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Israeli settlers disappointed over Trump’s defeat, worry over Biden

Disappointed over the defeat of their friend, US President Donald Trump, West Bank settlers worry over the Biden administration.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Netanyahu is in Washington to participate in the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords.  (Photo by Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images)

The day before the US presidential election, several leaders of Israel’s settlement movement held a special prayer service for a Donald Trump win. The place chosen for the event was the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, traditionally believed to be the burial place of the biblical patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — and one of the holiest sites in all of Judaism.

Any onlookers would have thought that the event was bizarre. It involved a few men in yarmulkes and the requisite coronavirus masks gathered in one of the most contentious sites in the Middle East to pray and blow the shofar against a backdrop of Trump photos and American flags. They were pleading with God for the success of the man they believed had shown more support for Israel than any other US president.

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