US & CANADA
6 HOURS AGO
Trump tells GOP Jews Israel’s security hinges on his election win
Seeking to leverage Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza to attract American Jewish voters, Trump tells Jewish donors that “you’ll never survive if they [Democrats] get in.”
Trump’s Israel pitch appears to be a key Republican move to win over Jewish voters in the US. / Photo: AFP
AFP
Trump’s Israel pitch appears to be a key Republican move to win over Jewish voters in the US. / Photo: AFP
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has falsely claimed that the survival of American Jews and Israel’s existence are at stake if he loses the upcoming US presidential election against Democratic Kamala Harris.
Speaking via satellite to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s [RJC] annual conference at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas on Thursday, Trump exhorted Jewish voters to support his campaign.
“You’ll never survive if they get in,” Trump said, referring to his Democratic rivals.
He framed Harris as a threat to Israel, positioning himself as the defender. This appeal is part of Trump’s strategy to attract Jewish voters, who have traditionally leaned Democratic.
The Republican party aims to counter progressive criticism of Israel’s onslaught in Gaza and address what it says is antisemitism.
Trump went on to tell Jewish donors that US universities would lose their accreditation and federal support over what he described as “antisemitic propaganda” if he is elected to the White House.
READ MORE
Trump says Jewish people who vote for Democrats ‘hate their religion’
Antisemitism labeling
“Colleges will and must end the antisemitic propaganda or they will lose their accreditation and federal support,” Trump said, speaking remotely to a crowd of more than 1,000 Republican Jews.
Protests roiled college campuses in spring, with students opposing Israel’s war on Gaza and demanding institutions stop doing business with companies backing Israel.
Republicans have claimed the protests show some Democrats are antisemites who support chaos. Students and protestors say authorities have unfairly labelled their criticism of Israel’s policies as antisemitic.
The Association of American Universities, which says it represents some 69 leading US universities, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the United States , the federal government does not directly accredit universities but has a role in overseeing the mostly private organisations that give colleges accreditation.
In his speech, Trump also said he would ban refugee resettlement from “terror infested” areas and arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism.
Under both Trump and Biden, similar numbers of Palestinians were admitted to the US as refugees. From fiscal year 2017-2020, the US accepted 114 Palestinian refugees, according to US State Department data, compared with 124 Palestinian refugees from fiscal year 2021 to July 31 of this year.
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trump’s speech.
Harris has hewed closely to President Joe Biden’s strong military and political support of Israel.
She has, however, called for a ceasefire in Gaza, calling the situation there “devastating.”
RJC on so-called Abraham Accords
The RJC Victory Fund says it is spending some $15 million to support Trump by helping bring out Jewish voters in battleground states.
The network has been financially supported by Sheldon Adelson, the late American casino mogul, and his Israeli-born widow Miriam Adelson. RJC members gathered this week for their annual conference at The Venetian Resort, which was developed by Sheldon Adelson’s company, the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Miriam Adelson is also the lead financier of a super PAC spending group that has said it is looking to raise over $100 million to support Trump.
In a half-dozen Reuters interviews at the conference, attendees broadly voiced three priorities for a potential second Trump term: Expanding the Abraham Accords, pursuing a tougher line on Iran, and either reforming or defunding the United Nations.
The Trump administration in 2020 helped broker the Abraham Accords, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab nations.
RJC chairman Norm Coleman told Reuters he was still hopeful the so-called Abraham Accords could be expanded under Biden.
“But if it’s not done, I would hope that President Trump would do what he did before and play a role in bringing the region together,” Coleman said.
READ MORE
Trump takes another dig at Jewish voters who back Biden
SOURCE: AFPTRT WORLD
