About two-thirds of American Jews are afraid that President Donald Trump will turn on Israel because of his recent rows with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a recent poll.
The results – if accurate – don’t seem to make sense given Trump’s history with the Jewish state. This raises some serious questions: Why would anyone believe this is possible?
The Times of Israel reported on the survey, which analyzed attitudes among Jewish Americans toward Washington’s relationship with Israel.
The Jewish People Policy Institute’s monthly report on Diaspora Jewry, published Sunday, finds that 63% of American Jews say that after a tense meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month, Trump’s handling of relations with Ukraine, makes them “more concerned” about Trump’s future policies with Israel.
Some 74% of respondents say they do not support Trump’s policies regarding Ukraine and the war with Russia, the report says.
Overall, 27% of respondents say they have a lot of confidence that Trump will do the right thing when it comes to US-Israel relations, 32% say they have low confidence, and 38% say they have no confidence in Trump’s handling of US-Israel relations.
There is no denying that Trump and Zelensky’s relationship is on the rocks at the moment. But are there any indications whatsoever that the president would stop supporting Israel?
The answer is no. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite.
Earlier this year, Trump sent $4 billion in military aid to Israel, reversing the Biden administration’s arms embargo. He has not indicated that he plans to halt aid going to the Jewish state any time soon.
Additionally, the president, during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announced plans for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip after the Hamas threat is neutralized. The plan involves removing the Palestinian population to other countries such as Jordan and Egypt. Some Israeli officials saw this as an “ingenious solution” that would deal with the terrorist threat coming from the region.
Even further, President Trump has threatened action against Hamas on multiple occasions, saying “all hell will break loose” if the terrorist group fails to return the hostages it kidnapped on October 7, 2023.
But this is just during his second term in office. In his first term, he pushed several pro-Israel initiatives. He shocked the world in 2017 when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, moving the U.S. embassy to the city.
Trump went even further. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019. This was a massive boon to the Jewish state. But the president made even more progress in 2020, when his administration started the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several former enemies, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
The significance of these accomplishments cannot be overstated. Nobody thought any administration would be able to broker peace between these nations. It supported Trump’s assertion that he is the “best friend Israel has ever had.”
The question is: Why would Trump do all this only to turn his back on Israel now? The very notion defies all reason.
Yes, Trump has butted heads with Netanyahu on more than one occasion. Shortly after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack, Trump criticized the Israeli prime minister, saying the attack “should never have happened.” He also suggested Netanyahu was “losing the PR war” because of its military actions in Gaza.
Yet, he never indicated that he had abandoned his support for Israel.
There is also the matter of public opinion to consider. American attitudes toward supporting Israel have changed over the duration of the war in Gaza, according to a Gallup poll released in February.
The poll found that 46 percent of Americans expressed more sympathy for Israel, compared to 33 percent who favored the Palestinians. This was the lowest level of support for Israel in 25 years, but it is still clear most Americans side with the Jewish state.
It’s also important to point out that much of the shift was among Democrats, with only 21 percent backing Israel and 59 percent supporting the Palestinians.
A YouGov/Economist poll, also conducted in February, showed that 35 percent of respondents wish to decrease military aid to Israel. About 43 percent either wanted to keep funding levels the same or increase them.
But most importantly – at least for Trump – 60 percent of Republicans support Israel over the Palestinians and 67 percent believe the level of aid to Israel is “about right.”
Again, why would anyone, including Jewish Americans, believe the president is suddenly going to reverse course on Israel? It’s hard to say. But his troubled relationship with Zelensky surely can’t be the only factor.
Perhaps too many folks are being taken in by the media’s insistence on painting Trump as the second coming of Adolf Hitler, combined with the rise in antisemitism in the U.S. Either way, it seems clear that these folks will be breathing a sigh of relief soon.
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