US-Israeli settlers anticipate stronger support in Trump’s second term

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Nov 2024 09:08

Many Israelis are hopeful that Trump will continue to provide robust support for Tel Aviv.

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Former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall meeting in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

Less than a week before the US presidential election, US-Israeli settlers are clear about their preferred candidate: Republican Donald Trump.

Polls indicated that the majority of Israelis—66% according to a survey by Channel 12 News—long for the return of Trump to the White House.

During his previous term, Trump made "Israel" a priority by moving the US embassy to occupied al-Quds, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, and facilitating the normalization deals between "Israel" and several Arab countries.

Now, many Israelis are hopeful that Trump will continue to provide robust support for Tel Aviv.

"I'm proud to tell you that I voted for President Trump," said 50-year-old Eliana Passentin, who settled in "Israel" from San Francisco as a child, in an interview with AFP.

'President Trump respects our right to defend ourselves'

Passentin has spent the last 29 years as an illegal settler in Eli, an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, which has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Under a two-state solution, which is supported by much of the international community, this area would become part of a future Palestinian state.

The US-Israeli settler recalls how previous US administrations consistently pressured "Israel" to halt settlement expansion in efforts to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians and advance a two-state solution.

"The United States of America, our greatest ally, we thank you, but please understand we know how to run our country," Passentin said.

International law takes a different stance, with the international community considering Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal.

Among Israelis who support Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, 93% favor Trump, according to the Channel 12 poll.

"Now it's a whole different story—it's not about Judea and Samaria, it's about Israel," she said, using the biblical names for the occupied West Bank regions.

"We have a right to defend ourselves... and I think President Trump respects and understands that," Passentin stressed.

Gedaliah Blum, 45, a settler originally from New Jersey, also cast his vote for Trump, emphasizing, "It comes down to what kind of future we want here in Israel."

"Do we want a future where Israel faces an embargo every time we defend ourselves?" he asked.

Trump told Netanyahu he wants ceasefire in Gaza by the time he wins

Two informed sources familiar divulged last Wednesday that former US President Donald Trump informed Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he wins the election, he wants "Israel" to end the war on Gaza by the time he enters office.

Trump originally spoke to Netanyahu when he visited his Florida Mar-a-Lago club, according to a former Trump administration official and an Israeli official.

While Trump has publicly stated that he informed Netanyahu that he wants "Israel" to win the war soon, sources speaking with Israeli media say the deadline is linked to that desire.

According to the former US official, Trump's pitch to Netanyahu was not explicit, and he may perhaps support "residual" IOF activities in Gaza as long as it has formally ended.

Netanyahu has long stated that "Israel" plans to maintain overarching security control of Gaza in the 'day after', and other Israeli officials have spoken of the IOF maintaining a buffer zone inside the Strip while periodically re-occupying the area.

A leaked audio revealed the Israeli PM telling Likud members he was unwilling to give in to Hamas' demands of ending the war in exchange for the Israeli captives.

Trump has recently signaled that he would offer "Israel" more leeway in its war, blasting US President Joe Biden for attempting to limit the occupation's response to Iran's Operation True Promise 2.

The former US official stressed that the pre-inauguration day win that Trump wants "Israel" to achieve in Gaza involves the release of the captives, threatening at the Republican National Convention in July that anybody holding American captives abroad would "pay a very big price."