Weekly Update: Trump is back – what are the consequences for Israel?

Donald Trump is back. He has been elected as the 47^th President of the United States of America. He will be sworn in in January 2025.

Many people believe that God miraculously saved Trump from an assassination attempt, in order to become the President.

Trump’s first term in office was marked by strong support for Israel and the Jewish people – and genuine efforts to engineer a peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He moved the US embassy to Jerusalem. He declared Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights to be legal. He launched his “Deal of the Century”. He withdrew from the JCPOA and imposed heavy sanctions on Iran, Israel’s archenemy. He stopped funding of the Palestinian Authority because of its support for terrorism, from the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA calling it an “irredeemably flawed operation.”

Trump’s US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was a staunch supporter of Israel in the face of much hostility. When Trump withdrew the USA from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, Haley said the U.S. had given the human rights body “opportunity after opportunity” to make changes. She lambasted the council for “its chronic bias against Israel” and lamented the fact that its membership includes accused human rights abusers such as China, Cuba, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Trump’s first term in office was marked by strong support for Israel and the Jewish people.”

There is no doubt Donald Trump will continue to be a strong supporter of the secure existence of the Jewish State of Israel. And there is no doubt he will be much more supportive of Israel’s rights and interests than Harris would have been.

But what that looks like remains to be seen. The world is a much more complicated place than it was four years ago, and Trump has revealed little about what the details of his policies in the region will be in the coming four years. Probably because he doesn’t know yet.

Much will depend on the people he appoints to key positions, such as Security Adviser and Secretary of State. Key members of his previous Middle East team, including his son-in-law and former senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, are not expected to be part of a second Trump administration.

It is not yet known who Trump will appoint as Secretary of State. The last Secretary of State under the first Trump administration, Mike Pompeo, was an outspoken and articulate supporter of Israel’s rights to self-defense as well as Israel’s rights to sovereignty in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.

While Trump has expressed some views since 7^th October, it is difficult to predict what precise policy positions he will take on key complex issues like the continuing war in Gaza against Hamas, the conflict in Lebanon against Hezbollah, and the escalating conflict with Iran.

“It is likely that Trump will continue his policy of bringing in Middle Eastern Arab countries into the Abraham Accords.”

Concerning Gaza, Trump told Netanyahu – “Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop. It has to get over with fast.” “I will give Israel the support that it needs to win, but I do want them to win fast, wouldn’t it be nice if they could win fast? And we have to let them win fast. We will restore civility and peace to the Middle East.” He has not, however, revealed what his strategy would be to achieve that victory.

It is likely that Trump will continue his policy of bringing in Middle Eastern Arab countries into the Abraham Accords. He has stated: “I want to see the Middle East get back to peace and real peace, but a peace that’s going to be a lasting peace, and that’s going to happen,” he said, suggesting that he could bring it about because he “was respected over there” and had “great relationships with so many.”

While advocating peace through strength, Trump has vowed to stop wars rather than start them. “You know, we had no wars [in my previous term], four years we had no wars, except we defeated ISIS, we defeated ISIS in record time. But we had no wars. They said ‘he will start a war’. I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”

Trump has repeated that he would not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. In response to a question about Biden pressuring Israel not to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, he said: “That’s the thing you want to hit right? I said I think he’s got that wrong, isn’t that the one you’re supposed to hit?”

Now that Iran has, according to experts, achieved capacity to build a nuclear bomb within weeks, it will be interesting to see how he manages this issue. It is conceivable he will still encourage Israel to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

More will no doubt be revealed in the coming days as Trump starts to put together his new team of advisers and executives.

Let us pray for Donald Trump as he prepares for another term as President, that he may be an instrument in God’s hands, and that he will seek to submit to God’s revealed will and purposes. Pray for the nation of America, that the Lord will bring unity and reconciliation.

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