Trump invites anti-Zionist rabbi to White House
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US President Donald Trump invites an anti-Zionist Satmar rabbi to the white house for a meeting in recognition of his support during the election.
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Work continues near the presidential reviewing stand on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, in Washington, ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration (AP)
US President-elect Donald Trump has extended an invitation to Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum, the anti-Zionist leader of the Satmar Hasidic community, for a meeting at the White House. The move, announced by Trump's campaign on Friday, is described as "recognition of his support during the election."
This landmark meeting will be the first time a sitting US president hosts a Hasidic leader at the White House. Trump's team emphasized that Rabbi Teitelbaum's blessing was considered a "significant factor in his victory" and that Trump was seeking a special blessing ahead of his presidency.
The Satmar sect, which is widely known for its opposition to secular Zionism and the Israeli occupation, has maintained a strong presence in pro-Palestinian demonstrations in New York City since October 7.
Rabbi Teitelbaum's stance reflects the Satmar community's long-held belief that the establishment of a Jewish state prior to the arrival of the Messiah is against Jewish law. This position has often placed the Satmar sect at odds with mainstream Jewish and Zionist organizations.
Jewish support for Palestine
The Satmar sect is not the only Jewish front in support of Palestine. Jewish groups have urged the United States to stop arming the Israeli occupation as its aggression increases in the West Bank and its genocidal campaign of aggression continued in Gaza.
The Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a US-based advocacy organization, posted on X in August that Washington has long "facilitated Israel's genocidal violence" against Palestinians and that the supply of US weaponry to the occupation must be halted immediately.
"From Gaza to the occupied West Bank, genocidal violence against Palestinians is allowed, permitted, and facilitated" by both the Israeli government and the United States, according to the JVP.
Citing Washington's unwavering backing for the genocidal onslaught in the Gaza Strip, the group called for a global landscape free of Zionism and colonialism, reiterating its call to the US government to suspend weaponry supplies to the Israeli military.
"This massive and coordinated invasion is a direct result of our government's continual enabling and co-signing of the Israeli ... genocidal actions across all of occupied Palestine," the organization stated.
JVP explained that the latest attacks represent a substantial increase in violence across the occupied West Bank, while Israeli settlers are working with Israeli occupation forces to quickly usurp additional land for their illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank.
