Chronicle poll results: Which presidential candidate is better for Israel?
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Chronicle poll results: Which presidential candidate is better for Israel?

We asked our readers which presidential candidate is better for Israel. Here's what they said.

Last week, the Chronicle asked its readers in an electronic poll the following question: “Which presidential candidate is better for Israel?” Of the 380 people who responded, 60% said “Kamala Harris”; 32% said “Donald Trump”; 5% said “Other; and 3% said they had no opinion. Comments were submitted by 109 people. A few follow.

I think a more important question would be which candidate is better for our country.

Sadly, Trump is best for Israel but awful for the USA.

Trump did more for Israel than Biden-Harris. Trump will stop Iran’s nuclear program; Harris will not.

I think Donald Trump is a vulgar person who disrespects the office of the president. Nevertheless, I feel he is the stronger candidate when it comes to Israel and geopolitics in the Middle East.

John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, has quoted Trump as saying that “Hitler did a lot of good things.” That, in addition to Trump trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 elections should be enough for any Jewish person not to trust him to do the right things.

Certainly not Harris and who knows with Trump.

Hands down Donald Trump.

Trump is an extremist, an overt antisemite and a fascist. We cannot be one-issue voters. We need to vote holistically. There is no scenario where Trump is better for the U.S. and better for Israel.

In theory Trump’s positions are better for Israel than Harris’, but Trump is so mercurial that no one can count on him. Harris won’t be great for Israel but she won’t be terrible.

They’re both bad for Israel. Harris buys into the delusion that Israel can make Iran and its proxies behave by withdrawing (surrendering), and Trump is a fickle friend who won’t really support Israel if his friend Putin objects.

They both prevaricate, waffle, mislead, and dissemble about Middle East issues. Actions speak louder than words. The Abraham Accords were a huge accomplishment, but I think that achievement was mostly a mirage and not a true revelation of any genuine motives.

Trump is a true friend to Israel and Jews. Harris is a threat to democracy, peace, America, Israel and the free world.

I care first about the American Jewish community and which candidate is best for us. And unless the American Jewish community is allowed to thrive, Israel is in grave trouble.

Harris would be a disaster for Israel and the USA as we know it. Any Jew voting for Harris-Walz is voting against his own people.

Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton said his support for Israel cannot be counted on in a second term like it was in the first. J.D. Vance will likely play a dominant role in the administration and he voted against aid for Israel and has isolationist views and rhetoric on this. In Michigan Trump and his allies have been targeting Muslim voters with attacks on Kamala Harris for supporting Israel. No president has done more for Israel than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will continue that.

Without a Palestine solution, Israel cannot achieve lasting peace. Lasting peace involves coexistence with Arab nations that require a stable Palestine. Donald Trump does not support Palestinian rights. Kamala Harris is both committed to the well-being of Israel and the fair treatment of Palestine citizens.

Only because Trump is so unpredictable, I have to go with Harris, but I am concerned about her current choice of Middle East advisers.

Right-wing Jews will say Donald Trump. And they have a point if “better” means providing unconditional U.S. military aid and giving Israeli leadership a free hand to do whatever. But Harris may be better for those who want to see Israel remain a democratic, Jewish state — one that the rest of the world still respects and that respects and abides by international norms and laws.

I would say Donald Trump but frankly I don’t believe any promises or commitments he makes. Further, Harris is a panderer, so who really knows what she’ll do, either? PJC

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