the consciences of these failed negotiations. Besides trump will never beat Hillary….
Everyone go out on Tuesday and vote for Ted Cruz! The future of the country and repulican party are at stake!
Trumps company made a profit of 260 Million or so dollars in 2015, If he is worth 10 Billion, that is only 2.6% return on investment, a pretty conservative figure. This makes his claim of being worth 10 billion quite credible.
The last photo is the best
What I have predicted regarding Rabbinical support for Hillary Clinton is occurring. As you are aware, as Rabbi for Trump I have done everything possible to assist him. I was promised a meeting, which as of today has not occurred. When I originally began Rabbi for Trump it was because I felt he did not have a policy regarding Israel and had not endorsed Jerusalem as the capital. I ended Rabbi for Trump because no one from the campaign got in touch with me and then restarted Rabbi for Trump when I finally had a meeting with a representative of… Read more »
i agree on that one!
TRUMP 2016
I’m still dreaming about Gulliani he was for real
To all of you who support sanders,i hope you listened carefully to what he had to say in this last debate. He feels so bad for the pali’s treatment by israel. Maybe he should go to Gaza and get a better look for himself and see if he still feels bad for them after hamas leave him for the wolves
Please don’t pretend you are me. I am #6 . You just got here.
I don’t trust any Politian, they always say what they are going to do till they get into the White House and then they do nothing, and Cruz is not for Isreal, and Hillary Clinton, is going to be another Obama, so vote for Trump
How do you know how wealthy or successful he really is, have you seen any documents that shows us the actual numbers?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? is this a joke? please dont tell me you actually spent your time figuring that out
take a moment and think. do you want a president who has no track record of anything? like Ted Cruz, how has he proven to show firmness and leadership? and do you want to take a chance and let a man you never heard of before become president of the USA? and on the other hand Donald J Trump. he has turned a one million dollar inheritance into a 10 billion dollar Kingdom, he has hired around 30 thousands workers, he had to make huge decisions, like should I make this million dollar deal? should I fire this person? ETC.… Read more »
Donald Trump is like the best and highest-recommended gardener in town–but who repeatedly spews outrageous and unprintable comments about your wife and kids, right in front of you (and them) while he works on your front lawn. He may be the best and most experienced gardener in terms of making your lawn great again, but none of us would waste a second firing the guy for talking like that. I was for him until I realized that 1. The man does not have the character or consistency to be president and 2. He is running not for president but for… Read more »
I am number 6#
true, true, that is also a reason why I vote Donald John Trump all of our enemies in the government don’t like trump because they are all the establishment and trump is anti establishment and they don’t want him to be president so that is why the government spreads false rumors about him.
I 100% agree with you
go trump!
your arguments are solid. The only think I know is that those who hate us hate Trump, so Trump gets my ( and my family) vote.
I think trump was in no win. He is unfamiliar with Jewish issues nuances. He was smart to keep his mouth shut and not answer questions that are minefields. Go Trump!
Gematria actually comes from the Greek root “geometrios” which means “geometry.” many other languages use gematria so it’s not (and never was) something exclusive to Hebrew. That being said, I think if you wanted to calculate the gematria of “Donald trump” based on Hebrew you’d have to clarify a few things first: Is his name spelled in a modern Hebrew way? דונלד? Or maybe an old school Yiddisher way, with some ayins thrown in? דענעלד? Will it have the j middle initial? How about the spelling of trump?? ת or ט ? You see, the list is truly endless. so… Read more »
To meet with him. I cant believe it but he just might.
Ted Cruz still has my vote!
to #1
I was thinking exactly the same I will vote for Moshiach.
i am number 6# he did not pay me to say that
i am just telling everyone that all that the media says about him is all not true the media hated Donald john trump
when one of trumps workers grabbed onto someone to media went CRAZY and when Ted Cruz said i will abolish the IRS the media did not say a thing about it.
PS. Ted Cruz is also good but i thing that Donald Trump will be a better president for America.
TRUMP 2016
will never vote for trump .he is not stable .only cruz for president
Did Trump pay you to say all that?
well said
excuse me his toughness shows that he is not a politician,
he is a leader and that is what America needs.
and if Ted Cruz is the nominee against Hilary Clinton he will lose because Ted is to weak.
and about Israel he is also pro Israel he will neutralize Israel that means he will not tell Israel what to do and what not to do, so that way Israel could defend much easier.
for more info go to http://www.donaldjtrump.com
how is donald trump, which is a non jewish(hebrew) name have a gematria?
by the way donald trump is gematria moshiach ben dovid
Go trump!!!!!!
Master self promoter. He just used you guys to get some more free publicity.
Cruz is the man. He has principals and will defend our freedom. He will be great for Israel too.
think i will vote for Moshiach!