Many Israelis are celebrating Trump’s win, seeing him as more likely to back their country
Donald Trump’s election was met with jubilation in Israel — along with some caution
A supporter of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump dance with Israelis at the Mahaneh Yehudah Market in Jerusalem, on Nov. 4, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
(JTA) — David Sassoon has been serving as an Israeli soldier in Gaza for nearly a year. On Wednesday, his tank unit took a moment to celebrate something that they believe will change their fight for the better: Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election.
“Just so you know, in the artillery corps we have not gotten any American artillery rounds,” he said. “So we’re looking forward to receiving brand new U.S. ammo in a couple of months.”
One person in the unit — an activist who opposes the Israeli government, Sassoon said — refrained from celebrating, “but everyone else is happy.” It was a cheer heard throughout Israel, where poll after poll showed broad support for Trump. One found that, when asked who would be better for Israel, respondents chose Trump over runner-up Kamala Harris by a 50-point margin.
Sassoon’s assumption that Trump will more enthusiastically support Israel’s multi-front war effort against Iranian proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah is not assured; Trump has called for an end to the war, and his allies include isolationists who want the United States to stay out of foreign conflicts.
Still, it was shared by other Israelis. In a WhatsApp group chat with hundreds of members, someone wrote, “I’m glad the orange man has won. Now let’s see Iran dare [to] try anything.” And footage circulated on WhatsApp of a Jerusalem-area man wearing a shirt with Trump’s logo in Hebrew and distributing candy in honor of the election result.
In an enthusiastic message of congratulations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Trump’s election signaled a “powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”
Amid the jubilation in Israel, at least one analyst was sounding notes of caution.
Helit Barel, a former director at Israel’s National Security Council who studies U.S.-Israel relations, cautioned that many Israelis are “missing something.” They’re forgetting, she said, that Trump, who is war-averse, has called for the war in Gaza to be over by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
“Trump has been no less adamant as Harris about ending the war,” she said. She also noted that, after he lost in 2020, Trump lashed out at Netanyahu for congratulating Joe Biden, referring to him with an expletive. “He isn’t one to let go of a grudge easily,” she said.
But such misgivings were the exception. Marc Zell, the longtime head of Republicans Overseas Israel, joined a large team of volunteers at an election watch party in a downtown Jerusalem pub. He was cautious about celebrating too soon and declined interview requests from Israeli media until mid-morning Wednesday.
“I was absolutely delighted and very grateful that the results came within 24 hours, all in,” he said, once it felt safe to toast the win. “Frankly, I was very concerned that the election would take many days to resolve one way or the other.”
He said Trump demonstrates “real leadership and courage” and was the only presidential candidate with the ability to “defuse the international situation and stabilize it so that we don’t stumble into World War III.”
Not all Israelis, however, were happy with the election outcome.
Motty Hassin, who was evacuated more than a year ago from his home in Kiryat Shmona, a northern border town that has been bombarded by Hezbollah, said he was “unhappy, to say the least” — particularly as the news of Trump’s election came on the heels of Netanyahu’s decision to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, itself a bombshell piece of news. (A neighborhood in Israel’s north that bears Trump’s name faced shelling by Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday.)
“We were going in the right direction, and starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said — but added that it now felt like voices of reason were becoming rarer.
“Why should I have a son fighting in Gaza and then Lebanon for 300 days straight, just for these two crazies, Bibi and Trump, to be at the helm?” he asked. “We need Gallant, we need moderates, we need Kamala.”
He also praised the Biden administration for its support of Israel in the war — to the tune of billions of dollars in military aid — describing Biden as “a king” and asserting, “We never had support like that before.”
Julian Bonte-Friedheim, a Tel Aviv resident, said he felt “anxiety, fear, and a kind of hopelessness,” similarly concerned that Trump’s ascension could fuel extremism among some of Israel’s right-wing officials.
“I’m worrying that the future will get worse,” he said. “We live in a country where global news is happening regularly and [Trump] is someone who can escalate things.”
Echoing a Harris talking point, he said Trump’s ethos “feels very fascist” and would redound to the detriment of minorities in Israel, particularly Arabs and other marginalized groups.
“This election just emboldens what changes that have already been happening here for a while, of Israel shifting towards the right of what I believe to be a more nationalistic and I believe more fascist attitude,” he said.
One American-Israeli, Adalia Citron, said living in Israel has changed her views on U.S. politics. She and her family always voted Democratic in her home state of Massachusetts, she said, and her shift toward the GOP sharpened during time spent living on the Gaza border in 2012, where, she said, “missiles were coming at me.”
Recalling staying up late to follow the elections, and waking up early to hear their results, Citron had worried that it could take days “or even months from now, in January,” until a result was known.
“So it was really a huge sigh of relief when we got the results, early in the morning today here in Israel,” she said, “We’re very relieved and very excited because the Trump administration is 100% behind Israel.”
She said Trump’s speaking style — a polarizing feature of the American political landscape — was a plus.
“Trump doesn’t sugarcoat anything, he’s a straight shooter and he’s fearless,” she said. “He stands for the Jewish people and understands our right to exist. He understands our beautiful 3,000-plus-year history and not just on a logical level but on a spiritual level.”
Another American immigrant, Pardes Hanna resident Ray Lessel, has Jewish friends in the United States who voted for Trump “because they think he is the savior of America and Israel.”
But she did not share in the joy. She called the results “gut-wrenching but unsurprising” after having voted for Harris.
“I do not feel pride for either of my countries,” she said. “It’s such a strange sensation. This is terrible. It’s awful.”
She added, “Let’s just say I’m not planning to move back to America anytime soon.”
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