Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump sees an opportunity to make inroads with Jewish voters by assuaging their concerns about Israel’s safety amid simmering tensions in the Middle East and keeping the focus on pocketbook issues at home.
If successful, the approach will help reduce Democrats’ advantage with Jewish voters, who long have been a reliable part of their bloc.
Addressing a Fighting Anti-Semitism in America event, Mr. Trump said Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris has ignored the “explosion of antisemitism” in the United States.
“She has done absolutely nothing,” Mr. Trump said of the Democratic presidential nominee. “She has not lifted a single finger to protect you, or to protect your children, or even to protect you with words.”
“I am here to tell the Jewish American community that this ugly tide of antisemitic, pro-Hamas bigotry and hate will be turned back and crushed, starting at noon on Jan. 20, 2025,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump said, if elected, he would usher in a “bright new day” for Jewish Americans.
“No longer will you have to walk the streets in fear,” Mr. Trump said. “With your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”
On the other hand, he warned that “I believe Israel will be wiped off the face of the Earth if I don’t win.”
The Thursday event was hosted by Miriam Adelson, a co-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and widow of billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Mr. Trump also was slated to deliver remarks later in the evening before the Israeli-American Council in Washington.
The appearance came after at least 37 people died and more than 2,600 people were injured when thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Hezbollah’s leaders said Israel, who U.S. officials and world leaders said was behind the attack, had crossed “red lines.”
It also came a couple of weeks from the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which left more than 1,400 civilians dead and hundreds held hostage, many of whom have been murdered in captivity.
Israeli has since fought back, and its retaliatory military action has led to the deaths of 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
President Biden and Ms. Harris have faced mounting pressure from Democratic Party progressives over the administration’s support for Israel. They have demanded an immediate cease-fire and shouted down elected leaders in protests nationwide, which have included some antisemitism.
Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have tried to thread the needle between showing support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and sympathy for Palestinians who have died in the ongoing conflict.
Mr. Biden, for example, said in his speech to the Democratic National Convention, that some of the protesters outside “have a point” and he has blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a roadblock to a cease-fire.
According to polls, some Jewish voters have abandoned Mr. Biden.
Pro-Israel forces in Washington say the Jewish state must win the war against Hamas, that good must triumph over evil.
For his part, Mr. Trump has repeatedly accused the Biden-Harris administration of abandoning Israel and siding with pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“I’m calling on Kamala Harris to officially disavow the support of all Hamas sympathizers, antisemites, Israel haters on a college campus and everywhere else,” he said Thursday. “She won’t do it. You know that.”
He has said Jewish voters who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” because “the Democrat Party hates Israel.”
The comments raised some eyebrows, because Democrats have won the lion’s share of the Jewish vote at the ballot box for decades.
According to The Associated Press’ VoteCast, Mr. Biden carried 69% of the Jewish vote in 2020, compared to 30% for Mr. Trump, though that did mark a Republican gain over 2016, when Mr. Trump won 24% of the Jewish vote and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton captured 71%.
Mr. Trump insists the current conflict would have never happened if he had been president.
He has touted the success his administration had brokering the Abraham Accords, which normalized relationships between Israel and several Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
He also has reminded voters he moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv and terminated the Iran nuclear deal, which he blames for enriching the Islamic republic and helping it fund terrorism.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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