The results of the U.S. elections have left us reeling both as Americans and as Jews. Put simply, we face a dual challenge: How do we counsel our own community and allay its anxieties, and how do we address the incoming administration with respect to our concerns?
The Jewish community requires reassurance regarding future Jewish security. It bears repeating that no society in diaspora Jewish history has been as receptive to and as welcoming of Jewish participation as has the United States. Since the conclusion of World War II, that welcome has prevailed irrespective of governing party or presidential occupant, and the strength of American democracy has been its guarantor. To be sure, the campaign witnessed assaults on American internationalism and ethnic and religious pluralism, both values Jews deeply cherish. A robust American international presence is critical both for America’s well-being and Israel’s. Domestically, pluralism both encourages the exercise of collective minority politics and acts as a check upon political and religious extremism. The civil sector that we as leaders represent must articulate a message of all Americans coming together under the rubric of the continued greatness of American democracy and pluralism.
President-elect Trump has pledged to be “President of all Americans” and to fulfill our international obligations. As patriotic Americans and Jews, we both must wish him success in doing so and hold him accountable should he fall short of the promise.
National director Contemporary Jewish Life Dept. American Jewish Committee
