A common refrain from Jewish Democrats during the fall election season was that a Trump administration would be a dangerous disaster for Jews in America and Israel. These criticisms held little water given that Donald Trump’s first administration was highly favorable to Jews, including accomplishments like expanding Title VI protections and signing the 2020 Abraham Accords in the Middle East.
Now, with plans for the new Trump administration taking shape, it should be clear that the next four years will offer many promising signs for Jews in America and Israel alike.
Let’s look at what the incoming administration and the incoming Republican-led Congress have already done to help Jews and the Jewish state. It is useful to start with the president-elect’s cabinet picks, which include many people who have expressed unequivocal support for the safety of the American Jewish community and the security of the Jewish state. Trump offered New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, a leading pro-Israel lawmaker, the role of ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik, who famously took elite university presidents to task in the hearings about campus antisemitism, is sure to take a similarly uncompromising stance against the United Nations, which is notoriously biased against Israel.
Trump also selected Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who is both a staunch supporter of Israel and one of Washington’s fiercest critics of Iran, as the new secretary of state. Rubio has repeatedly called for Israel to be able to do whatever needs to be done to defeat Hamas, correctly pointing out in a viral video that all blame for the war lies with the terrorist organization and that Israel has a moral imperative to destroy them. His advocacy for tough sanctions and a stronger posture against the Iranian regime is also good for Israel and Jews across the world, acting as a hedge against any American enablement of their global financing of terror.
He will be joined in the incoming U.S. foreign-policy establishment by other Jewish allies like the future ambassador to Israel former Alabama Gov. Mike Huckabee, a self-described Zionist who has a decades-long political record of support for the Jewish state; and future national security adviser Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, who stands by Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza and has criticized the Biden administration’s policies of constraining Israel and enabling the terrorists in Iran. Waltz is also an advocate for expanding the Abraham Accords and advancing Trump’s earlier record of creating regional peace.
With these picks and a slate of others, Trump’s incoming administration is shaping up to be one of the most strongly pro-Israel administrations in recent U.S. memory. The incoming government doesn’t only bode well for Israel and U.S.-Israeli relations but for American Jewish security. Trump has promised to combat antisemitism by deporting the foreign radicals who cheer on Hamas and Hezbollah, and stripping federal funding from universities that fail to enforce anti-discrimination laws when Jewish students are targeted for hate.
The Republicans are already starting to make good on this promise with a recently introduced Protect Economic Freedom Act, which aims to pull federal financial aid funding from colleges that participate in boycotts of Israel. The legislation comes after months of warnings from Republican attorneys general across the country, who have threatened to enforce standing state anti-boycott laws against universities that greenlight divestment measures. The bipartisan measure, co-sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), stands no chance of passing in the current Congress. Lawmakers plan to reintroduce it in January after Republicans resume control of Congress, where it may have enough support from moderate Democrats to pass.
The bill will be a powerful tool for lawmakers aiming to reform our broken, politicized universities, which receive federal funding under the condition that, among other things, they follow antidiscrimination laws. While the U.S. Department of Education technically has the power to pull funding if schools violate these laws, they rarely do, particularly in Democratic administrations. This bill has the potential to change the current climate, holding universities more accountable for creating a fair, unbiased campus environment and making federal dollars conditional on meaningful reforms.
Trump has also promised to enforce existing statutes holding foreign students on visas accountable for following American laws—and penalizing them for actions such as supporting terror groups like Hamas. “If you come from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or antisemitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you,” he said at a rally. One organization, Betar, has even begun preparing for January by compiling lists of pro-Hamas students attending American universities, hoping this will make it easier to apply swift consequences when the new administration takes effect.
The list could go on, but the broad takeaway should be clear: Instead of wringing their hands and prophesizing about doom, American Jews should look at the hard policy evidence ahead of them and recognize the promising signs it contains. We are safer when there is a government willing to enforce anti-discrimination laws and penalize college campuses that swing into overt antisemitism, and Israel is safer when it is dealing with American officials who sanction terrorists and stand unequivocally with its battle against evil. Jews should welcome an administration that values our security both at home and abroad, and Trump’s team so far shows every sign that they will do just that.