Trump or Harris? Israelis discuss presidential choice as war with Hamas, other terror groups continues

Israel’s multi-front wars against Hamas and Hezbollah and fears of a wider Middle East war with Iran have made support for the Jewish state an important issue in November’s presidential election.

Fox News Digital recently interviewed Israelis in the capital city of Jerusalem to see who they thought would be the better candidate in November’s election – former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

“He [Trump] has been president for four years and was an excellent president — the only president of America who brought us somewhat closer to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Mordechai told Fox News Digital from the heart of Israel’s capital city.

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Moti Stein, a professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital that Vice President Kamala Harris “is very good for Israel.”

He said she was “representing and maybe delivering values that are extremely important for the future of the Israeli society.”

The issue of concern for those interviewed who view the Democratic nominee as the best choice for Israel’s future is the continuation of democracy in the Jewish state.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House in Washington D.C., on July 25, 2024. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu )

Jerusalem resident John Golub, who, like Stern, was at a protest against Prime Minister Netanyahu near the country’s parliament, believes Harris is the best choice for Israelis. “Kamala Harris is committed to democracy, and I think she is the candidate of the two who will help Israel realize its future as a strong liberal, democratic democracy with a strong, independent judiciary that we need.”

Other Israelis were fearful of what a Harris administration might look like for Israel. Baruch Kalman told Fox News Digital that she’s not the right “candidate to help Israel,” complaining that he felt she is “concerned more about the Gazans and Hamas than she is about Israel.”

“Of the two candidates, Trump is the better candidate,” Kalman said. “He’s already shown his support for Israel, and he’s still supporting Israel, and he keeps his word, what he says, he does.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared this photo of himself with former President Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on July 26, 2024.  (X/@netanyahu)

Anna Gullko said that her support for Trump is due in part to his values that help form his policies. “I think his policy will be based on biblical values, what God demands of man.”

Zvika Klein, editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, one of Israel’s most read English language newspapers, recently penned an opinion piece stating why he felt that Harris was the wrong choice for Israel.

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“Kamala Harris as president, I think, is something that should worry Jews and Israelis for a number of reasons,” Klein said.

Klein believes that there is generally a large amount of respect from the Middle East for world leaders who display strength on the global stage – something that he says Harris is lacking. In contrast, he said the former president has demonstrated his support for Israel. Klein said that Trump’s track record in realizing the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem exemplify Trump’s willingness to work with Israel.

Road sign showing the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel (Hillel Maeir/TPS)

Klein cautioned that a future Trump administration will need to have skilled people who understand the region as he had during his first administration.

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“The question really would be if he’s going to … actually bring back, or work with the same kind of close team he had,” Klein said. “Whether with his son-in-law Jared Kushner or David Friedman, who was the ambassador to Israel. Many people who are super knowledgeable about Israel and about the region. If those types of people actually continue to be close to the president and actually are able to affect him, that’s a good thing. And in general, the Republican Party is just so pro-Israel.”

There are up to 600,000 American citizens who live temporarily or permanently in Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing figures from the U.S. Embassy. It also noted that some half a million of those citizens could be eligible to vote in November’s election.