Israelis Love Trump. Democrats Can Win Their Hearts Too.

(by Rotem Oreg-Kalisky, founder and director of LIBRAEL; the opinions expressed are his alone)

“Why do Israelis love Donald Trump?”

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been asked that by American friends from the Democratic side. While some try to explain it in terms of policy - the pressure on the UN and the ICC, the Abraham Accords, the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, or the release of hostages - I believe the truth runs deeper than geopolitics.

Israelis feel that Trump is on their side emotionally. For a country surrounded by larger, mostly hostile neighbors, and for a people whose trauma is encoded in our cultural DNA, Trump’s popularity in Israel stems not from strategy but from sentiment.

President Trump next to the Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana. Trump’s popularity in Israel stems not from strategy but from sentiment.

Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, is often quoted as publicly disregarding the UN, and Israeli leaders have long thrived on the ethos of “standing against international pressure.”

Let’s make it clear: Israelis do not support Trump because of his policies - certainly not his domestic ones. Deep coverage of U.S. domestic issues is scarce in Israel, so most people are not even aware of Trump’s anti-immigration policies or his battles with academia and the media. Among those who do follow U.S. news, their stance usually correlates with their own political perspective: conservative Israelis tend to favor Trump’s policies (as many of them, too, see academia, the media, and the justice system as liberal strongholds), while liberal Israelis usually disapprove of him, often drawing parallels to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies and leadership style.

It’s not even about foreign policy. Just as most Americans do not fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of the Iran Nuclear Deal, most Israelis don’t either. Nothing changed in our day-to-day lives because of Trump’s recognition of the Golan Heights or his decision to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem. Even the Abraham Accords, important as they are, did not advance the kind of peace we dreamed of - peace with Israel’s real enemies, not with countries we never fought.

That’s why it’s broader than policy. Given Israel’s geography and the Jewish people’s history, Israelis tend to be suspicious of the world. Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, is often quoted as publicly disregarding the UN, and Israeli leaders have long thrived on the ethos of “standing against international pressure.” The ability to say “no” to foreign leaders has been Netanyahu’s domestic political advantage for years.

This is why the late Ambassador Martin Indyk wrote about President Obama that “he didn’t understand the Israelis either. He gave Israel aid and security cooperation to an extent and depth hitherto unknown in previous administrations… He didn’t understand that the Israelis need sympathy, an embrace.”

Former President Biden and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Biden was extremely popular in Israel in the early weeks of the war.

A university professor I spoke with recently - a leftist, anti-Netanyahu activist - said, “I am torn between my anger at him for destroying America’s academia and democracy, and my gratitude to him for ending the war and returning the hostages.” Another liberal activist said, “On the one hand, he is destroying his own country; on the other, he saved ours.”

On top of that is the trauma of the last two years. The October 7 massacre and the brutal war that followed have shaken Israel’s confidence to its core, with the leadership failures that led to October 7 only making things worse. This is exactly why then-President Biden was extremely popular in the early weeks of the war: within two months, Biden’s approval among Israelis who wanted him reelected rose from 33% to 48%, while Trump - who mocked Israel’s leaders - dropped from 45% to 32%. It was not just about providing military aid or moving aircraft carriers to the region; it was about Biden’s recognition of Israel’s suffering, our pain and trauma, and his clear message that we were not alone.

Biden enjoyed so much credibility in Israel that it enabled him to push Netanyahu to revoke the planned strike on Hezbollah on October 11, thus preventing the war from expanding, and to begin providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, against public demands to halt it.

Before Biden or Trump, President Bill Clinton was a notable U.S. president who expressed deep empathy for Israelis. In his eulogy for Prime Minister Rabin, Clinton said, “Rabin was my friend and partner. I loved him and adored him.” Clinton’s unapologetic empathy made him widely popular in Israel and enabled him to push Israeli prime ministers - first Rabin, then Netanyahu - to make tough decisions.

Much has changed since November 2023. As the war dragged on and the catastrophe in Gaza worsened, Israel lost much of its international support. Israelis began to feel isolated and misunderstood by much of the world, and the spike in antisemitic attacks only reinforced an already common belief that “the world is against us.”

Celebrating the release of the hostages. Many Israelis who are politically moderate or even liberal still express ambivalent admiration for Trump.

In this climate, Trump’s unapologetic tone offered the validation so many Israelis seek. He doesn’t lecture Israel about morality or demand “restraint.” Even as he pushed to end the war - forcing Netanyahu to do so under terms he had previously opposed - he did it while emphasizing Israel’s needs.

Even among those who do not support him, Trump’s symbolic stand with Israel means something. When he calls Hamas “animals,” Israelis hear someone who understands their pain and anger. When Trump repeats that “we must never forget October 7,” it’s not about reminding us - as if any living Israeli could forget - but about addressing the deep concern that “the world has forgotten.”

This is crucial: many Israelis who are politically moderate or even liberal still express ambivalent admiration for Trump. Again, it’s not because they endorse his domestic politics or his disregard for norms. It’s because they sense that, when it comes to us, he sees our pain. A university professor I spoke with recently - a leftist, anti-Netanyahu activist - said, “I am torn between my anger at him for destroying America’s academia and democracy, and my gratitude to him for ending the war and returning the hostages.” Another liberal activist said, “On the one hand, he is destroying his own country; on the other, he saved ours.”

Of course, such loyalty carries dangers. Unquestioning affection for any foreign leader - especially one as polarizing and unpredictable as Trump - blurs the line between a strategic alliance and personal dependency. Israel’s long-term interests require bipartisan American support, not emotional attachment to one man or one party.

But there’s a lesson here: if a foreign leader wants Israelis to trust them - trust that is necessary to make tough decisions - that trust can be earned through symbolic gestures, as long as they feel authentic.

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