One Eye on the Elections and the Other on the Gaza Extermination... Why Does Israel Prefer Trump's Victory?

Israel is closely monitoring the US presidential elections scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, although it is clear that broad circles there prefer the victory of the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).

There is an agreement between Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris on Washington's continued support for what it considers "Israel's right to defend itself," especially in light of the current war of extermination on the Gaza Strip.

Since the start of the Gaza genocide, on October 7, 2023, the administration of US President Joe Biden (Democrat) has provided Israel with military, intelligence and political support without which the war would not have continued.

Both Harris and Trump affirm their support for Tel Aviv, although they have issued, at varying rates, gray propaganda statements about ending the war, to court voters, including Americans of Arab and Muslim origins.

In a fierce competition with Trump to attract voters, Harris has declared on more than one occasion that it is time to end the war in Gaza.

This genocide resulted in more than 145,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

Harris did not make clear whether her administration, if it wins, would deal more firmly with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than the Biden administration has continued to support him for more than a year of ongoing genocide.

Trump has previously called for an end to the war, but his policy if he wins a second term remains unclear.

Why Trump?

"Polls in Israel show that if these elections were held here, more than 60 percent would vote for Trump and about 20 percent for Harris," Israeli analyst Susan Rolev said in the Jerusalem Post on Monday.

“The common answer one gets from pro-Trump Israelis when asked about their choice is: Trump is better for Israel,” she added.

"On the surface, this seems like a perfectly logical response. First, the majority of the Jewish population in Israel today is neither liberal nor progressive, so Harris has no chance from the start, while the conservative, or rather illiberal and reactionary, Trump has a built-in advantage," she said.

She continued: "Secondly, the fact that Netanyahu clearly favors Trump, and his unfriendly relationship with Harris (...) certainly affects large sectors of public opinion in Israel."

"However, I think the suggestion that Trump is favorable to Israel requires more serious examination," Roelof added.

“It is true that Trump is attractive to some groups of Israelis because of his illiberal and non-progressive positions,” she explained. “But I have friends and acquaintances who are illiberal and non-progressive, and they are good and trustworthy. This is not something that can be said about Trump.”

“We don’t know what was said in the talks between Netanyahu and Trump. Trump may have made promises to Netanyahu. However, it is no secret that Trump has isolationist tendencies that are incompatible with continued deep American involvement in supporting Israel in its current war against Iran and its proxies,” she added.

“Trump also opposes massive US financial support for allies of various kinds (such as Ukraine), and expressed disappointment in Netanyahu’s behavior regarding the results of the 2020 presidential election when Netanyahu congratulated Biden on his victory,” Rolev said.

She added: "It was also reported that Trump called on Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza and Lebanon and the mutual strikes with Iran as soon as possible, before he takes office in January 2025, assuming he wins."

She pointed out that "Trump decided in the final stage of his election campaign to woo Muslim voters in swing states, and promised that "unlike the clowns currently running the show in the Middle East" (i.e. the Biden administration) he would immediately achieve peace in the region."

She believed that this situation "cannot but cause concern in Israeli government circles, as it is known that Trump views the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the peace process."

She added, "Trump's defeat could lead to a period of unrest and even violence in the United States if he again refuses to recognize the election results. But in my opinion, this is better than the results of his victory."

"the right man"

"The right man for the job," Miriam Adelson, one of Trump's biggest supporters, concluded in an article in the Hebrew newspaper Israel Hayom on Monday.

She considered that Trump, in his first presidential term, "implemented the will of the people - as expressed in a law postponed since 1995 by Congress - by moving the US embassy (in Israel from Tel Aviv) to Jerusalem (occupied East)."

“In a democracy like ours, elections reflect the will of the people,” she continued. “But they should not be a popularity contest. They should be a choice based on principles, not a display of flexible principles to please voters.”

“Mr. Trump, you have my vote. As a former military officer, a veteran physician, and a businesswoman, I say this clearly: You are the right man, the only man, for this job,” Adelson said.

While Israelis await the results of the US elections, Palestinians see Harris and Trump as two faces of continued US support for the war of extermination in Gaza.

The genocide in Gaza resulted in more than 145,000 Palestinian deaths and injuries, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that killed dozens of children and elderly people, in one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.

After clashes with factions in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, which began the day after Israel launched its war of extermination on Gaza, Tel Aviv expanded the scope of the extermination to include most areas of Lebanon since September 23.

The aggression on Lebanon resulted in a total of 2,986 deaths and 13,402 injuries, including a large number of children and women, in addition to about 1,400,000 displaced persons. Most of the victims and displaced persons were recorded after September 23.

For decades, Israel has occupied Arab lands in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, and rejects the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the borders before the 1967 war, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Source: Anadolu Agency