Donald Trump's Position on Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                                                              

Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(1/30/1882-4/12/1945)
He had polio and was confined to a wheel chair.

Jews in the United States have tended to be Democrats at least since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's election, the USA's 32nd president from March 4, 1933 to April 12, 1945 when he died.  He was the Democrat from New York.  In 2008 when Obama was first elected, 71% of Jews identified themselves in the Gallup poll as Democrats.  By 2014, 61% are identifying themselves as Democrats.
                                       

President Roosevelt 

     

Donald Trump was a Democrat, but is now running as president in the Republican Party.  He has "consistently and strongly supported Israeli positions on many critical issues."  He agreed with Netanyahu on the Iran nuclear deal and Israeli-Palestinian relations.
                                                                               

He even criticized President Barack Obama about his attitude toward Israel and thinks Netanyahu is a good Prime Minister for Israel. " He accused Obama and the USA Secretary of State John Kerry of having sold Israel out and that it was the USA's job to do everything possible to protect and defend Israel.  He said that Israel was the only stable democracy in the region that is not run by dictators.  He called Israel America's best and most reliable friend." He said that Israel is the cornerstone of USA policy in the Middle East.

He admires Israel for being pioneers in medicine and communication and a close fair trading partner.  His father was always loyal to Israel and he has also, and said he would be doing more for Israel than anybody else.                                                                    

Salute to Israel New York Parade 2004

He's proven his admiration by having served as the grand marshal for the Israel parade in New York in 2004. He has received many awards from American Jewish organizations for supporting Israel.  Algemeiner, a Jewish news organization also on the web gave him such an award last February 2014.  Upon acceptance, he said that "we love Israel and will fight for Israel 100%, 1,000%.  It will be there forever!
                                                                               

Parchin, Iran and nuclear site

When Trump declared his candidacy on June 16, 2015, he attacked the Iran nuclear deal by calling it "a disaster that could threaten Israel's survival."  Those were also my sentiments, exactly, and many of my friends.

He and Netanyahu get along very well.  Before the 2013 Israeli election, he recorded a 30 second video message endorsing the Likud leader.
                                                                             

The last 8 years of USA presidency has been with Barack Hussein Obama II, and they have been disastrous for Israel. The things he has done to cause pain for Israel has been the following:
1. Blaming only Israel for the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which has only strengthened Palestinian recalcitrance.
2. General handling of Israel, White House snub March 2010, leaving Netanyahu, staff in work room while he had dinner with Michelle which was 2nd snub.  .
3. Refusal to use the term "Islamic terrorism"
                                                                     

4. One thing that irks me is the referring to ISIS terrorists as ISIL (which includes the Levant-Jordan, Israel and Egypt) in ISIS's hands and references as only as non-Muslim about the Islamic State, which denies the  reality.
                                                                                   

John McCain after returning from Viet Nam on April 24, 1973,
age 37.  Today he's 79 years old born August 29, 1936.  

Things Trump admires about Israel are not necessarily things he has vocalized as his position, however.  He has made his own statements about prisoners of war, a stand Israel feels very strongly about but that Trump has said he doesn't admire.  This came up with Senator John McCain who was a POW in Vietnam for 6 years after his plane went down. He was a pilot.   John's father was an admiral and the Vietnamese offered him a special early release which he refused, wanting to be treated like others in this position.  Trump glibly remarked that" he was a "war hero only because he got captured."
                                                                             

IDF Gilad Shalit on October 18, 2011 at age 25 after 5 years as a Prisoner of War from being kidnapped. in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the Israeli border.
Captured in Israel by Hamas terrorists, and held hostage for five years until released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners

Israel doesn't feel that way at all towards their POW, Gilad Shalit who as a soldier was captured and held as a hostage for 5 years by Hamas in Gaza.  Trump's crass comment was that "I like people who weren't captured."
                                                                           

   
Another sore point are Trump's statements about immigration to the USA.  On June 16, 2015 he made comments   about Mexico sending in people who bring in drugs, are criminals and so bring in crime and rape people as well here.  Then he included other Latin American countries in this accusation.  After California's San Bernardino massacre, he called for a temporary ban on the entry of MUSLIMS to the USA until the government figured out "what the hell is going on."  Now, this is a sore point with Jews who have suffered being on the immigrant side throughout the centuries.  They have been saved by countries following open immigration.  This has happened with Jews fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe from anti-Semitism which developed into pogroms as well.  They have experienced mass immigration from the Arab countries to Israel in 1948 when Israel was created.
                                                                           

Ship, St. Louis refused entrance to Cuba with 900+ refugeesGerman Jewish refugees return to Antwerp, Belgium, aboard the ocean liner St. Louis on June 17, 1939, after they had been denied entrance to Cuba and the USA. Miami was so close they could see the lights, but they were not allowed to land. 

Before and after WWII, Jews could not get into other countries including the USA.  We all remember these horrors so gasped when Trump felt this way towards the thousands of refugees we all see on TV today fleeing from Iraq and Syria.  The difference of course is that Jews were not dangerous to others, but that some Muslim refugees could be.  Also, we all know that once a position has been taken, like stopping immigration of refugees can be longer than they can continue to be alive.  Jews died when refused entrance at the start of WWII.  My father was 21 years old in 1929, the year of the stock market crash causing everyone to be out of jobs.  By 1933 when Jews started to enter the USA from Europe, people were still out of work.  Perhaps they were afraid Jews would take American jobs away from them.  That's still no excuse!
                                                                     

On December 3, 2015, he made another faux pas.  He told Jewish Republicans rather jokingly that he thought they wouldn't back him because he was so rich and didn't need their contributions!  The Israeli media watched this newscast and saw an anti-Semitic slur instead.  It reinforced the anti-Semitic stereotyping of Jews being rich people who control the world and so can buy elections.  They didn't want anyone to think that Israel would be buying this coming election.
                                                                             

Jerusalem where one can find Jewish, Christian and Muslim places to see

So, Trump had told his TV audience that he was going to visit Israel on December 28th and said this just a few days before.  The fact was that it had been scheduled well in advance and had an itinerary planned 2 weeks before his Muslim ban statement on November 19th.  Because of this thoughtless comment which loomed huge in Israel's eyes, his trip had to be postponed.  He'll visit after Israel's presidential elections and said that he didn't want to put Netanyahu under any pressure.  Trump had wanted to accomplish much with this visit by contrasting his support of Israel with the Obama Administrations  abandonment of the Jewish State which really started with the Democratic Party's meeting on what to consider for this 2nd term and God and Jerusalem as Israel's capital  were taken off the platform. Oh, how the Pilgrims would have had a fit at that!

Update: 2/21/16 Donald Trump said on the 18th that he is taking a neutral position in the disagreements between the Palestinians and Israel.  Cruz attacked him for saying this in South Carolina since he feels it is showing that Trump sees it as a problem of false moral equivalency.
Update: 2/26/16  "Donald Trump: “My friendship with Israel is stronger than any other candidate’s. I want to make one thing clear: I want to strike a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It is what I aspire to do. Peace is possible, even if it is the most difficult agreement to achieve. As far as I understand, Israel is also interested in a peace deal. I’m not saying I’ll succeed, or even that an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is within reach, but I want to try. But in order for an agreement to happen, the Palestinians need to show interest. It’s a little difficult to reach an agreement when the other side doesn’t really want to talk to you.

“Don’t get confused there in Israel: I am currently your biggest friend. My daughter is married to a Jew who is an enthusiastic Israel supporter, and I have taken part in many Israel Day Parades. My friendship with Israel is very strong.”"

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/politics/donald-trump-israel-palestinian-neutral/
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/270045-cruz-slams-trump-for-being-neutral-on-israel-palestinian
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-says-will-remain-neutral-israeli-palestinian-conflict-if-428000

Reference:  The Jerusalem Report January 11, 2016, Donald Trump, Israel and the Jews.by Prof. Eytan Gilboa p. 6-7. It's a magazine from Israel.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/dnc-god-jerusalem-platform_n_1859200.html
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_29149608/history-repeating
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/7521220/Obama-snubbed-Netanyahu-for-dinner-with-Michelle-and-the-girls-Israelis-claim.html