Much has been made of Joe Biden’s full throated support of Israel in their genocidal campaign against the Palestinians since October 7. Of course, I should point out that the Israel campaign of genocide began long before October 7. However, it took a more leisurely pace, a pace their Western backers could ‘begrudgingly’ support.
Days after the attack, Biden repeated the unproven and quickly debunked claims about beheaded babies. He stated these lies to a gaggle of reporters, claiming to have seen the images. When pressed to provide evidence, his handlers confirmed this was not true.
Since October 7, Biden has haemorrhaged support amongst Muslim supporters and young people who have repeatedly called out his obsequious support for the genocide. Not only has Biden provided diplomatic and military support, he also pushed some of the more extreme lies used by Israel to justify their slaughter.
In typical centrist (read right wing) style, some of the defence of Biden has been that Trump would be worse. I wrote about this constant battle between the “lesser of two evils” which is the greatest gift of the two party system in my previous chapter.
To at least be fair to the Democrats, I have decided to examine Trump’s rhetoric to understand what his proposed policy on Israel/Palestine would be. This proved to be quite the challenge as one of Trump’s most successful tactic is to never be pinned down on a single position.
Trump is everything to everyone.
Amongst Trump’s most loyal supporters, you will find those who believe that America has lost respect in the world and should regain it (presumably by bombing some poor faraway country). But you will simultaneously find those who believe America should not be the world’s police, and should “get the hell out of all the wars”. They believe Trump is fighting the deep state and every pro-war move on his part is either a 3D chess move to defeat the aforementioned state, or a forced move instigated by the state to sabotage his peace agenda.
Both of these audiences genuinely believe Trump will achieved these evidently contradictory aims. To illustrate this, I had an interesting conversation with my housemate who was convinced Trump was more likely to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza based largely on this clip:
To understand Trump’s true position, it is important to consider his position while he actually had power, during his Presidency. Much more than any rhetoric, this will give an indication for his Middle East policy.
Trump Presidency (2016-2020)
Moving the Embassy to Jerusalem
Trump’s successful 2016 campaign was bankrolled by a key American Zionist, Sheldon Adelson. Adelson gave Trump over $20 million. Apart from the usual tax breaks and special favours which are par for the course, Adelson is a single issue voter, and that issue is Israel. Trump later stated that lobbying from Adelson was a key reason why the US moved their embassy to Jerusalem (occupied Palestinian territory). This move marked one of the death knells to the now moribund “two-state” solution canard which has been the pretend policy of the West for decades.
Subheading: Iran Nuclear Deal
Trump presided over the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. It is important to note that this deal involved Iran and multiple other European powers, not just the US. Even before the deal was signed, Netanyahu lobbied heavily against it.
Most casual and even informed observers (like myself) find it confusing why Netanyahu should hate Iran so much. Iran does not seem to care much about Israel main goal which is to dominate the entire area between the river to the sea. Of course, I am not in the room for the conversations between Iranian leaders, but I dare say that if Israel simply pursued this and left them alone, they wouldn’t care much about Israel.
The deal came after years of crushing sanctions. Israel for its part, has long accused Iran of “destabilising the region” and being the number one exporter of terror.
Trump hired Iran-haters like John Bolton and Mike Flynn who double up as Israel lobbyists. Eventually, Netanyahu got his wish and the US pulled out of the deal. It was never clear what “better deal” Trump wanted to renegotiate. It is however likely that there was no better deal, and the reneging was to allow for sanctions on Iran to resume, weakening them to the delight of Israel.
The US was roundly condemned by other Western allies and the UN for this unilateral move. This was another good example of Trump acting at the behest of Israel, to the detriment of American interests.
HEADING: Trump campaign (2023-)
Subheading: Evangelical Christians
Trump firmly relies on the support of Evangelical Christians, many of which are Christian Zionists. These include Pastors like John Hagee, chairman of Christian United for Israel. When it comes to support of Israel, it simply does not get more fanatical than Christian Zionists. These lunatics WORSHIP Israel.
It is fascinating that the earlier clip included above where Trump is describing his fanatical support for Israel was during a conversation with Evangelical Christian leaders. This is the type of thing they love to hear.
Many (like me) have often previously assumed that most of the Israel support in the United States comes from the heavy lobbying they do. While this is true, the effect of the ‘natural lobbying’ found in the US Christian community cannot be understated. Infact, many of the politicians who support Israel due to the financial political support and are major powerbrokers in the Republican party also under the influence of Evangelical heavyweights like John Hagee and now deceased Pat Robertson (huge televangelist pastors).
At this point, I should probably explain to my UK (and international) audience why Israel (an immoral apartheid state whose religion does not even believe in Jesus) should enjoy such fanatical Christian support.
THESE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THE GATHERING OF JEWS IN THE LEVANT, IS A PREREQUISITE FOR THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
You can imagine that they will support almost any type of human intervention that brings this coveted outcome even one millimetre closer.
Combining this with good old fashioned anti-Arab racism, it is very easy for them to believe any harmful tropes promulgated by their leaders to justify the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Given how influential this block was (is), it’s hard to imagine they would be supporting a ceasefire between Israel and the people they’ve been told are trying to kill all Jews everywhere.
Subheading: Presidential Campaign (post Oct 7)
Sub-subheading: Adelson lives on
While casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the single issue voter who boosted Trump with a $75m donation in the last weeks of his 2016 campaign might be dead, his wife, Miriam Adelson is very much alive and kicking.
It was recently reported that she plans to give Trump over $100m to fund his re-election campaign. In a flagellating profile granted to her by New York Magazine, she was surprisingly (perhaps not given that Zionists have no shame) candid about her views on Israel (Miriam is an Israel citizen).
Here is a glimpse into her priorities:
*insert image 1*
With supporters like these, you can expect Trump to continue sycophantic support for Israel.
Subheading: Gaza war
In his debate against Biden last week, Trump likened Biden to a ‘Palestinian’. This was used to mean a slur. That is, Biden has presided over the war by being overly hostile to Israel, and too deferential to the Palestinians.
While this would come as a shock to most level headed viewers, given the first few paragraphs of this article, this criticism amongst Republicans is not uncommon. There are those who believe Biden has been limiting Israel’s ability to “finish the job”. Trump clearly falls into this camp.
We can safely assume that if he wins, he will do away with any pretend concerns about civilian casualties. However, it is difficult to see Israel doing genocide much faster than they currently are. There is actually more resistance to their current policy within Israel, than there is in the United States. That should tell you how extreme Israeli discourse is in the United States.
HEADING: Conclusion
It would be difficult and flatly inaccurate to state that Trump would be better for the Palestinians than Biden. Given the facts above, Trump would have even less internal pressure (from supporters and donors) to compel Israel to modify their behaviour.
Given the statements and ambitions of Adelson, Trump’s plans for the Palestinians could lead to even more violence against them (which is currently at a lower intensity in the West Bank) than it is in Gaza.
Unfortunately for the Palestinians, they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.