Exploding the poor white myth of Trump’s rise to power
Votes from women, Latinos and the educated show the maverick billionaire appeals to a crumbling middle class
By Jennie Matthew and Catherine TRIOMPHE November 10, 2016, 11:16 am



AFP — The myth that only uneducated white men would vote for Donald Trump exploded in a sensational win for the maverick billionaire, a former reality star with no political experience whatsoever.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

His resounding victory — even if Hillary Clinton won the popular vote — spotlights a wealthier and more diverse coalition of supporters than many Americans thought possible, including educated voters, women and minority voters.

Here is a look at who voted for whom in the biggest political upset in American politics for generations:
Middle class and educated

Half of Americans who are considered middle class, making $100,000 (NIS 383,00 a year or more, voted for the 70-year-old billionaire according to USA Today’s exit poll.

Forty-three percent of people with college degrees backed the Republican, although post-graduates voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, the Democrat, at 58 percent to 35 percent.

“We wanted to send a message that there’s too much government ruling our life and that had to stop,” said Rolando Chumaceiro, a family doctor who lives in affluent White Plains, New York.

He recognized problems with Trump, questioned the way he spoke and his vulgar remarks about women and but said overall he was the better choice.

“Mrs Clinton comes from the establishment. It’s the same old fashioned government. We don’t need that anymore,” he said.

Lower income voters leaned towards Clinton but their support had eroded since President Barack Obama’s election in 2012, perhaps fueled in part by resentment of the high costs associated with Obamacare.
Wolf Blitzer and Jonh King discussing the dynamic electorate map on CNN as polls closed on November 8, 2016. (Screen capture: YouTube)

Wolf Blitzer and Jonh King discussing the dynamic electorate map on CNN as polls closed on November 8, 2016. (Screen capture: YouTube)
Rural-urban divide

Trump’s success was rooted in profound dissatisfaction with the status quo — felt keenly in rural areas and smaller towns far from prosperous cities that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton.

“There is a world outside of the East Coast and the California Coast which nobody wants to think about,” said Sam Abrams, professor of political science at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.

“It’s the have and have not divide,” he said.

In a city-based service and knowledge economy, people in more rural areas are struggling. “When you struggle you get angry… and Trump became the symbol of that anger,” said Abrams.

Michigan, North Carolina and Wisconsin, for example, are states where Trump sealed shock wins. It was the first time Wisconsin went Republican in a presidential election since 2004.
Minorities: It’s complicated

White turnout was higher than expected and Trump won more of the traditional Republican vote than Mitt Romney, a Mormon, in 2012.

Latino turnout was at a record high. While two-thirds voted Clinton, Trump won 29 percent of the demographic compared to Romney’s 27 percent in spite of inflammatory remarks about Mexicans and his tough stance on immigration.

The Latino vote is not homogenous, experts say. Cuban Americans backed Trump, others who are socially conservative also supported him.

While a majority of African Americans voted Clinton, she won their vote by a smaller margin than did Obama over Romney in 2008 and 2012.

Asian American, African American and Jewish American supporters at Trump’s victory party denied allegations that he was racist or anti-Semitic in any way.

“He created one of the most pro-Israel platforms in the history of the country, this is just crazy to say that he’s running anything as anti-Semitic in his campaign,” said supporter Aliza Romanoff whose father advised Trump.
Women

Trump may have persistently offended women and been accused of sexual impropriety by at least 12 women, but it didn’t cost him the female vote.

American women traditionally lean Democratic, and Clinton won the female vote 54 to 42 percent, about the same as Obama, according to Pew Research Center.

Romney won 44 percent of the women’s vote in 2012 and fellow Republican nominee John McCain won 43 percent in 2008.

In Iowa, for example, women without college degrees were evenly split between Clinton and Trump, despite having voted by a majority of 17 points for Obama in 2012, according to The New York Times exit poll.
Evangelicals

According to the Pew Research Center, eight in 10 white born-again, evangelical Christians say they voted for Trump compared to 16 percent for Clinton.

This shocked some observers given the twice-divorced Republican’s vulgar remarks about groping women and his record as a socially liberal New Yorker who has been accepting of gay and transgender rights.
Millennials

Obama was propelled into office on a wave of hope and optimism by harnessing the youth vote. But young Americans threw less weight behind the Democratic candidate this time, disappointed in Obama’s administration and unenthusiastic about his anointed successor.

Clinton’s long-running email scandal, perceptions that she was untrustworthy and her ties to Wall Street damaged the Democrat. Millennials had overwhelmingly favored her challenger Bernie Sanders in the primary.

In Trump campaign, Jewish assumptions come undone
A look at how the Republican candidate sought the pro-Israel vote even as he appealed to an anxious, resentful base
By Ron Kampeas November 10, 2016, 11:17 am


WASHINGTON (JTA) – In forging an unprecedented and stunning path to the presidency, Donald Trump claimed to represent Americans who were anxious, resentful and ready to make radical changes. Their electoral strength blindsided pollsters and pundits — and flabbergasted many Jews, for whom the Trump base was once largely invisible. That is about to irrevocably change.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

Here are some questions raised by Trump’s showing:

Donald Trump says good things about Israel and plays up conspiracy theories embraced by anti-Semites. Can they be separated?

Trump won Florida, by a hair’s breadth.

Campaigning hard for the state, he sought the support of its substantial Jewish community, in part by pivoting from relative coolness to Israel at the outset of his campaign to aligning with a right-wing pro-Israel posture by its end: bashing the Iran nuclear deal, swearing to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, retreating from emphasizing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A supporter waits for former Democratic US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to speak at the New Yorker Hotel after her defeat to rival Republican Donald Trump last night November 9, 2016 in New York. (AFP PHOTO / Brendan Smialowski)

A supporter waits for former Democratic US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to speak at the New Yorker Hotel after her defeat to rival Republican Donald Trump last night November 9, 2016 in New York. (AFP/Brendan Smialowski)

“We will stand strong, we have to stand strong with the State of Israel in their fight against Islamic terrorists,” Trump told a rally Monday morning in Sarasota. He bashed President Barack Obama’s record on Israel.

Three weeks earlier, same state, West Palm Beach: Trump in a speech indicted Hillary Clinton, his Democratic rival, as part of a secret conspiracy involving international banks seeking global control – codes straight out of the anti-Semitic canon.

“Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of US sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors,” he said.

Last Friday, he ran a final statement video ad featuring excerpts of the speech – and this time attaching to it three famous Jewish faces (again without saying “Jew” or naming Jews as a class).

The speech and ad culminated a campaign pocked with similar dog whistles, including Trump’s use on Twitter of images that originated on anti-Semitic websites. Several times in debates and speeches, he invoked the names of little-known Jewish advisers to Clinton as emblematic of nefariousness.
Supporters gather for an opportunity to meet Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump after a rally at Atlantic Aviation on June 11, 2016 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)

Supporters gather for an opportunity to meet Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after a rally at Atlantic Aviation on June 11, 2016 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images/AFP)

Anti-Semites on the Alt-right movement eagerly perked up at what sounded to their ears as whistles.

It’s tempting to liken this dilemma to that faced by Jews under President Richard Nixon, who was obsessed with what he believed to be the conspiracies against him by American Jews, but who adored their Israeli cousins. (And who also had trusted Jewish advisers, including his secretary of state, Henry Kissinger.) Jews survived Nixon, and still thank him for the massive airlift of arms during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

But it’s different with Trump. Whatever Nixon’s weirdness about Jews, it did not permeate his campaigns; it became evident years later, as tapes he recorded peppered with anti-Jewish epithets became public.

Moreover, Nixon was a relative liberal when it came to other minorities. It is true that under him the Republican Party pursued a “Southern strategy,” sending coded messages to white racists. But his policies, including desegregation and investing in the rise of a black middle class, would seem progressive today.
President Richard Nixon arrives in Israel, June 17, 1974 -- the first serving president to visit. (photo credit: GPO)

President Richard Nixon arrives in Israel, June 17, 1974 — the first serving president to visit. (GPO)

Trump, by contrast, has hardly been coded in his messages he sends about other minorities, especially Hispanics and Muslims, but blacks as well. And there is also the matter of his record of misogynistic comments.

That presents a host of dilemmas for Jews, conceivably forcing them to weigh their American identity, forged through a close association with the civil rights and feminist movements, and their loyalty to Israel. Cozying up to Trump as a means of keeping Israel on his good side would likely be seen as a betrayal among considerable swaths of the Hispanic, African-American and Muslim communities, constituencies Jewish and pro-Israel organizations in recent years have been eager to cultivate.

Israel is the Jewish homeland. Israel is also foreign. Does Trump get that?

Trump seems to understand – at least in his more recent speeches – the importance that much of the Jewish community attaches to Israel as the homeland. He also wants to pull up the drawbridge, to insulate America against the wider world, likely diminishing US influence.

The centrist pro-Israel community, led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, for decades has cast assistance to Israel as inextricable from the robust US foreign presence overseas. Invest in US influence in the Middle East, in Europe, in Africa, the thinking went, and Israel, as a close ally, could only benefit. America could, and did, leverage its considerable influence in those arenas to benefit Israel.

What holds back the expansion of the boycott Israel movement? What drew a broad coalition of nations to sanction Iran? The willingness to leverage US influence in the global arena and expend US largesse. Diminish influence and leverage fades as well; there is not stick without carrots.

The formula advanced by Trump – and by the Republican Party, which at its convention embraced closeness with Israel while retreating from overseas engagement – is that America will keep Israel close whatever the vicissitudes of its relationships with other countries.
Traditional Russian wooden dolls called Matreska depict US presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and US president-elect Donald Trump displayed in a shop in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Traditional Russian wooden dolls called Matreska depict US presidents, from left, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and US president-elect Donald Trump displayed in a shop in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

That raises tough questions for Israel, which chafes at the notion that it must rely on a great power to survive. It also casts American Jews as a protected class, able to seek favors for its homeland while other ethnic minorities are cut off – not a status much of the American Jewish community would embrace gladly.

What happens to Jewish conservatives?

A good portion of the conservative resistance to Trump during the campaign was driven by Jews in the movement. Jewish conservatives over the decades had led the effort to make the party more amenable to other minorities and also argued for the holistically robust foreign policy described above. (Both postures, rejecting racial particularism and advocating expanded US influence, were hallmarks of neoconservatism, a movement in which Jews are preeminent.)

The thinking until now was to let the election pass, anticipate Trump’s loss and rebuild the party.

Trump now is the party. Where do these conservatives go?

Who are these people?

Trump tapped into real frustrations with an American economy that even as it grew robbed the middle class of guarantees it once took for granted: college educations for the kids, pensions that lasted until death, a lifetime free of debt.

He also tapped into visceral fears among the portion of the middle class that is white, traditionalist and Christian, that the country looked like it less and less; that privileges that white middle-class Christians had never acknowledged – the protection of the police without considering what it cost marginalized communities, a culture with icons that were as white as they were, first dibs at jobs – were falling away.
Dump Trump signs line a traffic circle on November 8, 2016 in North Manchester, New Hampshire. After a contentious campaign season, Americans go to the polls today to choose the next president of the United States. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images/AFP)

Dump Trump signs line a traffic circle on November 8, 2016 in North Manchester, New Hampshire. After a contentious campaign season, Americans go to the polls today to choose the next president of the United States. (Darren McCollester/Getty Images/AFP)

It was a class that to a great degree was invisible to Jews, who are largely liberal and confined to coastal enclaves.

Like the rest of the country, Jewish Americans must now contend with this population: Who are they? What are their legitimate grievances? What are the things they seek to preserve that are abhorrent to Jews? How do we reconcile these things?

Niger Delta avengers congrats President-elect Trump

An Open Letter to Florida Jews
October 23, 2016, 10:57 pm


Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

I write as a rabbi, an American, and in memory of my parents, z”l, proud Floridians who did not live to vote in this election.

Almost everyone longs to make a difference, to leave the world a better place. Most of us do it in small ways: raising a family, helping friends and neighbors. Some get to do something on a grander scale, shaping the future for all our children.

Each of you in Florida has that opportunity right now; you’re in a swing state, and may well choose the next leader of the free world. Our history as Jews has taught us that we can never be complacent anywhere – from medieval Spain to modern Germany, we’ve seen societies turn. We know with horrifying certainty that “it couldn’t happen here” is never true. Not even in America.

Many of us are rightly scared and angry. The world is a frightening place. How should we channel our fear into action?

My mother taught me to examine the roots of my fears, so I could act calmly and rationally even when afraid. Jewish tradition demands the same. The Torah tells of the Israelite scouts who scared the people out of pursuing their vision; our Kol Nidre prayers refer back to that story, when we sought forgiveness for the sin of acting from fear. Jews are supposed to be learned, discerning, able to bracket our emotions and act on values.

So I’m asking you to do a few things before this election:

1) Spend some quiet time reflecting on what you’re afraid of, what’s really likely, and what’s not.

For me, the greatest threat right now is that America will cease to be a democracy – that we’ll lose the tolerance and diversity that defines us.

The Holocaust has taught me to believe what candidates say they’ll do. Donald Trump says he will require registration, and bar immigration, based on religion. He says he will limit First Amendment press freedoms. He says women will be punished for abortions. He’s threatened to “jail” a political opponent. He says he will default on U.S. obligations abroad, will not support our NATO allies, and will be “sort of a neutral guy” on Israel. He conflates autocratic rule with “strength.” He incites violence. He won’t denounce hate speech, including anti-Semitism. All of that terrifies me.

You won’t hear such dangerous threats and disregard for our Constitution from Hillary Clinton. Even if you don’t trust her, what do you fear she will actually do? Do you think there’s a serious risk she will unravel American democracy and create an authoritarian state?

2) Spend some thoughtful time analyzing rationally who is likely to be effective.

When Hillary Clinton is in public office, she gets overwhelmingly high approval ratings – from Democrats and Republicans, even Trump himself – because she works hard; she’s good at the job, and she’s done a lot of good for a lot of people.

Perhaps Hillary is not as good at campaigning. Trump is an entertainer; he can rally up a crowd. But his professional life is littered with lawsuits, bankruptcies, and unpaid bills. Not a single colleague or business associate spoke on his behalf at the convention. Since he won’t reveal his tax returns, we don’t even know if he’s a good businessman; we do know that he feels no obligation to pay his fair share. There’s no evidence he’s ever done anything good for anyone except himself.

Which is more important to you in a president – campaigning or governing?

3) Do some research outside of social media, and read beneath the headlines.

As a First Amendment lawyer I have great respect for the press. And I’ve seen first-hand how disciplined, research-based, factual reporting has been over-shadowed and undermined by fear-mongering rumor mills, baseless opinion masquerading as fact, and conspiracy theories promulgated on social media. Please step out of that realm and look closely for evidence.

4) List the qualities you think make for real leadership.

Jewish sources suggest: humility, respect for everyone’s dignity, wisdom, a willingness to make sacrifices for others, listening to and learning from everyone, kindness.

These are considered disqualifying: self-aggrandizement, attention-seeking, arrogance, disrespectful speech, playing on people’s fears, bullying, and derogatory name-calling, which Maimonides saw as so indicative of bad character that it denies a person a place in the World to Come.

What is your list, and who best embodies those qualities?

In New York on Broadway, George Washington sings nightly to Alexander Hamilton, “History has its eyes on you.” But as a Jew in Florida, history has its eyes on you.

My parents left me a legacy of strong values, courage in the face of fear, and disciplined discernment. What legacy will you leave through your vote?

—

Rabbi Jan Uhrbach is Director of the Block/Kolker Center for Spiritual Arts at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons. This letter is written in her individual capacity.

Bernie Sanders extends olive branch to Trump
Former Democratic candidate says he’s willing to work with president-elect to improve quality of life for working families
By AFP November 10, 2016, 107 am


WASHINGTON, United States — Bernie Sanders, who galvanized young Americans during this year’s Democratic primary race, said Wednesday that he is ready to work with president-elect Donald Trump if he wants to “improve the lives of working families.”

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

“Donald Trump tapped into the anger of a declining middle class that is sick and tired of establishment economics, establishment politics and the establishment media,” the Vermont senator said in a statement following the Republican billionaire’s surprise victory, which has sent shock waves through the United States and around the world.

“To the degree that Mr Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him,” added Sanders, the left-leaning independent who called for a political revolution during his surprisingly strong but ultimately failed populist primary challenge to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

“To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and anti-environment policies, we will vigorously oppose him,” he said.
Republican presidential elect Donald Trump gives a speech during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York, November 9, 2016. (AFP/MANDEL NGAN)

Republican presidential elect Donald Trump gives a speech during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York, November 9, 2016. (AFP/MANDEL NGAN)

Like Sanders — who denounced what he called the corrupt influence of the country’s wealthy elites on politics, and advocated free public college education and universal health care — Trump honed a populist appeal to Americans who feel left behind by economic globalization and mounting inequity.

Unlike Sanders, however, Trump proposes slashing taxes for the wealthiest Americans, and has said that schemes to avoid paying millions of dollars in personal income tax proves he is “smart.”

After his primary loss, Sanders called on his supporters to rally behind Clinton, campaigning against Trump, whom he called a “danger” and a “demagogue.”

The other main voice of left-wing Democrats, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren — who waged a bitter personal war of words against Trump during the campaign — said Wednesday that she is “intensely frustrated” by his victory.

However, she also offered the Republican an olive branch.

“President-elect Trump promised to rebuild our economy for working people,” she said, “and I offer to put aside our differences and work with him on that task.”

Thousands protest Trump win in major US cities
Demonstrators chanting ‘Not my president!’ and ‘Trump’s a racist’ flood the streets in towns from coast to coast
By AP November 10, 2016, 8:17 am




CHICAGO — The raw divisions exposed by the presidential race were on full display across America on Wednesday, as protesters flooded city streets to condemn Donald Trump’s election in demonstrations that police said were mostly peaceful.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

From New England to heartland cities like Kansas City and along the West Coast, many thousands of demonstrators carried flags and anti-Trump signs, disrupting traffic and declaring that they refused to accept Trump’s triumph.

In Chicago, where thousands had recently poured into the streets to celebrate the Chicago Cubs’ first World Series victory in over a century, several thousand people marched through the Loop. They gathered outside Trump Tower, chanting “Not my president!”

Chicago resident Michael Burke said he believes the president-elect will “divide the country and stir up hatred.” He added there was a constitutional duty not to accept that outcome.
Protesters chant slogans on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump's presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Protesters chant slogans on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

A similar protest in Manhattan drew about 1,000 people. Outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in midtown, police installed barricades to keep the demonstrators at bay.

Hundreds of protesters gathered near Philadelphia’s City Hall despite chilly, wet weather. Participants — who included both supporters of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who lost to Clinton in the primary — expressed anger at both Republicans and Democrats over the election’s outcome.

In Boston, thousands of anti-Trump protesters streamed through downtown, chanting “Trump’s a racist” and carrying signs that said “Impeach Trump” and “Abolish Electoral College.” Clinton appears to be on pace to win the popular vote, despite losing the electoral count that decides the presidential race.

The protesters gathered on Boston Common before marching toward the Massachusetts Statehouse, with beefed-up security including extra police officers.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, a protest that began with about 100 people was steadily growing as the night went on.
Protesters march along Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump's presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Protesters march along Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Protests flared at universities in California and Connecticut, while several hundred people marched in San Francisco and others gathered outside City Hall in Los Angeles. And they spread south to Richmond, Virginia, and to middle American cities like Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska.

Hundreds of University of Texas students spilled out of classrooms to march through downtown Austin. They marched along streets near the Texas Capitol, then briefly blocked a crowded traffic bridge.

Marchers protesting Trump’s election as president chanted and carried signs in front of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.

Media outlets broadcast video Wednesday night showing a peaceful crowd in front of the new downtown hotel. Many chanted “No racist USA, no Trump, no KKK.”

Another group stood outside the White House. They held candles, listened to speeches and sang songs.
Protesters demonstrate on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump's presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Protesters demonstrate on Fifth Avenue outside Trump Tower, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in New York, in opposition of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

In Oregon, dozens of people blocked traffic in downtown Portland, burned American flags and forced a delay for trains on two light-rail lines. Earlier, the protest in downtown drew several Trump supporters, who taunted the demonstrators with signs. A lone Trump supporter was chased across Pioneer Courthouse Square and hit in the back with a skateboard before others intervened.

Several thousand chanting, sign-waving people gathered in Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, California. A night earlier, in the hours after Trump won the election, Oakland demonstrators broke windows and did other damage.

In San Francisco, hundreds are marching along Market Avenue, one of the city’s main avenues, to join a vigil in the Castro District, a predominantly gay neighborhood.

In Los Angeles, protesters on the steps of City Hall burned a giant papier mache Trump head in protest.

Hundreds massed in downtown Seattle streets.

Many held anti-Trump and Black Lives Matter signs and chanted slogans, including “Misogyny has to go,” and “The people united, will never be defeated.”

Five people were shot and injured in an area near the protest, but police said the shootings and the demonstration were unrelated.

Back in New York, several groups of protesters caused massive gridlock as police mobilized to contain them under a light rain.

They held signs that read “Trump Makes America Hate” and chanted “hey, hey, ho, ho Donald Trump has got to go” and “Impeach Trump.”

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.

After Trump victory, rabbis call for unity and tolerance
Jewish spiritual leaders across US call on Jews to build bridges with their fellow citizens
By Josefin Dolsten November 10, 2016, 6:38 am

Donald Trump’s unexpected victory sunk in, rabbis across the country took to social media to share their reactions and address their congregants. Many rabbis encouraged unity and tolerance, and called on Jews to build bridges with their fellow citizens.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

Some were dismayed by the results of the election, such as Rabbi Debbie Zecher, rabbi emerita at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of T’ruah, wrote that the human rights rabbinic group was “terrified” by Trump’s “hateful rhetoric.”

“While T’ruah does not endorse candidates, we have been terrified by the hateful rhetoric espoused by the campaign of the President-elect, and by the rejection of the basic human rights protections, democratic ideas, and valuing of diversity that makes the United States strong. The wave of increased hate speech and even hate crimes alarms us, as a people whose history teaches the danger of scapegoating minorities,” Jacobs said in a statement.

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, President and Dean of Valley Beit Midrash in Phoenix, Arizona, wrote a message of hope, saying “love will always win in the long run.”

Obama to host Trump at White House
President will meet with president-elect in Oval Office Thursday ahead of transition period after stunning victory over Clinton
By Andrew BEATTY November 10, 2016, 6:58 am


Washington, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama will host Donald Trump in the Oval Office Thursday, hoping to ease a smooth transition of power and steady nerves after an election that has shocked the world.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

Forty-eight hours after Trump’s improbable political victory, the 70-year-old president-elect will get a chance to measure the drapes ahead of his January inauguration.

It could be a deeply uneasy meeting for two men who have sparred repeatedly.

Trump has questioned whether Obama was born in the United States — a suggestion laden with deep racial overtones — and the Democratic commander-in-chief has described the celebrity businessman as “uniquely unqualified” to be president.

But the last day has seen efforts to bring this deeply divided country together after a brutal two-year battle for the White House that at times appeared more tribal than partisan.
Hillary Clinton, with husband Bill Clinton, giving a concession speech in New York on November 9, 2016. (screen capture: CNN)

Hillary Clinton, with husband Bill Clinton, giving a concession speech in New York on November 9, 2016. (screen capture: CNN)

Vanquished Democratic rival Hillary Clinton fought back the bitter disappointment of not becoming America’s first female president to urge Americans to give Trump a chance, at least from the outset.

“We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” she said in a concession speech.

Obama, addressing disconsolate staff in the White House Rose Garden, played down the extraordinary Trump upset, painting it as democracy being its messy self.

“Sometimes you lose an argument,” he said, adding that all Americans would now be “rooting” for Trump’s success.

“We are Americans first. We’re patriots first. We all want what’s best for this country,” Obama said as staff wiped away tears and pondered whether his administration’s eight years of toil had come to naught.
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, speaks in the election, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Vice President Joe Biden, speaks in the election, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

In the battle for the soul of America, those who helped elect America’s first black president now appear to be in retreat.

Both Obama and Clinton issued a faint but definite warning that Trump must respect institutions and the rule of law if a modicum of goodwill is to hold.

In remarks that would once have seemed unthinkable, the president of the world’s foremost democracy and military power subtly urged his successor to respect the 240-year-old system of governance and its institutions.

“The country,” Obama said “needs a sense of unity, a sense of inclusion, a respect for our institutions, our way of life, rule of law, and a respect for each other.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest demurred when asked whether Trump would respect the rule of law.

His tone “would seem to suggest that certain basic principles of our democracy are likely to be upheld.”
Brave new world

“Likely” is unlikely clear enough for Washington’s partners who see the entire global political order, which hinges on Washington’s moral and military leadership, as cast into doubt.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to take on the mantle of champion of liberal values and “leader of the free world,” an epithet usually reserved for American presidents.

She warned that “close cooperation” between the two countries must be based on shared democratic values, and reminded Trump of the global responsibility he carries.

“On the basis of these values, I offer close cooperation to the future president of the United States of America, Donald Trump.”

Europe, already beset by financial and social crises and internal divisions, now faces existential questions about its own security. Trump has questioned the US-led NATO’s key collective defense guarantee.

The leaders of America’s closest hemispheric partners, Canada and Mexico, quickly made clear their willingness to work with the new president, offering a message of continuity and stability with their giant neighbor.

Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto reached out to the president-elect, agreeing to a fresh meeting.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump flanked by members of his family speaks to supporters during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York on November 9, 2016. Trump won the US presidency. (AFP PHOTO / Timothy A. CLARY)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump flanked by members of his family speaks to supporters during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York on November 9, 2016.
Trump won the US presidency. (AFP PHOTO / Timothy A. CLARY)
‘Redemption, not recrimination’

The Republican Party leadership, too, embraced their newfound champion.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, who had distanced himself from Trump in the final month of the campaign, pledged to “hit the ground running” and work with him on conservative legislation.

But Ryan also called for healing, saying the bitterly contested race must be followed by a period “of redemption, not a time of recrimination.”

Likewise, Trump called for national reconciliation after Clinton conceded defeat in a result that virtually no poll had dreamed of predicting.

He told a crowd of jubilant supporters early Wednesday in New York “it is time for America to bind the wounds of division” as he pledged to work with Democrats in office.

On Wednesday Trump huddled at Trump Tower in New York with a group of advisers, planning the transition to running the world’s largest economy when he takes office on January 20.

During a bitter campaign that tugged at America’s democratic fabric, the tycoon pledged to deport illegal immigrants, ban Muslims from the country and tear up free-trade deals.

Trump’s campaign message was embraced by a large section of America’s white majority, grown increasingly disgruntled by the scope of social and economic change under Obama.

Some of the most enthusiastic support for Trump came from far-right and nationalist politicians in Europe such as French opposition figure Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s Northern League and British euroskeptic Nigel Farage.

Russia’s autocratic leader Vladimir Putin said he wanted to rebuild “full-fledged relations” with the United States, as he warmly congratulated the president-elect.

In phone call, Netanyahu thanks Clinton for her support for Israel
Israeli PM extends open invitation to defeated Democratic nominee to visit Israel
By Times of Israel staff November 10, 2016, 1:54 am


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, a day after she was defeated by now President-elect Donald Trump in the race for the US presidency.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories Free Sign up!

During the call, Netanyahu thanked Clinton for her support for Israel and extended an open invitation for her to visit, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu spoke to Trump who invited the Israeli leader to Washington at the “first opportunity,” according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Trump and Netanyahu, “who have known each other for many years, had a warm, heartfelt conversation,” the statement said.

“President-elect Trump invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to a meeting in the United States at the first opportunity,” it said.

Netanyahu responded by saying that he and his wife Sara were looking forward to meeting the president-elect and his wife Melania.

Regional issues were also raised during the phone conversation, the statement said, without elaborating.

Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu congratulated Trump on his election victory, saying the Republican was “a true friend of the State of Israel.”

“We will work together to advance security, stability and peace in our region,” Netanyahu said in a statement.

“The bond between the US and Israel is based on shared values, shared interests and a shared future. I am sure that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the special alliance between Israel and the US and we will bring them to new heights,” he added.

Later Wednesday, Netanyahu released a video congratulating Trump.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meeting at the Trump Tower in New York, September 25, 2016. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump meeting at the Trump Tower in New York, September 25, 2016. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

Netanyahu met with both Trump and Clinton in New York in September, but refrained from expressing support for a particular candidate. Following the September meetings, the prime minister said “it doesn’t matter which of them will be elected, US support of Israel will remain strong, our pact will remain strong and will even get stronger in the coming years.”

The prime minister’s statement on Wednesday came on the heels of statements expressing a mix of optimism and wariness by Israeli politicians, many of whom joined Netanyahu in stressing the continued strengthening of the US-Israel ties.

President Reuven Rivlin congratulated Trump on his victory, which he said demonstrated that the US is the “greatest democracy.”

“There are many challenges that lie before you as president — at home and around the world. Israel, your greatest ally, stands by you as your friend and partner in turning those challenges into opportunities,” he said in a statement.

IS leaders ordered Paris, Brussels attacks, prosecutor says
Terrorist attacks in France and Belgium carried out by the same cell; authorities still searching for suspects
By AFP November 9, 2016, 7:16 pm



“We know that the orders came from the Islamic State zone…. We know that it went very high in the command,” Frederic Van Leeuw said in an interview with AFP.

He could not say exactly which top IS official or officials gave the orders or whether they sent them from a base in Syria or Iraq, the territory run by IS leader and self-declared caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

He said the command moved around to dodge US-backed strikes. “Baghdadi was for a while in Mosul, sometimes in Raqqa,” he added.

“We don’t know at all who are the people who really gave the orders,” he said.
A picture taken off CCTV purporting to show suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016. Faycal C may be the man on the right, sources told AFP on March 26, 2016 (Twitter)

A picture taken off CCTV purporting to show suspects in the Brussels airport attack on March 22, 2016. (Twitter)

Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks across Paris on November 13 that killed 130 people as well as the suicide bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station on March 22 that killed 32 people.

Van Leeuw said the attacks were carried out by the same cell, some of whose members were based in Brussels, and the authorities are still looking for suspects who did not die in the attacks or were arrested afterward.

“The investigation is far from having ended, as much at the Belgian as at the French level,” he said.