Former President Donald Trump has been awarded the Theodor Herzl Medallion by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a group that works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, as well as combat anti-Israel bias.
In an email sent to its members, the ZOA said it was honoring Trump “for being the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.”
Physician and billionaire Miriam Adelson will present the award to Trump on Nov. 13 at the Zionist Organization’s national awards dinner in New York City. Adelson will also honor House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy with the ZOA’s Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Defender of Israel Award.
The email then went on to list some of the former president’s accomplishments:
- Moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem;
- Recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights;
- Brokering the Abraham Accords peace agreements between Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates; and three months later, between Israel and Morocco;
- Removing the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal;
- Stopping U.S. funding of the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA, a group exclusively focused on financing Palestinian refugees and their descendants;
- Recognizing the legality of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria;
- Being the first U.S. president to pray at the Western Wall; and
- Issuing an executive order to strengthen Title VI of the Civil Rights Act in order to protect Jewish students
According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2019, 71 percent of people from Israel expressed confidence in Trump’s “world leadership”.
The award comes as Trump hints at running for president again in 2024. During a recent interview with New York Magazine, he said that he feels “very confident” about his chances of being re-elected, along with a possible announcement before or after the midterm elections in November.
“I feel very confident that, if I decide to run, I’ll win,” he said.
Trump still holds a plurality of support among Republican voters. A recent NYT/Siena survey found that nearly 50 percent of Republican voters said they want him to run in 2024, while 25 percent named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also poised to run for president.
