If you truly care about Israel, you need to vote for Donald Trump.Donald Trump has been the most pro-Israel president during my lifetime and arguably the most pro-Israel president in history. President Trump can continue to do great things for the State of Israel if reelected. If you are someone that truly cares about the State of Israel, you need to vote for Donald Trump.Even prior to taking office, Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign promised to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as its capital, a promise that had been made by every US President since the 1990’s. Presidents, both Democrat and Republican alike, had considered an embassy move since the 1990’s when the US Congress passed The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which became law in November of 1995.
Section 3 of the Act stated that, “(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999.”However, section 7 of the Act contained a waiver provision that allowed for the president to delay the embassy move for six months for national security concerns. While every president had made this promise, each president signed the six-month waiver, citing national security interests. This all changed when Trump decided in 2017 to follow through on his campaign promise, unlike other presidents, to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the US Embassy there, reiterating the provisions of the 1995 Act.The embassy was opened on May 14, 2018, the 70th anniversary of the day Israel declared its independence. Additionally, the Trump administration announced in October 2020 that Americans who were born in Jerusalem could mention Israel as the country of their birth, reversing a policy that spanned decades.Similarly, President Trump in March of 2019 decided to recognize Israeli sovereignty and rights over the strategically significant Golan Heights.Likewise, President Trump was willing to reverse US policy in regard to Israeli settlements. The Trump administration announced in November of 2019 that “the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not per se inconsistent with international law.” Moreover, the Trump administration last week extended US and Israeli scientific cooperation to apply to Israeli institutions in both Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights.The Palestinian Authority has refused to negotiate with Israel and maintained its intransigent position. Given the fact that the Palestinian Authority was continuing its "pay for slay" policy, Trump in 2018 signed the Taylor Force Act which would stop foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority unless the payment to Palestinian terrorists stopped. The Palestinian Authority’s refusal to negotiate for peace and stop the payment of terrorists lead President Trump to discontinue the aid package to the Palestinian Authority.PRESIDENT TRUMP has demonstrated that he is willing to stand up for Israel at the United Nations. After UNESCO passed a resolution which denied the Jewish connection to the Kotel, Hebron, and other Jewish holy sites, President Trump withdrew from UNESCO. Additionally, President Trump withdrew the US from the UN Human Rights Council because of its habitual singling out of Israel for criticism.President Trump has showed that he will do everything in his power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to quell Iran’s regional ambitions. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has threatened to annihilate Israel and is in the process of developing nuclear weapons which could accomplish that threat.Under the Iran nuclear deal, Iran, the lead state sponsor of terrorism, received billions of dollars in sanctions relief. President Trump decided to withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal which enabled the President’s administration to reimpose sanctions on Iran and that “no new contracts” with Iran would be allowed.The sanctions that have been reimposed make it harder for Iran to sponsor terrorism throughout the world and to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranian economy as of now is on the verge of collapse. General Jack Kean suspects that if Trump is re-elected, Iran would be willing to come back to the negotiating table, which would allow the US to renegotiate a better deal.Furthermore, Trump ordered the strike that killed Iranian Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani, a man who has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians and US soldiers and who was planning terrorist attacks against US interests and Israel.Recently, President Trump was responsible for the Abraham Accords, a peace agreement in which several Arab states agreed to recognize and normalize relations with the state of Israel. Prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords, the conventional wisdom was that there would be no peace between Israel and other Arab states until Israel and the Palestinians signed a peace agreement first. Trump has completely upended the traditional norms and has been able to forge peace agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sudan.In summation, given Trump’s track record on Israel and the Middle East, if you truly care about the State of Israel, you need to vote for Donald Trump.The writer is a lawyer at Rudolph Clarke and a graduate of the Widener University School of Law.