The Trump-Vance Ticket Is Selling Rotten Promises to American Jewish Voters

No red lines on Israel's war in Gaza . A green light for annexation. A nuclear Iran. A second Trump term, buttressed by his America First running mate, spells disaster for Israelis and Palestinians, for U.S. national security, for Jewish Americans and other minorities, and for democracy

Debra Shushan, Haaretz

The lights were bright on the red-white-and-blue stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee Wednesday, but as the delegates swooned for their hero Donald Trump, the speakers were gaslighting Americans – especially Jewish Americans.

Rep. Elise Stefanik pledged that "President Trump will bring back moral leadership to the White House, condemning antisemitism, and standing strong with Israel and the Jewish people." The Harvard graduate touted her crusade against presidents of "so-called elite universities" for their handling of campus antisemitism, while a fellow alumnus named Shabbos Kestenbaum excited the crowd by accusing "Harvard and the Ivy League" of "abandon[ing] the United States of America." Meanwhile, Trump's former Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell outrageously claimed with zero evidence or elaboration that "Iran is waging a war in Israel and Gaza with help from Joe Biden."

Amid such attempts to portray the Republican party as the protector of Jews and Israel, it is worth recalling that less than a quarter of Jewish Americans voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 – and for good reason. Trump's presidency profoundly threatened Jews and other minorities.

There was Trump's reference to "very fine people, on both sides" after torch-bearing Nazis marched through Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us." Then, the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, inspired by the Trump-promoted "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. Among his history of employing antisemitic tropes, Trump accused "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats" of hat[ing] their religion" and showing "great disloyalty" to Israel. Capping it off was the violent attempt to override the democratic will of American voters, with Nazis among those rioting at the Capitol to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.

Amid such attempts to portray the Republican party as the protector of Jews and Israel, it is worth recalling that less than a quarter of Jewish Americans voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 – and for good reason. Trump's presidency profoundly threatened Jews and other minorities.

There was Trump's reference to "very fine people, on both sides" after torch-bearing Nazis marched through Charlottesville chanting "Jews will not replace us." Then, the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, inspired by the Trump-promoted "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory. Among his history of employing antisemitic tropes, Trump accused "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats" of hat[ing] their religion" and showing "great disloyalty" to Israel. Capping it off was the violent attempt to override the democratic will of American voters, with Nazis among those rioting at the Capitol to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.

It is unfathomable that Trump has a strong shot at the presidency again. J.D. Vance, the rookie Ohio senator who is now his running mate promotes an "America First with an Israel exception" worldview but voted against supplemental military aid to Israel after Hamas' attack on October 7.

A minority of Jewish Americans are pleased. Some are even proud to brandish a red "Trump"-emblazoned yarmulke and proclaim – as Matt Brooks of the Republican Jewish Coalition did at the convention – that "there is only one pro-Israel party and it's the Republican Party."

But a second Trump term would likely be a disaster for Israelis and Palestinians, regional stability in the Middle East, U.S. national security, Jewish Americans and other minorities, and democracy.

In contrast to U.S. President Joe Biden – who has demonstrated America's commitment to Israel with military aid and support, sparing no diplomatic effort to secure the release of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire – Trump is committed to his own self-aggrandizement. As Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton explained, "Trump's positions are made on the basis of what's good for Donald Trump, not on some coherent theory of national security."

While convention delegates chanted "Bring Them Home" as they heard from Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra's parents, Trump has shown little concern for the hostages. It is not clear that he would choose, or be able, to orchestrate a multinational defense of Israel, as Biden did when Iran attacked in April. There's little chance he would restrain those in Netanyahu's coalition pushing for war with Hezbollah, of which he has spoken admiringly.

For Palestinians, their already dire situation would worsen considerably.

Trump has pledged no red lines on Israel's war in Gaza. He is unlikely to counter right-wing efforts to resettle Gaza, a plan that has support within the Netanyahu government and is "exploiting IDF operations" to establish facts on the ground. Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner noted that "Gaza's waterfront property could be very valuable" and "I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up." Vance has described humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza as "stupid." Given Trump's record of punishing Palestinians by cutting humanitarian aid, there's little chance he would provide aid, especially the amount that needed to help rebuild and stabilize Gaza.

As for the West Bank, a Trump-Vance administration portends a green light for annexation, which is proceeding apace under the Netanyahu government.

David Friedman, Trump's former ambassador to Israel, a longtime supporter of the settlement enterprise, has developed and pitched Trump on a proposal for Israel to declare sovereignty over the occupied West Bank without granting citizenship to Palestinians living there.

This would violate international law and undermine Israel's claims of being a democracy. It would render it a country permanently ruling millions of Palestinians without rights, condemning Israelis and Palestinians to never-ending bloodshed, and isolating Israel from the rest of the world.

Given Trump's disdain for democracy and penchant for using "Palestinian" as an insult, this may not bother him, but it would undermine Israel and the values of justice, equality, and peace enshrined in its Declaration of Independence

Vance has bashed Israeli pro-democracy protesters and a Trump-Vance administration would undoubtedly support Netanyahu's judicial coup. Here at home, Trump promises to crush pro-Palestinian protests, deport protesters, and "set that movement back 25 or 30 years."

On Iran, Trump and his acolytes have drawn the wrong lessons from Trump's disastrous abandonment of former President Barack Obama's Iran deal. Trump spitefully jettisoned his predecessor's signature foreign policy accomplishment that permanently blocked Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and banned all weapon's grade uranium. Now, thanks to Trump's "maximum pressure" policy, it would take Iran only about a week to produce sufficient uranium for a nuclear weapon.

These facts didn't stop Nikki Haley, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. from using her convention speech to laud Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of what she called the "insane Iran nuclear deal." Vance's prescription: "If you're going to punch the Iranians, you punch them hard."

Trump's team pursued Israeli-Arab normalization as a means to keep the Palestinians down and the Iranians out, with disastrous results that manifested on October 7. Finding a comprehensive, regional peace and security deal to center and resolve the Palestinian issue – as Biden envisions – cannot and should not be pushed off the table.

We must listen to General John Kelly, Trump's former Chief of Staff, who described Trump as "a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person who has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. There is nothing more that can be said. God help us."

His words make me think of my grandparents. After surviving the Holocaust, they immigrated to the U.S. and became proud Americans. Having endured genocidal fascism, they were deeply appreciative of American democracy and leadership in creating a rules-based international order.

Watching the crowd at the Republican Convention -- as it applauded an isolationist America First worldview and fawned over Donald Trump -- I find it unthinkable that Americans might choose to undermine our collective safety by returning to power a narcissistic megalomaniac who spurred a violent insurrection and has been appropriately ranked by historians as the worst U.S. president in history.

Debra Shushan, PhD is the Director of Policy at J Street and leads the J Street Policy Center. She previously served as Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now and a professor of Middle East politics at the College of William and Mary. On X: @DrShushan