Trump names 4 Orthodox rabbis among advisors of his new Religious Liberty Commission – Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Two Jewish activists at right-wing advocacy groups are also among the 26 advisors.
Four Orthodox rabbis are among the 26 people named by President Donald Trump to advise his newly formed Religious Liberty Commission.
Two other Jewish activists at right-wing advocacy groups are also joining the commission, which Trump announced earlier this month.
Critics of the commission have charged that it caters to the concerns of evangelical Christians and reflects a broad effort by the Trump administration to erode the separation of church and state. Trump has expressed skepticism about the very principle, including at the White House Rose Garden event on the National Day of Prayer where he announced the commission.
“Separation? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I’m not sure,” he said, adding, “We’re bringing religion back to our country. It’s a big deal.”
At the time, Trump appointed several people to the commission, including a host of Christian leaders and influencers as well as former Miss USA runner-up and television personality Dr. Phil. 
The appointees also included one Jewish leader, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, a senior scholar at the Tikvah Fund, a politically conservative Jewish think tank, and the rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel, an Orthodox synagogue that is the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States.
On Thursday, Trump announced three advisory committees to aid the work of the commission. Their members include four other rabbis and two Jewish leaders.
All of the rabbis are affiliated with Orthodoxy, which comprises 8% of American Jewry but constitutes a significant portion of Trump’s Jewish support. While the vast majority of American Jews disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, Orthodox Jews have shown strong support for him: More than 71% approve of the job he is doing while fewer than 20% disapprove, according to a recent poll.
Here are the Jews named to the Religious Liberty Commission advisory committees:
“At a time when many segments of American society have been moving away from religious practice and identity, it is especially important that we stand vigilant in protecting our first freedom – religious liberty,” Zweibel said in a statement.
Trump made appointments the same day that the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom announced the departure of a prominent Jewish member, before the commission is set to turn over in May 2026. Susie Gelman is a longtime Jewish philanthropist and pro-Israel activist who until recently chaired the board of the Israel Policy Forum, a centrist advocacy group lobbying for a two-state solution. In 2016, Gelman expressed concern over the incoming Trump administration’s stances on Israel.
“The work of the Commission greatly benefitted from her invaluable contributions and insight from her years of experience working with religious communities, in particular the Jewish community,” the commission’s chair, Stephen Schneck, said in a statement.
There remain two Jews among the seven remaining commissioners, who are charged with monitoring religious freedom abroad. They are Soloveichik and Ariela Dubler, an attorney and the head of school at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City.
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