In the course of 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, generally known as the “capital” of Arab America. And he spoke on to Lebanese People fearing for his or her households abroad.
“Throughout my Administration, we had peace within the Center East, and we can have peace once more very quickly!” Trump wrote on social media.
“I’ll repair the issues attributable to [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [President] Joe Biden and cease the struggling and destruction in Lebanon. I wish to see the Center East return to actual peace, an enduring 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 Celebration’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 cupboard positions have signalled that — no matter modifications could come throughout his second time period — a break with Israel is just not 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 objectives of Israeli ultranationalists, who assist the enlargement of unlawful Israeli settlements into Palestinian territory.
In the meantime, the battle in Gaza continues to drive civilian casualties, with not less than 43,799 killed for the reason that battle started in October 2023. A current report from a United Nations particular committee discovered that Israel’s strategies within the Palestinian enclave had been “in keeping with genocide“.
What have Trump’s high-level picks mentioned in regards to the ongoing battle within the Center East? Listed here 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, going through 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 aspect of Israel” — and used his place to attract a distinction with Trump.
- “I don’t know if Donald realises this. I’m certain 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 trustworthy dealer in a dispute between two sides wherein one of many sides is continually appearing in unhealthy religion,” Rubio mentioned.
- “As an alternative, right here’s what the Palestinians do. They train their four-year-old kids that killing Jews is a wonderful factor. Right here’s what Hamas does. They launch rockets and terrorist assaults in opposition to Israel on an ongoing foundation. The underside line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians — given the present make-up of the Palestinians — is just not attainable.”
October 9, 2023: Rubio reacted to the October 7 assaults in southern Israel by calling for an awesome army response.
- “Israel has no selection however to hunt the entire eradication of Hamas in Gaza. There merely isn’t any diplomatic answer or ‘measured response’ obtainable,” Rubio wrote on social media.
- “This tragically crucial effort will come at a horrifying worth. However the worth of failing to completely get rid of 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 would like you guys to get this. I would like them to destroy each factor of Hamas they’ll 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] corresponding to Hamas, have rejected such overtures,” Rubio wrote.
- “Israelis rightfully dwelling of their historic homeland should 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 go 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 faculty. However he accused larger schooling of spreading the “seeds of anti-Semitism”.
- “We’ve to be extra keen to publicly discuss Israel amongst residents who consider it as an abstraction, who don’t really perceive the existential menace 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: Talking 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 objective of Israeli ultranationalists and evangelical Christians.
- “When you stroll the bottom right this moment, you perceive there isn’t any such factor as the end result of a two-state answer. There may be one state,” Hegseth mentioned.
- He then proceeded to explain a go to to the Al-Aqsa website, also called the Temple Mount: “And as you stand there, you’ll be able to’t assist however behold the miracle earlier than you. And it bought me desirous about 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 purpose why the miracle of the re-establishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is just not attainable.”
Could 2018: Talking together with his co-hosts on the TV programme Fox & Associates, Hegseth appeared to brush off the Palestinian dying toll throughout the Nice March of Return protests. When confronted with the likelihood 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 “Larger Israel”, a time period typically 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 may be actually no such factor as a Palestinian,” Huckabee mentioned. “You will have 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.”
Could 31, 2015: Talking 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 USA” 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 counsel 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 might be divided, that Jerusalem might be carved in half. Allow us to be clear: The boundaries of Israel should not given by the United Nations however by almighty God.”
August 18, 2015: Throughout a information convention on the unlawful Israeli settlement of Shiloh, Huckabee endorsed a imaginative and prescient of Israel that included the occupied West Financial institution, calling the world by the biblical identify “Judea and Samaria”. He additionally denounced a deal to comprise Iran’s nuclear programme.
- “I wish to present solidarity with the nation that almost all displays a mirror picture of the American spirit and likewise to point out solidarity with the Israeli individuals and to point out their excessive disgust with any take care of Iran.”
- “I’d assume that, in the event you’re going to go to Israel, it is best to go to all of Israel. And that ought to embrace Judea and Samaria.”
February 29, 2024: Huckabee advised the Worldwide Fellowship of Christians and Jews that he was overwhelmed with emotion after the October 7 assaults 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 stage of evil that exists on our planet right this moment, 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.’ Nevertheless it’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 wish to discuss 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 had been, they weren’t posting their atrocities on social media and making an attempt to trumpet what they had been doing to the world, which is what makes this horrendous factor Hamas has performed 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 faculty 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 scholar demonstrators, as Stefanik conflated protest slogans like “From the River to the Sea” with requires anti-Semitic genocide.
Could 19, 2024: Stefanik travelled to the Israeli Knesset to ship an tackle wherein she described Israel’s battle on Gaza as an ethical campaign. She additionally referred to as for the withdrawal of US funds from UNRWA, the UN company for Palestinian refugees.
- “What we’re witnessing right this moment is a narrative of the forces of fine versus evil. The forces of civilisation in opposition to the forces of barbarism, of humanity versus depravity.”
- “For years, I’ve been a number one proponent and companion to President Trump in his historic assist for Israeli independence and safety together with… President Trump’s clever determination to name out UNRWA for what it’s — a hive of anti-Semitism — and to get rid of 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 assertion 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 present serves on the Home Armed Providers Committee. He beforehand chided the Biden administration for offering Israel with inadequate assist.
August 16, 2019: In an look on Fox Information, Waltz expressed his assist for Israel’s determination 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 wish 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 underneath rocket assault. And in addition go to the Palestinian Authority. However that wasn’t their agenda. Their agenda was solely to listen to one aspect,” 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 affordable for the Israeli authorities to say, ‘Hey, you don’t wish to hear our perspective. 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” as a consequence of crushing sanctions.
He additionally credited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “robust actions” with containing the menace 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 just some weeks in the past, that they had a home in the midst of Tehran, underneath the protecting umbrella of the IRGC throughout a presidential inauguration, go increase and take out Hamas’s political chief [Ismail] Haniyeh.”
October 25, 2024: Following Israeli strikes on Iran, Waltz famous in a social media put up that Israel had averted concentrating on oil fields and nuclear amenities.
- “This is perhaps Israel’s final finest 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?”