Throughout the closing weeks of the 2024 United States presidential race, former President Donald Trump spoke with sympathy to Arab American and Muslim voters enraged by the nation’s assist for Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon.
Trump visited Dearborn, Michigan, often known as the “capital” of Arab America. And he spoke on to Lebanese Individuals fearing for his or her households abroad.
“Throughout my Administration, we had peace within the Center East, and we may have peace once more very quickly!” Trump wrote on social media.
“I’ll repair the issues brought on by [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [President] Joe Biden and cease the struggling and destruction in Lebanon. I need to see the Center East return to actual peace, a long-lasting peace.”
However following a thumping victory on the polls, Trump is making ready to return to the White Home with a coterie of among the Republican Get together’s most vehemently pro-Israel figures.
Whereas some critics speculated that Trump would transfer away from a hawkish overseas coverage, his picks for key administration and cabinet positions have signalled that — no matter adjustments might come throughout his second time period — a break with Israel will not be prone to be amongst them.
A number of of Trump’s nominees not solely assist continued US army and diplomatic help for Israel, but additionally echo the views and targets of Israeli ultranationalists, who assist the enlargement of unlawful Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory.
In the meantime, the conflict in Gaza continues to drive civilian casualties, with not less than 43,799 killed because the battle started in October 2023. A current report from a United Nations particular committee discovered that Israel’s strategies within the Palestinian enclave have been “consistent with genocide“.
What have Trump’s high-level picks mentioned in regards to the ongoing battle within the Center East? Listed below are a couple of of his nominees, in their very own phrases.
Marco Rubio, nominee to be secretary of state
A longtime overseas coverage hawk, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has been a powerful supporter of Israel all through his political profession. He’s in line to be secretary of state, the US’s prime diplomat.
February 26, 2016: Rubio made a bid for president in 2016, dealing with a crowded pool of Republican candidates together with Trump. At a Republican major debate in Houston, Texas, he emphasised that he would “stand firmly on the facet of Israel” — and used his place to attract a distinction with Trump.
- “I don’t know if Donald realises this. I’m positive it’s not his intent, maybe. However the place you’ve taken is an anti-Israel place. And right here’s why. Since you can’t be an sincere dealer in a dispute between two sides during which one of many sides is consistently performing in dangerous religion,” Rubio mentioned.
- “As a substitute, right here’s what the Palestinians do. They educate their four-year-old kids that killing Jews is an excellent factor. Right here’s what Hamas does. They launch rockets and terrorist assaults towards Israel on an ongoing foundation. The underside line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians — given the present make-up of the Palestinians — will not be doable.”
October 9, 2023: Rubio reacted to the October 7 assaults in southern Israel by calling for an awesome army response.
- “Israel has no alternative however to hunt the entire eradication of Hamas in Gaza. There merely is not any diplomatic answer or ‘measured response’ obtainable,” Rubio wrote on social media.
- “This tragically vital effort will come at a horrifying worth. However the worth of failing to completely remove this group of sadistic savages is much more horrifying.”
November 2024: Confronted with activists from the antiwar group Code Pink, Rubio responded forcefully to questions on whether or not he would assist a ceasefire in Gaza.
- “Are you filming this? I need you guys to get this. I need them to destroy each factor of Hamas they will get their palms on. These persons are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes,” Rubio mentioned.
August 30, 2024: Rubio despatched a letter to the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden criticising the choice to sanction Israeli settlers linked to anti-Palestinian violence within the occupied West Financial institution.
- “Israel has persistently sought peace with the Palestinians. It’s unlucky that the Palestinians, whether or not or not it’s the Palestinian Authority or FTOs [Foreign Terrorist Organisations] equivalent to Hamas, have rejected such overtures,” Rubio wrote.
- “Israelis rightfully residing of their historic homeland usually are not the obstacle to peace; the Palestinians are.”
Pete Hegseth, nominee for secretary of defence
A US Military veteran who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Fox Information host Pete Hegseth has been tapped to move the Division of Protection, in one of many nation’s highest-ranking army positions. If Hegseth is confirmed, solely the president himself would have extra authority over the armed forces.
September 14, 2016: In an interview with the Jewish Press, Hegseth defined that he grew up a Baptist and by no means met a Jewish particular person till attending school. However he accused larger schooling of spreading the “seeds of anti-Semitism”.
- “Now we have to be extra keen to publicly speak about Israel amongst residents who consider it as an abstraction, who don’t really perceive the existential risk to it,” Hegseth mentioned.
- “This isn’t some mystical land that may be dismissed. It’s the story of God’s chosen individuals.”
February 2018: Speaking on the Arutz Sheva Convention in Jerusalem, Hegseth pledged to proceed “combating the pretend information in regards to the Arab-Israeli battle”.
He additionally appeared to endorse demolishing the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of many holiest websites in Islam, to make room for a “Third Temple”, a longstanding goal of Israeli ultranationalists and evangelical Christians.
- “In the event you stroll the bottom in the present day, you perceive there isn’t a such factor as the end result of a two-state answer. There’s one state,” Hegseth mentioned.
- He then proceeded to explain a go to to the Al-Aqsa web site, also called the Temple Mount: “And as you stand there, you may’t assist however behold the miracle earlier than you. And it acquired me fascinated with one other miracle that I hope all of you don’t see too far-off. As a result of 1917 was a miracle. 1948 was a miracle. 1967 was a miracle. 2017, the declaration of Jerusalem because the capital, was a miracle. And there’s no motive why the miracle of the re-establishment of the temple on the Temple Mount will not be doable.”
Might 2018: Talking along with his co-hosts on the TV programme Fox & Buddies, Hegseth appeared to brush off the Palestinian dying toll through the Great March of Return protests. When confronted with the chance that Israeli snipers had fired on “harmless individuals”, together with kids, Hegseth shrugged and mentioned, “Meh.”
- “The harmless blood is on the palms of the terrorist who put the child out to cost a fence with no prospect of crossing that border,” he mentioned.
Mike Huckabee, nominee for US ambassador to Israel
A former Arkansas governor who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2008 and 2016, Mike Huckabee is an evangelical Christian and powerful supporter of “Better Israel”, a time period usually used to explain the proposed Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory.
Early 2008: At a marketing campaign cease throughout his first bid for the presidency, Huckabee argued that being Palestinian was a made-up id.
- “I’ve to watch out saying this as a result of individuals will actually get offended. There’s actually no such factor as a Palestinian,” Huckabee mentioned. “You have got Arabs and Persians. And you’ve got such complexity inside that. There’s actually no such factor. That’s been a political instrument to attempt to power land away from Israel.”
Might 31, 2015: Speaking at an Israel Day live performance, Huckabee mirrored on his first journey to Israel in 1973. He proceeded to say that Israel had no “higher good friend in the US” than him and refuted Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.
- “I do know there are individuals who assume that the sensible option to carry peace to the Center East is to divide Jerusalem up and provides away extra territory. I recommend that the one option to have peace is to clarify that Jerusalem won’t ever be divided, and it is going to be within the palms of Israel.”
- “We by no means can settle for the notion that Israel will likely be divided, that Jerusalem will likely be carved in half. Allow us to be clear: The boundaries of Israel usually are not given by the United Nations however by almighty God.”
August 18, 2015: Throughout a news conference on the unlawful Israeli settlement of Shiloh, Huckabee endorsed a imaginative and prescient of Israel that included the occupied West Financial institution, calling the realm by the biblical identify “Judea and Samaria”. He additionally denounced a deal to include Iran’s nuclear programme.
- “I need to present solidarity with the nation that the majority displays a mirror picture of the American spirit and likewise to indicate solidarity with the Israeli individuals and to indicate their excessive disgust with any take care of Iran.”
- “I might assume that, when you’re going to go to Israel, it is best to go to all of Israel. And that ought to embody Judea and Samaria.”
February 29, 2024: Huckabee told the Worldwide Fellowship of Christians and Jews that he was overwhelmed with emotion after the October 7 attacks on southern Israel. He additionally described Israel’s unlawful settlements within the West Financial institution because the fulfilment of biblical prophecy.
- “That is evil. The worst degree of evil that exists on our planet in the present day, we noticed on October 7. And for anybody to march within the streets, whether or not it’s America or Europe, and present assist for this uncivilised and savage behaviour, to me, is a mark of darkness in our world.”
- “When individuals use the time period ‘occupy’, I say, ‘Yeah, Israel is occupying the land.’ But it surely’s the occupation of a land that God gave them 3,500 years in the past. It’s their land. The title deed was given by God to Abraham and to his heirs. So that you need to speak occupation? I by no means use the time period West Financial institution. I discover it offensive. We’re speaking about Judea and Samaria.”
- “As horrible because the Nazis have been, they weren’t posting their atrocities on social media and attempting to trumpet what they have been doing to the world, which is what makes this horrendous factor Hamas has finished a lot, to me, worse.”
Elise Stefanik, nominee for ambassador to the UN
A congresswoman from New York, Stefanik went viral final yr throughout congressional hearings about anti-Semitism on school campuses: Her blunt questioning of a number of college leaders helped precipitate a number of resignations.
Critics say it additionally contributed to harsh crackdowns on pro-Palestine pupil demonstrators, as Stefanik conflated protest slogans like “From the River to the Sea” with requires anti-Semitic genocide.
Might 19, 2024: Stefanik travelled to the Israeli Knesset to ship an tackle during which she described Israel’s conflict on Gaza as an ethical campaign. She additionally referred to as for the withdrawal of US funds from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
- “What we’re witnessing in the present day is a narrative of the forces of fine versus evil. The forces of civilisation towards the forces of barbarism, of humanity versus depravity.”
- “For years, I’ve been a number one proponent and accomplice to President Trump in his historic assist for Israeli independence and safety together with… President Trump’s clever resolution to name out UNRWA for what it’s — a hive of anti-Semitism — and to remove each greenback of its US funding.”
September 23, 2024: Following a UN Common Meeting vote calling on Israel to finish its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, Stefanik launched a statement condemning the proceedings.
- “Final week, the United Nations overwhelmingly handed a disgraceful antisemitic decision to demand that Israel give up to barbaric terrorists who search the destruction of each Israel and America.”
Mike Waltz, appointee for nationwide safety adviser
A member of the Home of Representatives and a former Inexperienced Beret, Consultant Mike Waltz of Florida has expressed agency assist for Israel. He at the moment serves on the Home Armed Providers Committee. He beforehand chided the Biden administration for offering Israel with inadequate assist.
August 16, 2019: In an appearance on Fox Information, Waltz expressed his assist for Israel’s resolution to bar his congressional colleagues Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from getting into the nation over their assist for the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) motion.
Tlaib, a Palestinian American, was later supplied a “humanitarian” go to, which she rejected.
- “In the event that they need to do a separate journey, then nonetheless hear all sides. Hear the Israeli authorities. Hear from the Israeli settlers. Hear from farmers, like I mentioned, who’re below rocket assault. And in addition go to the Palestinian Authority. However that wasn’t their agenda. Their agenda was solely to listen to one facet,” Waltz mentioned.
- Of the BDS motion, Waltz added: “It’s directed straight at Jerusalem. It’s directed straight as a result of they’re Jews. And it’s anti-Semitic. And I feel that’s utterly cheap for the Israeli authorities to say, ‘Hey, you don’t need to hear our viewpoint. Entry denied.’”
August 17, 2024: In one other interview with Fox Information, Waltz approvingly famous that, when Trump was in workplace, the Iranian financial system was “broke” and was “in shambles” resulting from crushing sanctions.
He additionally credited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “robust actions” with containing the risk represented by Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
- “I feel it’s Bibi that’s deterring Iran proper now, as a result of only a few weeks in the past, that they had a home in the midst of Tehran, below the protecting umbrella of the IRGC throughout a presidential inauguration, go growth and take out Hamas’s political chief [Ismail] Haniyeh.”
October 25, 2024: Following Israeli strikes on Iran, Waltz famous in a social media post that Israel had averted concentrating on oil fields and nuclear services.
- “This is perhaps Israel’s final greatest probability to decrease Irans [sic] nuclear program and shut down their money. Did Biden/Harris strain Israel as soon as once more to do lower than it ought to?”
