'Trump's good for the Jews; every vote counts'

Rabbi Yehuda Kornfeld, principal of a Jewish school in South Florida, educator, and well-known figure in the Jewish community, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the U.S. presidential election and called on Florida Jews to vote for Donald Trump.

Rabbi Kornfeld believes that despite the polls, Trump has a chance to win, and called on Florida Jews to prioritize the needs of the State of Israel and the needs of the Jews and therefore vote for the current U.S. President.

"Trump definitely has a chance," Rabbi Kornfeld told Arutz Sheva. "In the 2016 election, they said he had no chance and here we saw he was elected president."

The two candidates, Joe Biden and Doinald Trump, are investing much energy and resources to win the state of Florida, which could tip the scales on Election Day. "Florida's a very important state. The gap there between the candidates is very small," Rabbi Kornfeld said. “Recent polls in Florida talk about one percent here and one percent there.

"Florida is one of the most important states and perhaps the most important state so we see Trump and Biden investing a lot of effort. They've been there for days."

Joe Biden leads the polls, but Rabbi Kornfeld is unfazed: "We saw what polls are worth in the last election, on the other hand we've really seen the polls lead by a lot of percentages. It's starting to shrink a bit after the last debate that Trump really made an impression compared to the previous debate, but keep in mind that Biden's still leading."

He said, "Trump's voters are unpredictable in the polls. Especially in Florida, with how small the Jewish community is, we're talking about 21 million residents in Florida and the Jewish community in Florida is about 800,000 Jews who are mostly Democrats. The differences are large, we're talking about about 72% for Biden, so most Jews in Florida vote for Biden."

Although most Florida Jews are likely to vote for Biden, there's a war going on. "Every effort is being made," he said. "Even in the religious and Israeli community, which isn't large in relation to the Jewish community, but every vote counts and therefore the investment is very, very large."

What bothers American Jews?

"There are fundamental questions in the United States that they'll decide," he said. "Open schools or not, which is a very big difference between Trump and Biden. There's a fundamental question here about liberalism and not liberalism.

"America is more divided than ever," he said. "It's divided. I know families whose parents aren't talking to children or in-laws. There's really a divided country here the likes of which has never been in history. You feel it in the air, you feel it exists."

The attitude towards Israel

He said, "On the issue of Israel, I saw in the last survey that of all the Jews in Florida, for only 6% is Israel the top priority, whether for Trump or Biden. I mean, Israel, even for Jews, isn't the issue at all.

"My message is very simple," he added. "Even if you don't agree with the ideas of the Republican Party in the United States, Trump has proven in the last 4 years that the State of Israel is a very, very high priority for him. He invests a lot of time and has done a lot for the State of Israel. There's never been better for Israel and to Jews like Trump. This isn't up for debate."

Therefore, he said, "So with all the differences and all the views, we as Jews - the State of Israel should be in the first place in our priorities and we should choose a person who will be good for us, good for the Jews and the State of Israel."