Former US President Donald Trump sympathized with Arab American and Muslim voters who were furious about the nation’s backing of Israel’s wars in Gaza and Lebanon in the closing weeks of the 2024 US presidential election. Trump traveled to the “capital” of Arab America, Dearborn, Michigan.
Additionally, he addressed Lebanese Americans who were worried about their loved ones abroad. There was peace in the Middle East under my administration, and it will return shortly! Trump posted on social media.
“I will put an end to the misery and devastation in Lebanon and address the issues brought about by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I hope that a true, long-lasting peace returns to the Middle East.
However, Trump is getting ready to return to the White House with a group of some of the most strongly pro-Israel members of the Republican Party after a landslide victory at the polls.
Pro-Israel Trump team stirs debate
Although some detractors conjectured that Trump would abandon his hardline foreign policy, his choices for important cabinet and administration posts have indicated that regardless of any changes that may occur during his second term, a split with Israel is unlikely to be one of them. Several of Trump’s candidates share the opinions and objectives of Israeli ultranationalists, who favor the growth of illegal Israeli settlements into Palestinian land, in addition to supporting the continuation of US military and diplomatic aid for Israel.
At least 43,799 civilians have been murdered in Gaza since the battle started in October 2023, and the death toll is still rising. Israel’s actions in the Palestinian enclave were deemed “consistent with genocide” in a recent assessment by a special committee of the UN. Throughout his political career, Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been a staunch friend of Israel and a lifelong foreign policy hawk. He is vying to become the US’s top diplomat, the secretary of state. In 2016, Rubio entered the presidential race against a large field of Republican contenders, including Trump. He emphasized that he would “stand firmly on the side of Israel” at a Republican primary debate in Houston, Texas, and he utilized this stance to contrast himself with Trump.
Middle East policy under Trump’s scrutiny
I’m not sure if Donald is aware of this. Maybe that’s not his intention. However, you have adopted an anti-Israel stance. Here’s why. Because when one of the parties to a disagreement is consistently behaving in bad faith, it is impossible to be an honest mediator,” Rubio stated.
Here’s what the Palestinians do instead. Killing Jews is a lovely thing, they educate their four-year-old children. What Hamas does is as follows. They constantly assault Israel with missiles and terrorist acts. In the end, an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is impossible given the Palestinians’ existing composition. Rubio demanded a massive military reaction in response to the October 7 strikes in southern Israel. Israel is forced to work for Hamas’ total annihilation in Gaza. Rubio said on social media, “There is just no diplomatic solution measured response’ available.” There will be a terrible cost associated with this regrettably essential endeavor. Even more terrible is the cost of not eradicating this band of vicious barbarians once and for all.
Trump’s stance fuels diplomacy debate
When asked if he would back a ceasefire in Gaza, Rubio gave a strong response in front of members of the antiwar organization Code Pink.
“Are you recording? I want everyone to understand this. I want them to eliminate every aspect of Hamas that they can.
Rubio declared,
“These people are savage animals who have committed terrible crimes.”
Rubio criticized the decision to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers connected to anti-Palestinian violence in the occupied West Bank in a letter to President Joe Biden’s departing government.
Many American Jews and a small number of Israeli Jews are deeply concerned about whether a second Trump administration would improve or worsen American democracy and its reputation abroad, and which side of Trump’s policy team the interventionist or the isolationist wing will win out This is not to imply that those same individuals did not have legitimate worries about the character of a possible Harris government, particularly about Israel. But now that the election is over, this is an academic topic.
Debate over Trump’s Middle East moves
The first appointments on foreign policy and national security appear aggressive and are undoubtedly full of lawmakers with strong pro-Israel views. The appointed secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has long been a strong supporter of Israel. Mike Huckabee, a preacher and former governor of Arkansas who has seen Israel several times, is the ambassador assigned to Israel. In an early appearance on the IDF radio station, Yanir Kozin stated that while he would support the annexation of Judea and Samaria, the president would ultimately decide on that course of action. On the same subject, Kozin also spoke with Oded Revivi, the former mayor of Efrat, who similarly issued a warning after seeing the annexation process fall apart in 2020 in Washington, D.C. This is a strong pro-Israel coalition, with Pete Hegseth as defense secretary and Mike Waltz as national security advisor.
