Kamala Harris and Trump on Israel, Iran, and Antisemitism

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Kamala Harris on Israel: Throughout her career, Kamala Harris has been a staunch supporter of Israel’s security and right to self-defense. She has repeatedly affirmed her commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship in her words and actions.

Since October 7, the Vice President has been unequivocal in her condemnation of the horrific attacks perpetrated by Hamas and has supported the largest amount of military aid – more than four times more than any other White House has given in a single year – provided to Israel since October 7.
She has also been a part of the White House’s unprecedented decision to deploy U.S. military resources and service members – in April and October 2024 – to defend Israel from direct Iranian attacks.
On October 13, the Biden-Harris White House announced it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel, along with the troops needed to operate it, to defend against Iran.
Harris has met repeatedly with families of the American hostages, advocated for the release of all hostages, and led this White House’s efforts to condemn the sexual violence perpetrated on October 7 by Hamas.
When Republicans in Congress delayed $14.3 billion in additional aid for Israel between November 2023 and April 2024 – which Senator JD Vance voted against twice – Vice President Harris strongly encouraged Congress to pass the emergency aid package.
She has also joined more than 20 calls between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu.

In her own words:

When accepting the nomination in August 2024, Vice President Harris affirmed: “I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7, including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival.”
On the one-year anniversary of October 7, Harris said, “I will do everything in my power to ensure that the threat Hamas poses is eliminated, that it is never again able to govern Gaza, that it fails in its mission to annihilate Israel, and that the people of Gaza are free from the grip of Hamas. I will never stop fighting for the release of all the hostages, including the seven American citizens, living and deceased…I will never stop fighting for justice for those who murdered Hersh Goldberg-Polin and other Americans.”
In her High Holiday call on October 11, Harris again provided an assurance on Israel. She said: “I know how the existence of a secure, democratic homeland for the Jewish people means so much for Jews and all of us, regardless of where they live. I will never forget October 7, and the world must never forget. And we all must work to ensure nothing like the horrors of that day can ever happen again. To that end, as president, it is my pledge that I will always ensure Israel has what it needs to defend itself from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists. And I will always support Israel’s right to defend itself. My commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering.”
Following the death of Yahya Sinwar, Harris said on October 17, “Israel has a right to defend itself, and the threat Hamas poses to Israel must be eliminated.”

Donald Trump on Israel: Donald Trump’s position on Israel has been, at best, transactional, whereby he expects a direct political benefit from his policy.

Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, John Bolton, told the New York Times, “Trump’s support for Israel in the first term is not guaranteed in the second term, because Trump’s positions are made on the basis of what’s good for Donald Trump, not on some coherent theory of national security.”
Bolton reiterated this warning on October 4, when he told CNN, “Donald Trump said yesterday, or maybe it was the day before, that this conflict between Iran and Israel is like two kids in a school yard fighting. And that’s – that’s about a typical Donald Trump assessment of a complex, international problem. Those who think he’s going to be reflexively supportive of Israel really should think again.”

In his own words:

In August 2020, Donald Trump declared that he moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem “for the evangelicals,” suggesting animus toward the vast majority of American Jews for what he perceives as insufficient support after the 2018 embassy move.
This continued with increased veracity and vitriol throughout the past year, most recently on the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attacks, when Trump – conflating American Jews and Israelis – said, “I think Israel has to do one thing: They have to get smart about Trump. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it’s not a reciprocal, as they say. Not reciprocal.”
In September, at the presidential debate and again when speaking to the Israeli-American Council, he threatened that Israel will not exist if he’s not reelected, posturing that Israel’s very survival is contingent on his own political future. Trump has repeatedly threatened that if he’s not elected, Israel will be annihilated and eliminated, and will cease to exist in two years.
On October 11, 2023, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attacks, Donald Trump mocked Israeli leaders as weak and praised Hezbollah as “very smart.”
In March 2024, he called on Israel to “finish up” the war in Gaza without recognizing the hostages, which concerned some of his supporters on the right, according to the New York Times.
Donald Trump has also said he supports transforming U.S. foreign aid, without exception for Israel, into loans.
Trump had nothing to say about the death of Yahya Sinwar until October 18, and all he said was, “My reaction is, he was not a good person. That’s my reaction. That’s sometimes what happens.”

Kamala Harris on Iran: Kamala Harris has supported U.S. sanctions on Iran given its ongoing threat to U.S. national security interests, including to Israel, and has pledged to support Israel as it defends itself against the Iranian threat.

In an interview with 60 Minutes on October 8, Harris identified Iran as America’s “greatest adversary” and affirmed her commitment to ensuring that Iran never becomes a nuclear power.
Harris has consistently supported the efforts of the White House to impose an additional 700 sanctions on Iran since Trump left office, in addition to keeping in place all Trump-era sanctions on Iran.
She has also provided repeated assurances that she will ensure Israel has all it needs to defend itself against the threat posed by Iran and Iranian proxies.

In her own words:

At the presidential debate, Harris affirmed, “I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel.”
In her High Holiday call on October 11, Kamala Harris said, “As president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end, but all options are on the table.”
Following the October Iranian attack on Israel, she said, “Iran is not only a threat to Israel, Iran is also a threat to American personnel in the region, American interests, and innocent civilians across the region who suffer at the ends of Iran-backed and based terrorist proxies,” she said. “We will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend U.S. forces and interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists and we’ll continue to work with our allies and partners to disrupt Iran’s aggressive behavior and hold them accountable.”

Trump on Iran: In 2018, Donald Trump walked away from the Iran nuclear agreement while the deal was working and Iran was still in compliance, with nothing to replace it.

Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran failed, his efforts at the UN to continue the arms embargo against Iran failed, and his efforts at the UN to snap back sanctions against Iran failed.
Trump’s Iran policy was a failure. Iran was much closer to developing nuclear weapons when Trump left office – and is even closer today – than when he entered office in January 2017.

In his own words:

Following the October direct Iranian attack on Israel, Trump likened the conflict between Israel and Iran to “two kids fighting in a schoolyard,” and said, “sometimes you have to just let it go a little bit, we’ll see what happens.”
On October 1, Trump’s highly political statement failed to condemn the attack or mention any support of Israel, and falsely said that there was no conflict with Iran when he was in office.
To the contrary, there was an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Iraq that left more than 100 Americans with traumatic brain injuries, which Trump downplayed as “headaches.”
In September, while speaking to the Economic Club of New York, Donald Trump suggested he would lift sanctions on both Russia and Iran, saying he would aim to “use sanctions as little as possible” if reelected.

Kamala Harris on Antisemitism: Throughout her career, Kamala Harris has fought to combat antisemitism, which she has opposed in words and actions.

As district attorney in San Francisco, she prosecuted a man after he attacked and attempted to kidnap Elie Wiesel as a hate crime.
In the Senate, her first legislative accomplishment was introducing and passing a bipartisan effort to combat antisemitism.
With her encouragement, the Second Gentleman has taken a lead role in the fight against antisemitism.
Together, they supported the development and implementation of the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, released by the Biden-Harris White House in May 2023, which mobilizes over two dozen federal agencies and contains over 100 specific, actionable steps to prevent antisemitic attacks, including on college campuses.

In her own words:

In June 2023, Vice President Harris declared, “When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or identity, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and that is unacceptable.” She has reiterated this notion many times, including given the increase of antisemitism after October 7 and on college campuses.
In July 2024, when anti-Israel protesters defaced property during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, Harris issued a statement that said, “Pro-Hamas graffiti and rhetoric is abhorrent, and must not tolerate it in our nation…I support the right to peacefully protest, but let’s be clear: Antisemitism, hate, and violence of any kind have no place in our nation.”
On October 11, Harris reiterated, “When individuals participate in calls to violence and harassment against Jews, that is antisemitism, and I condemn it. When Jews are targeted because of their beliefs or identity and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish hatred, that is antisemitism, and I condemn it. Each university must ensure all students and faculty are safe and secure on campus.”

Trump on Antisemitism: Donald Trump has a long history of antisemitic rhetoric, aligning with antisemites, and repeating antisemitic tropes.

He repeats antisemitic tropes and disparages the vast majority of Jewish Americans, accusing any Jew who supports Democrats of hating Israel and our religion.
Trump has embraced a campaign of fascist rhetoric unlike any we have seen before in the United States.
During a private conversation in the White House, Donald Trump said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” building on his pattern of praising fascist regimes.
His campaign posted a video referencing a “unified reich” if he wins the 2024 election, and he reportedly told his Chief of Staff that Hitler “did some good things.”
In 2020, at the presidential debate, he pointedly refused to condemn white supremacy and instead incited a right-wing extremist group, the Proud Boys, to “stand back and stand by.”
He has repeatedly aligned with Holocaust deniers and extremists, and in 2017, he infamously equated peaceful protesters with neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville, declaring there were “very fine people on both sides.”

In his own words:

Speaking at the Israeli-American Council in September, Donald Trump dangerously scapegoated and preemptively blamed “the Jewish people” for a possible election loss.
This is patently antisemitic, according to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which includes, “Accusing Jews as a people of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Jewish person or group.”

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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Israel, Iran, and Antisemitism