One of Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign ads was aimed at Jewish voters. Three stereotypical New York bubbes are kvetching about the state of the world. ‘Israel’s under attack. Anti-Semitism like I never thought I would see.’ One says: ‘Oy vey… You know Trump I never cared for, but at least he will keep us safe.’ This was a canny appeal, recognising that many American Jews were traditionally Democrats and would have to hold their noses to vote for Trump. But Trump has been – as he says himself – Israel’s ‘protector’ and Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was the first foreign leader to praise him for his victory: ‘Congratulations on history’s greatest comeback!’
Netanyahu signed off his message to Trump ‘in true friendship’. In truth the two have a difficult history. They didn’t speak for almost four years after Netanyahu recognised Joe Biden’s win in 2020. In April, Trump made a number of digs at Bibi to Time magazine. He blamed him for the 7 October massacre and said the Israeli leader had backed out of what was supposed to be a joint operation to assassinate the Iranian general Qasem Soleimani (‘That was something I never forgot’). Not a stand-up guy, not loyal – the worst thing you can be in Trumpworld.
The path to a wider war is clear. Iran and Israel are locked into an escalatory cycle
They patched things up over the summer when Bibi visited Mar-a-Lago, all smiles and hugs by the pool. Trump later told one of his rallies that Netanyahu was calling him almost daily for advice. He said Israel should ‘finish the problem’ in the war against Hamas. He revelled in the pager attacks on Hezbollah. All this is a reminder of how Trump was the American president who recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, who moved the US embassy there, and who ended the Iran nuclear deal.
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