Claudia Sheinbaum made history on Monday when she became Mexico’s first female president, as well as the first Jewish person to be elected to the position. However, the local Jewish community isn’t too excited by the election of a representative of the ruling Morena party.
"As people who live here in Mexico, we examine the conduct in the country, and as Israelis, we’ll see how she treats Israel, as a Jew," Rabbi Dudi Caplin, head of the Chabad House in Cozumel, Mexico, told Ynet on Tuesday. "As a descendant of Holocaust survivors, I expect that now after she has been elected, she’ll take a clear side for supporting the people of Israel."
It seems she doesn’t take much pride in her Jewish heritage. She also didn't speak too much for Israel after October 7, did she?
"She hides it, you could say the community is really worried. She spoke in communist rhetoric, against the rich and for the poor of the people, statements like that. Businessmen hope there won't be a problem here. One of the community leaders told me: ‘I take comfort in the fact that she’s a politician, so it isn’t certain that she’ll live up to everything she said.’”
“She was Mexico City’s mayor in the past, and we hope she will do good things for Mexico, but especially that she’ll stand with Israel. She speaks Yiddish and grew up in a Jewish home,” he added.
"The Jewish community is concerned, but for years the community has been in very good contact with the government, and Jews are in very important key positions in the country,” he said.
“One of her assistants attends prayer services in the Ashkenazi community. I think it’ll be okay, and we’re all waiting to see her first steps, and especially expecting, that as a Jew, her Jewish heart will awaken, and we’ll see her speak for the people of Israel."
Were you favoring the party’s second candidate, since Sheinbaum hides her Jewish heritage?
"Yes, she wasn’t elected because of her Judaism. She hides her Jewish side very deeply; she doesn't talk about it and she's not married to a Jew either. We believe there probably won't be very big changes happening in Mexico's internal affairs, but matters related to Israel are what interest the whole community right now, to see where it goes. We at the Chabad House see a lot of Jews waking up, so I hope and believe this will happen here too."
Sheinbaum won a landslide victory over her rival, opposition candidate Xochitl Galvez, and will succeed the outgoing president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Her term will begin on October 1.