At a bar in Tel Aviv, Jeff Motola, a retired cop from Florida, on Tuesday studied a CNN election infographic with a mix of concern and disbelief.
A Democrat turned Republican, Motola, who is Jewish, had joined several other Americans for an all-night presidential election experience at Mike’s Place.
Following coverage on multiple screens of the dead-heat race between Republican nominee Donald Trump and his Democrat rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, Motola and others quietly watched the unfolding of what they called a fateful moment for both their native United States and the beleaguered Jewish homeland.
On Wednesday morning in Israel, many believed that Trump had won, after major U.S. networks announced he had flipped Georgia and taken North Carolina, crucial battleground states. Fox News had declared him the 47th president of the United States.
“I’m much more focused on the concern of what happens if Trump loses than the hope for what happens if he wins. There’s so much at stake this time,” said Motola, a 52-year-old father of four who is in Israel for the first time in 31 years to volunteer with the Israel Defense Forces.
Motola’s sense of urgency was shared widely among Israeli and Israel-based voters for both parties, who distrust the other party’s commitment to democracy and fair elections, as well as to America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
“If Republicans lose this election, I’m not sure we’ll have another real election for the foreseeable future,” said Motola, echoing a common Republican concern, voiced recently by entrepreneur Elon Musk, that Democrats would import illegal immigrants to vote and turn swing states blue if they win. Democrats have meanwhile warned that Trump would become a dictator if elected.
For voters who care deeply about Israel, the election is viewed as crucial to Israel’s very survival, said Motola. “Israel is fighting for its life. Trump wants to help it win. He’ll let Israel finish the job in its war on Hamas and Hezbollah. Harris won’t because she hates Israel. That’s very dangerous, it’s a life-or-death situation,” he said.
Last week, four Jewish Democrat members of Congress wrote that “Harris is a strong ally for Israel and American Jews” in an op-ed they co authored and published in The Times of Israel. Repeating widely-disputed claims about Trump, they warned that he “consorts with white nationalists” and “called neo-Nazis ‘very fine people’.”
Many Israelis were not convinced by this sort of rhetoric, according to a Channel 14 poll Tuesday, which found that 69% of Israeli respondents said they supported Trump over Harris.
“We don’t have to speculate about what Trump is going to do regarding Israel. He’s a known quantity at this point because we heard the same warnings ahead of his first term, and he ended up doing only good things for Israel,” said Jason Hall, a friend of Motola’s and a police officer from Miami Beach, Florida.
Democrats Abroad Israel had been in contact with Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv about potentially holding a small election gathering at the seaside music bar, but they didn’t show up, according to Mike’s Place co-owner Gal Ganzman. Previous election-night events saw more patrons, he added; the bar was more than half empty. Low attendance may owe to the war and Israel’s own political shakeup—thousands protested in Tel Aviv and elsewhere on Tuesday night following the dismissal of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
At the Jerusalem branch of Mike’s Place, Republicans Overseas Israel held an election-night event for about 60 participants, Marc Zell, an American-Israeli lawyer and chairman of Republicans Overseas Israel, told JNS.
“There’s a lot at stake, it’s all on the line tonight,” said Zell. “The world is a very dangerous place right now and it’s because of the weakness of the Biden administration to which Kamala Harris belongs.”
The Biden administration has sent billions’ worth of weapons and equipment to Israel following the outbreak of war last year between the Jewish state and Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran last year. Harris has repeatedly stated she’s committed to Israel’s security, and the White House has reiterated its support for Israel’s right to defend itself against the Islamic Regime amid threats from Tehran to retaliate for Israel’s Oct. 26 strikes on Iran.
However, Harris has also called for an immediate ceasefire in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to neutralizing the threat posed to Israel by Hezbollah and Hamas. That terrorist group plunged the region into war when its gunmen murdered or killed some 1,200 Israelis and abducted another 251 on Oct. 7, 2023.
Trump has campaigned on his record of keeping world peace. So will he allow Israel to finish the job?
“I believe he will, because he understands both the threat Israel is facing and the evil determination of its enemies. Two things Harris clearly doesn’t get,” said Motola.
Motola, who retired as a police officer immediately after the Black Lives Matter anti-police riots in 2020, has reasons for supporting Trump regardless of Israel. He fears that race relations in the United States will deteriorate under Harris.
“It was terrible. There’s a sense the country [the United States] is going down a dangerous path,” he said.
On Wednesday morning, as ballots were still being counted, The New York Times published a projection giving a 95% chance of winning after he won in North Carolina.
Israel has one of the largest U.S. expat communities, with more than 150,000 eligible voters.
Sarah Koren, a volunteer with Republicans Overseas Israel who attended the watch party in Jerusalem, called the U.S. presidential election a “survival issue” for Israel, which she said would not only have an easier time winning the war under Trump, but would get a new path to peace through the broadening of the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia and beyond. “So it’s a mix of hope and concern right now,” she said.
