By Rebel News | Created at 2024-11-01 01:09:43 | Updated at 2024-11-01 04:43:12
4 hours ago
In Washington, outside a rally supporting Kamala Harris, I spoke with Americans from all backgrounds to gauge the public's sentiment about the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Standing amongst Kamala Harris supporters, I encountered one voter — a Jewish man — whose views on the Democratic candidate for the election seemed to challenge Israel’s best interests, despite his firm stance. Our discussion quickly highlighted a divide on policy and ideology that resonated beyond just this one election.
I opened our conversation by pointing to a significant shift I’ve observed: many Jewish voters are moving away from the Democratic camp, increasingly leaning towards Donald Trump due to his stance on Israel.
This shift isn’t arbitrary. Just recently, during a Democrat event, Jewish attendees were forced to hide, fearing for their safety as anti-Israel protestors surrounded them. The uncomfortable reality is that this “democratic government,” as I put it to him, has seemed less secure for Jewish voters lately.
When I asked whether he could acknowledge that Trump’s policies might, at least, be better for Israel’s security, he hesitated. His answer was a clear, “I cannot say that.”
Despite his insistence on supporting Kamala, I pushed further, questioning how Trump’s four years in office, which notably saw unprecedented peace deals in the Middle East, had somehow failed Israel. “Whether you agree with him or not,” I said, “Trump’s policy delivered results.”
But he was unmoved. To him, Trump’s foreign policy was purely transactional. “Israel and Israelis must do for themselves something that Trump cannot do,” he claimed. Yet, when I pressed him to give specific examples of where Trump’s approach had failed, he struggled to name one. He instead pointed to the notion that Trump’s nature was inherently divisive.
I countered, suggesting that Kamala Harris and her party were hardly exempt from divisive rhetoric, especially given how Democrats have compared Trump to Hitler.
In response, he turned to a topic I didn’t expect: book banning. He bizarrely linked Trump to book-banning policies, although the details seemed murky at best. I questioned, “Which books is Trump banning?” His response remained vague, circling around claims of bans affecting LGBTQ and other communities.
The irony here, of course, was that much of the rhetoric about book bans has been a more complex issue involving various state legislatures — not the direct doing of Trump or even his administration.
Ultimately, his defence of Kamala Harris felt like it was built more on ideological loyalty than concrete policy, especially when it came to Israel.
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Avi Yemini
Chief Australian Correspondent
Avi Yemini is the Australia Bureau Chief for Rebel News. He's a former Israeli Defence Force marksman turned citizen journalist. Avi's most known for getting amongst the action and asking the tough questions in a way that brings a smile to your face.
