Israel’s Netanyahu Hoping For Trump Triumph
With the US presidential election nearing its conclusion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will most certainly be praying that Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Trump’s last term in office benefited Netanyahu, and in the run-up to the November 5 election, the former president has sent mixed signals about his Middle East policy.
His comments have ranged from pushing Netanyahu to target Iran’s nuclear facilities, which Israel did not do in its strikes on Saturday, to criticizing the Israeli leader, claiming that “the October 7 attack would never have happened if I was president” and that he will put pressure on Israel to terminate the war.
However, these uncertain ideas, along with Trump’s “make America great again” campaign slogan
that analysts believe Netanyahu is aiming for.
Trump, an isolationist Republican president, may allow Netanyahu more leeway in navigating the ongoing problems in Gaza and Lebanon.
The US election is one of Netanyahu’s major achievements. He is yearning for a Trump victory because he believes it will give him a lot of freedom of movement and allow him to do what he wants,” Gidon Rahat, a political science professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told AFP.
According to Aviv Bushinsky, a former chief of staff and political observer, Netanyahu’s experience with Republicans is positive. “Unlike the Democrats, who are much harsher on him.”
Close personal relationship.
In 17 years as prime minister, Netanyahu has only faced one Republican leader: Trump.
During his presidency, Trump made many decisions that bolstered Netanyahu’s domestic standing while upending several long-standing US policies on Israel, its conflict with the Palestinians, and the wider region.
The Republican president relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem, which Israel claims as its undivided capital, acknowledged Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, and oversaw the normalization of relations between three Arab governments and Israel.
Trump also pulled out of a historic nuclear deal with Israel’s arch-rival Iran, reimposing harsh economic sanctions on the Islamic country.
Despite claiming “ironclad support” for Israel, President Joe Biden has had a strained relationship with Netanyahu for many years.
Unlike Trump, Biden had cautioned Netanyahu not to strike Iran’s oil output and nuclear facilities.
Trump and Netanyahu also have a tight personal relationship, with the former US president boasting last week about having frequent phone conversations with the Israeli prime minister.
“We have a very good relationship,” Trump stated during a rally in Georgia. “We’re going to work with them very closely.”
Bushinsky predicted that the benefits will surpass any concerns.
“I think Netanyahu would be willing to take the risk of Trump’s unpredictability,” he told reporters.
Popular in Israel.
Trump is popular with both Netanyahu and the Israeli populace.
According to an opinion poll done in September by Mitvim, the Israel Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, 68 percent of Israelis believe Trump is the greatest candidate to promote Israel’s interests.
Despite her frequent statements in support of Israel and its right to self-defense, only 14 percent voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“In Israel, more than any other liberal democracy outside of the United States, Trump is more popular than Harris,” said Nadav Tamir, a former Israeli diplomat to the United States and Mitvim board member.
Tamir, on the other hand, believes that the next Trump government may bring surprises.
The former president has increasingly surrounded himself with Republicans “who are isolationists and don’t want America to be the leader of the free world or international alliances,” he claimed.
Distrust’
Khalil Shikaki, a Palestinian political scientist and pollster, believes that neither candidate has much support among Palestinians.
“Palestinians distrust both candidates and see little difference between them,” the politician stated.
A Hamas official, Taher al-Nunu, told AFP that “successive US administrations have always been biased” toward Israel.
On the street, Palestinians declared that no matter who wins, life in their territory will not improve.
“I do not believe that the American elections will have a positive impact on our political reality,” said Leen Bassem, a 21-year-old Birzeit University student from the occupied West Bank.
Hassan Anwar, 42, a sound engineer, said he didn’t see any difference because “American policy is completely clear in its support and backing of Israel.”
AFP