Former New York State Assemblyman and founder of Americans Against Anti-Semitism Dov Hikind spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about his reaction to the reelection of Donald Trump and the recent appointments of pro-Israel officials to the new Trump Administration.
Yesterday, Hikind recorded a video of himself praying at the Western Wall in thanks for Trump's victory and appointments. He explained why he made the video this week and not the day after the election.
"I think, first of all, it's very, very important, while everyone is very excited, in the United States and in Israel, that Donald Trump was successful and has been appointing amazing individuals, I think the first thing was the message to everybody: Let's not forget HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Let's not forget Hashem," Hikind said, using two Hebrew names for God. "Because without Hashem, nothing happens."
He called Trump's nominees "great people, wonderful people. We hope for the best and [that] it will be good. But Hashem runs the show and we need to remember that. Being at the Kotel, it was very emotional for me at this particular time, because we are living, I believe, in one of the most difficult periods of history, of the 20th and 21st century."
"With antisemitism out of control in America and all over the world, without exception: France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, and on and on and on," he said. "We have a very serious situation. Baruch Hashem, good things are happening, but being at the Kotel, that's the foundation."
Addressing the nominations of people like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be US Ambassador to Israel and Senator Marco Rubio to be US Secretary of State, Hikind stated that "it doesn't get any better. When you look at Mike Huckabee, when you look at Pete Hegseth, I know these people well. I have walked with them in the so-called Muslim Quarter, walking the streets. These are people, not people who [say], 'I support the existence of the State of Israel.' These are people who, I have to say ... I wish we had more Jews who were that committed, that outspoken, who are not looking over their shoulder, 'What are the goyim gonna say?' These people, they've got it. It's their heart. It's their neshamot (souls), literally. It's unbelievable. Mike Waltz, [Elon] Musk, Elise Stefanik. Literally, Hashem is like, 'It was tough times,' and now Hashem is saying, 'I've got to ease the load for the Jewish people a little bit.' So it's great, it's wonderful."
Hikind agreed that while divine help is important, much still depends on how Israel and the Jewish people respond and work with the new administration. "There's no question about that. People in Israel and political people should not outrun the situation. 'We're gonna build, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do that,' think that 'Oh, we have Trump, we can do anything now.' No, no, wait a second. Be careful what comes out of your mouth. I don't know if Israeli politicians always realize ... that every little thing they say becomes a headline in the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, and everywhere else. Whatever your views are, your feelings, express them. But be careful what you say and how it is playing throughout the world. Sometimes, I'm not sure that a lot of these politicians here recognize that and realize that. Because they cause damage that sometimes is not necessary. We've got a good thing going, let's not ruin it."
According to some reports, Hikind is under consideration as the next US Special Envoy on Combatting Antisemitism. In response to this, he told us, "In the last 24 hours, Joel Pollack, who's the editor of Breitbart, a conservative site in America, a very important one, literally put out - he pushed me into this position. I have spent my entire life, and I don't deserve any pat on the back for that, standing up for the Jewish people, fighting for the Jewish people for the last 55 years. So Joel Pollack put this out and suddenly, people were reacting in the literally hundreds of thousands. I've gotten calls from people in the Trump Administration. They want to talk to me. We'll see what happens."
"I don't need a job, Thank God," he explained. "But I will always be there to stand up and fight for the Jewish people, not being afraid, not doing what is 'politically correct.' So if something comes along and there is a possibility, then I am more than ready to be there."
When asked if he would prefer to fight antisemitism from outside of politics, Hikind responded, "Having a position involving antisemitism under the auspices of Donald Trump and all the other wonderful people in the administration could give me a much bigger voice to say the things that I have been saying, but to say it to the entire world, things that need to be said."
"We've been fighting antisemitism, all the organizations that are out there,[so] how come things are so bad?" he asked. "All the organizations that have been educating the world about antisemitism, how come things are worse than ever? Maybe we're doing things wrong, maybe we need a new approach, especially after October 7th. In America, I can tell you one thing. The Jewish organizations, God bless them all, we've got so many of them, I can't keep track, but there's no one there to say, 'Ok, what's the plan?' The ADL just reported close to 8,000 incidents of Jew hatred in 2023. I mean, that's crazy. Hundreds of cases of assaults, hundreds of cases of the destruction of property. We've never seen anything like this. What's the plan? Is there a plan? There is no plan."
When asked what he would do to combat this problem, Hikind said, "First of all, we have to teach Jews 'hadar,' Jewish pride. Jews have to be proud that they are Jews. Barzel (iron), the concept of strength, Jews not being afraid. It's a mindset. We have so many cases where Jews have been physically assaulted in the streets of America, the average person has no clue what you do when someone comes over to you and calls you an 'effing Jew.' There was a young man from my shul in Woodmere - he's 21 years old, he spent the last few years in Israel. He came out of Penn. Central, a major thoroughfare, thousands of people. He came out of the train station in Manhattan. And suddenly he was assaulted by a guy wearing a mask, calling him an 'f-ing Jew,' saying 'Hitler should have finished the job.' The guy is walking after him, this kid is terrified. I said, 'Did anybody say anything?' There were hundreds of people around. He said, 'Nobody said a word, everybody was taking videos.' The kicker of this story is, that when I asked this young person, 'Come with me to the police to report what happened to you,' he wouldn't. He was afraid."
"That must be changed," Hikind declared. "It's a mindset. By the way, it was his father who came to me in shul to tell me what happened. So yes, there needs to be a change in terms of how people deal with things in America. There needs to be change, period, and I have an idea of what needs to be done."
When asked about the possibility of more unity and dialogue between the right and left in America, including among Jews, Hikind said, "I think Donald Trump accomplished that on November 5th, because he brought more people together, not just people who are supporters of his regardless of what he does. He brought more Jews to his side, Latinos, Black people. So that needs to continue, and I think it will continue."
"The headlines in America on all the liberal media, they're in panic. They're yelling, they're screaming. It's out of control. Those are the elite. But I think the American people, more and more people understand what Donald Trump is all about and what he wants to do. And we all hope for the best. But Donald Trump brought unity on November 5th by shocking everyone and bringing so many Americans - Democrats in America are trying to figure out, 'What did we do wrong?' You know what they did wrong? They weren't speaking to the average person, and Donald Trump was," Hikind concluded.