Former President Donald Trump is casting himself as Israel’s "protector" and warning Jewish voters against supporting his rival, Vice President Harris.
Trump addressed the Israeli-American Council summit in Washington, D.C, on Thursday, during an evening focused on commemorating the October 7 attacks that sparked Israel’s war with Hamas.
Speaking to a mostly friendly crowd, Trump touted his past support for Israel and, without providing evidence, claimed that the Jewish state will soon cease to exist unless he’s elected.
“It’s total annihilation — that’s what you’re talking about,” Trump said. “You have a big protector in me. You don’t have a protector on the other side.”
Trump also accused Harris of “pandering” to Hamas supporters and said "Jewish people have no excuse" for supporting his Democratic rival. The Hamas attack on October 7 killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 200 hostages, including some American citizens. Since then, health officials in Gaza say more than 40,000 Palestinians have died. Harris has said that she will support Israel’s right to defend itself while also calling the suffering in Gaza “devastating.”
Trump repeatedly reiterated his past criticisms of the majority of Jewish voters who’ve historically supported Democrats.
“Anybody who’s Jewish and loves being Jewish and loves Israel is a fool if they vote for a Democrat,” Trump said, telling Harris supporters, “You should have your head examined.”
The remarks have sparked pushback from Jewish groups
In a thread on X, Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called on Trump to, "Stop labeling those who don't support you as crazy or disloyal," and accused him of playing into antisemitic tropes that will "lead to (more) violence against Jews."
In a statement, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, CEO & National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, echoed the concern.
"Preemptively blaming American Jews for your potential election loss does zero to help American Jews. It increases their sense of alienation in a moment of vulnerability when right-wing extremists and left-wing antizionists continually demonize and slander Jews," he said, adding that Trump's comments could "spark more hostility and further inflame an already bad situation."
Spitalnick also criticized Trump's statements about immigrants from the Middle East, and his pledge to reinstate the policy known as the "Muslim ban" by refusing refugees from countries he described as "terror-infested areas like the Gaza strip."
Spitalnick wrote: "If the antisemitism wasn't enough, he coupled it with full-on Islamophobia & racism."
From the stage, Trump also told a story about a moment that shaped his understanding of domestic politics surrounding Israel. During his early days of campaigning for the Republican nomination, during a visit to Iowa in 2015, Trump said he was speaking to a group of “very religious Christians.”
Trump said he was surprised when his host encouraged him to “say something good about Israel.”
“I said my, my, my, how things have changed,” he said.
Trump went on.
“And I said, ‘We love Israel; we will save Israel; and we will fight with Israel,’ and the place went wild. I said, ‘What the hell is going on?’” Trump said. “They love Israel. I hate to say it, sometimes they love Israel much more than Jewish people in New York love Israel.”
Trump's remarks were the latest in a long history of accusing Jewish Democrats of being disloyal to Israel.
Polls suggest that while a majority of Americans as a whole express support for the Jewish state, white evangelicals are among the most supportive groups. American Jews overwhelmingly say Israel’s reasons for fighting Hamas are valid, although younger Jews are more divided in their opinions about Israel’s response to the October 7 attack.
Many Jewish voters in the audience expressed support for Trump
Perri Finkelstein, a 33-year-old American-Israeli dual citizen who lives in Israel, told NPR that her top voting priority is “whoever’s going to do right by Israel.” Finkelstein said she appreciated several of Trump’s policy decisions, including recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.
“I don’t think I have to like him in order to know that he’s gonna do right by my country,” she said.
But Danny Eisenberg, 73, a radiologist from Maryland, called Trump’s statements about Jewish voters “crazy” and “a little antisemitic,” adding that he believes Trump’s promises about supporting Israel are exaggerated. Eisenberg told NPR he believes Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal had led to further instability in the region.
Trump's address to the Israeli-American Council comes just weeks after a 23-year-old Israeli-American, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was found shot dead in a Hamas tunnel in Gaza, along with the bodies of five other hostages.
Other featured speakers scheduled for the three-day conference taking place this weekend include Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York and Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson.
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