Trump warns: Harris presidency could mean end for Israel Expert insights

Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, warned that the State of Israel could cease to exist within two years if Kamala Harris wins the upcoming US presidential election. He made this statement at the Israeli-American Council's National Summit in Washington, a pre-election event focused on condemning antisemitism, as reported by The New York Times. Trump addressed an audience that included congressional members and prominent Jewish Republicans, such as Miriam Adelson, a major donor to his campaign.

“With all I have done for Israel, I received only 24 percent of the Jewish vote…A poll just came out. I’m at 40%...You can’t let this happen. Forty percent is not acceptable, because we have an election to win…If I don’t win this election – and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because if 40 percent, I mean, 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy – Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years,” Trump criticized American Jews.

Jews, who make up just over 2 per cent of the US population, are considered one of the most consistently liberal groups in the country, according to The New York Times.

Trump stated that while members of the Democratic Party condemn Jews, they continue to "vote for the enemy" in the US In this context, he suggested that the Democratic Party holds some special power over American Jews, but he believes he should receive "100 per cent" of the Jewish vote due to his pro-Israel policies.

Trump's campaign has prioritized winning over Jewish voters in key states. For decades, American Jews have largely voted for Democrats in federal elections, but even a slight shift in their votes could determine the winner in November. Notably, in the critical battleground state of Pennsylvania, which is home to over 400,000 Jews, Biden won by a margin of 81,000 votes in 2020.

It raises questions about the validity of Trump's claim that electing Democrat Kamala Harris as president poses such a significant threat to Israel that it could lead to the country's complete disappearance. Are there substantial reasons to support this assertion?

Foreign experts shared their insights on this matter with Caliber.Az.

American analyst and commentator Samson Katzman noted that immediately after the opening of the aforementioned forum, the 45th President of the United States called on his Democratic Party opponents to renounce support for all backers of Hamas, antisemites, and those who hate Israel, both on college campuses and elsewhere.

"In my opinion, there is a significant degree of validity and understandable grievance in Trump's words. No American president has done as much for Israel during his time in the Oval Office as Trump: he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, effectively recognizing it as the capital of the Jewish state; he officially recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel occupied during the Six-Day War in June 1967; and it was under Trump that the so-called 'Abraham Accords' were initiated—a roadmap for the full normalization of relations between Israel and Arab countries. This historic breakthrough toward peace in the Middle East likely would have occurred if the massacre carried out by Hamas, which was orchestrated by Iran on October 7, had not taken place," the expert explained.

He added that among American voters of Jewish descent (with the exception of Jews from the former Soviet republics, who predominantly support Republicans), left-liberal sentiments and narratives prevail.

“Sometimes, when listening to anti-Israel remarks from American politicians of Jewish descent, one wonders whether there is more naivety or ignorance mixed with cynicism. Most descendants of Eastern European and Russian Jews who immigrated to the US to escape pogroms and the Nazi concentration camps have lived in a free country for many generations and either forgotten or neglected the historical memory and experiences of their grandparents. The level of anti-Israel sentiment in their speeches, such as those of Vermont Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders or Amy Goodman, the host of the anti-Israel YouTube channel Democracy Now, is off the charts. The ideas propagated by them and their like-minded individuals in the American Jewish electorate are directed against both Trump and Israel. The anti-Semitic and anti-Israel tendencies noted by Trump in the Democratic Party were confirmed by one of the most interesting and prominent political thinkers in modern America, Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, who left the party after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19-22,” the analyst pointed out.

Returning to Trump's prediction regarding the fate of the Jewish state if Kamala Harris becomes the 47th president, he acknowledged that there is indeed a high chance that U.S. support for Israel could weaken.

“How fatal would this scenario be for Israel's existence? As the saying goes, there’s little that is good and pleasant, but... Such periods have occurred in the history of US-Israel relations. The American political elite has never been entirely united in its support for Israel since the country's founding. American Secretary of Defense James Forrestal, who had heated discussions with President Truman on this matter, was very clear: 'Oil is where we need to be.' There were also significant setbacks even when support seemed to be an integral part of American Middle Eastern policy, such as the delay in critically needed military equipment to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. Even in the current events taking place in the Middle East, there are delays in supplying Israel with munitions, specifically artillery shells of 105mm and 155mm, the production of which Israel has delegated to its main ally.

My conclusion regarding Trump's fatalistic prediction is that while it will not be easy for Israel, the Jewish state will survive,” Katzman is confident.

As political expert and commentator Avigdor Eskin (Jerusalem) stated, President Donald Trump often expresses himself in figurative and metaphorical terms.

"We cannot talk about an existential threat to Israel if Israel itself demonstrates resilience. The past week has shown the world that Israel is capable of miracles. However, it is important to note that Kamala Harris would be an unfriendly president for Israel if she wins the election, God forbid. Her inner circle consists of the left wing of the party, where we find anti-Israel groups alongside radical LGBTQ activists," the commentator reported.

According to him, American Jews, like other minorities in the US, have traditionally been aligned with the Democratic Party.

"There is no doubt that Donald Trump is far preferable for Israel and the Jewish community as a whole. However, more than half of American Jews are assimilated. For them, the interests of Israel and Judaism are secondary. Nonetheless, 40 per cent support for the Republican candidate is significant among American Jews. It cannot be ruled out that the number of those voting for Trump could exceed 50 per cent," Eskin suggested.