Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Rebukes Trump, Says Israel’s Survival Does Not Depend on Any Leader

Safed’s Chief Rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, responded Monday morning to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remark that Israel would not last two hours without him. Eliyahu said the Jewish people have survived for thousands of years without any particular leader, and that history shows Israel endured far harsher conditions, including centuries of dispersion and repeated attempts at destruction, yet remained alive.

He pointed to Israel’s wars as proof, saying that in the War of Independence the United States sent no military aid, “not even one bullet,” and Israel still defeated all the Arab states. He added that before the Six-Day War, France and the United States imposed an arms embargo, yet Israel still defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria in six days.

Eliyahu also attacked past diplomatic moves that he said brought disaster. He cited the Oslo Accords, which were signed under pressure from a then-U.S. president and, in his words, led to “great bloodshed” and thousands of deaths, and he described the Gaza disengagement as another “foolish agreement” that produced only calamity and damage.

While thanking the United States for its support, Eliyahu said Israel is not “indebted” to Washington. He argued that Israel’s war also protected the Western world from the “cancer” of Iran and radical Islam. He ended by urging Trump not to sign “the Munich agreements of our generation,” warning him not to repeat Neville Chamberlain’s mistake in appeasing Adolf Hitler, and said history will judge whether Trump stood with Israel or brought ruin.