Objectivist and anti-Trumper Razi Ginzberg (who we mostly agree with on other issues) in a post on X claims that “On so many issues, the left and the right are two sides of the same coin. When it comes to Israel, they’re the same side of the same coin.”
Professor Adam Mossoff responds:
I'm no fan of Trumpist policies generally, but it's incorrect to say that Trump Administration was only "less bad" for Israel then Biden-Harris Administration. Since this is claim about actual policies and state actions, and not tweets or speeches, then we can compare the two.…
— Adam Mossoff (@AdamMossoff) September 2, 2024
I’m no fan of Trumpist policies generally, but it’s incorrect to say that Trump Administration was only “less bad” for Israel then Biden-Harris Administration. Since this is claim about actual policies and state actions, and not tweets or speeches, then we can compare the two.
Since Biden has been largely incapacitated mentally during his presidency, Biden’s White House staff taken from the Obama Administration and Senators Warren and Sanders offices continued the same anti-Israel policies of Obama’s presidency.
In contrast, during Trump’s presidency, the U.S. for the first time:
- recognized Jerusalem as capitol of Israel
- moved U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem
- recognized Israel’s legitimate annexation of Golden Heights
- successfully guided negotiations of Abraham Accords (the most significant, major peace accord with Saudia Arabia and other Gulf States), and
- Trump visited Western Wall and visited Israel on his first international trip abroad as strong signal of support for Israel.
Since October 7, Biden-Harris Administration has increasingly betrayed and attacked Israel, including:
- imposing arms embargo (secretly at first and made public last April), dictating restrictive conditions on Israel’s fighting in Gaza War that have delayed war and emboldened Hamas to hold out,
- betrayed Israel at @UN by not vetoing anti-Israel resolution,
- officially repeated Hamas propaganda as fact (e.g., starvation in Gaza, massive civilian casualties),
- refused to investigate or prosecute terrorist connections of protestors in U.S., and
- has emboldened pro-Hamas activists in U.S. by supporting explicitly anti-semitic politicians like @AOC, @Ilhan & @RashidaTlaib in Democractic Party along with leading Democrats like @SenWarren and @SenSchumer accusing Israel of genocide and war crimes in Gaza.
I keep hearing Objectivists saying that Trump is the same as Biden-Harris or maybe just slightly less bad. So, I’d be interested in hearing how or why someone thinks the above facts about the *policies* and *actions* of the Trump and Biden-Harris Admissions are either wrong or incomplete, because I’ve yet to hear this.
From observing how “How The GOP Became A ‘Pro-Israel’ Party“:
Whatever GOP constituency pressed for the move the most, what matters in the end is that they succeeded. Though Democratic and Republican presidential candidates alike have long promised to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the U.S. Embassy there, none who won the office ever did so — until Trump.
Even the Washington Post notes:
“All of these Republican presidents and diplomats were pro-Israel, but they also sought to preserve some balance. They understood that Israelis were not 100 percent right and Palestinians 100 percent wrong. All that changed with Donald Trump’s presidency. He moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the conquered Golan Heights, cut off aid to the Palestinians, and even unveiled a peace plan with no Palestinian input. This recklessly one-sided approach was the culmination of a long-term shift in the GOP driven by White evangelicals who are more hawkish on Israel than American Jews.”
Trump says that Israel needs to “finish the job” in Gaza and expresses concern that people have forgotten about October 7th, equating them to Holocaust deniers.
Trump then complains that Israel has lost its influence in Congress, and pledges to restore it if elected.
Follow:… pic.twitter.com/0dUfiOFPOX
— AF Post (@AFpost) June 6, 2024
Trump GOP is”more hawkish on Israel than American Jews” according to the Washington Post. That’s why a Trump critic like Professor Mossoff is voting for Trump, despite all of his misgivings and the weakness in Trump’s character.