Support for Israel
The Biden/Harris administration has been steadfast in its financial and military support for Israel; never has the U.S. given this much support to the Jewish state. For example:
- The administration provided an unprecedented $12.5 billion financial / military aid package to Israel in response to the October 7th Hamas attacks and ensuing war. Included in this package is the historic 10-year annual $3.8 billion in U.S. aid to Israel per an MoU signed by President Obama in 2014.
- The U.S. military backed Israel when the country was attacked by 300 Iranian missiles in April 2024.
- In August 2024, the U.S. deployed submarines and aircraft carriers to help Israel defend against expected Iranian retaliation for the death of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and potential Hezbollah attacks.
- As of mid-September, there were about 40,000 U.S. troops in the region, as well as a fleet of destroyers capable of striking and causing devastating damage to Israel’s enemies.
- And on September 23, the Biden/Harris administration announced that it is bolstering US forces in the Middle East by deploying additional troops in the region. It is also sending another carrier group with 6,500 sailors on board to protect Israel and prevent further escalation.
Many Middle East experts believe that Iran has refrained from attacking Israel during the current military conflict between Israel and Hezbollah largely because the U.S. military is on standby in the region to protect its close ally, Israel.
Vice President Harris has been clear that she is committed to continue giving Israel the ability to defend itself through military support, saying at the Democratic National Convention: “I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”
Following the brutal execution of six Israeli hostages in early September, Vice President Harris said that “Hamas must be eliminated.” Donald Trump said nothing.
Questions & Answers
President Trump’s administration helped negotiate the Abraham Accords, a series of bilateral agreements and MoUs between Israel and UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan, which were signed at the end of 2020 and early 2021. As part of these agreements, the UAE and Bahrain recognized Israel’s sovereignty in return for the postponement by Israel of any consideration of the annexation of the West Bank. Morocco recognized Israel and declared that it will start moving towards establishing full diplomatic relations. In exchange, the U.S. recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara. Sudan agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in exchange for U.S. financial aid and removal from the U.S. list of sponsors of terrorism. However, Sudan never signed the full agreement, and the U.S. cut its ties to Sudan after the military coup there.
For its part, the Democratic Party is responsible for negotiating multiple security and peace agreements that have cemented peace between Israel and its most important neighbor states, Egypt and Jordan. In 1978, President Carter’s administration helped negotiate the Camp David Accords, which led directly to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. This was followed in 1993 and 1995 by the signing of the Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO, which were brought together by President Clinton. These accords resulted in the PLO formally recognizing the state of Israel and its right to exist.
President Clinton also helped negotiate the Israel-Jordan peace treaty in 1994. The Egypt and Jordan peace treaties are universally considered the cornerstones of Israeli security over the last 50 years.
No. What the Abraham Accords did was normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, then later a renewal of ties with Morocco. They provide new opportunities for direct flights and business partnerships, and other forms of non-military cooperation.
During the Trump administration, the U.S. provided Israel with a total of $18.3B in aid, in line with the 10-year levels of support negotiated during the Obama administration.
The Biden/Harris administration has provided Israel with a total of $25.8B to-date, which includes $8.7B in additional aid approved after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
Congressional Republicans have exhibited greater support for military assistance to Israel. When voting on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act in April 2024, 37 House Democrats voted against, which is 16 more than the number of Republicans (21) voting “Nay.”
The voting in the Senate was different. When voting on the Foreign Aid Package bill (including support for Israel) on April 20, 2024, only 2 Democrats voted against while there were 15 Republican Senators who opposed the bill. Many of these Republicans were going on record as opposing aid to Ukraine, which was included in this package. However, their opposition resulted in a significant delay in sending aid to Israel.
Definitely the Democrats. The party platform approved by the delegates to the Democratic National Convention in August contains 29 positive references to Israel and the Jewish community. There were only two references in the Republican Party platform.
Key elements in the Democrats’ platform include: 1) building a strong coalition to “counter and deter Iran and prevent it and its terrorist proxies from threatening the security of the region;” 2) “ironclad” commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, and its right to defend itself; 3) calling for a “whole-of-society” effort to combat antisemitism across government agencies, Congress, state and local government, and technology platforms.
The Republican Party platform simply says, “Republicans condemn antisemitism,” and “we will stand with Israel and seek peace in the Middle East.”
It is also worth pointing out that none of the critics of Israel were given an opportunity to speak from the podium at the Democratic National Convention, while seven Jewish elected officials were. This compares to only one Jewish elected official who spoke at the Republican National Convention.
