Who Should American Jews Vote For?

Who Should Jews Vote For?

I recently conducted interviews with senior representatives of the Trump and Harris campaigns, on the subject: “Who Should American Jews Vote For?”

In such a close contest, how we Jews vote, especially in swing states, may sway the outcome of this election and could help determine who will be the next president of the United States.

Our conversations focused primarily on foreign policy, especially in regard to Israel.  Ambassador Tom Nides spoke on behalf of the candidacy of Kamala Harris, and former Deputy Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim spoke on behalf of Donald Trump’s campaign.   The two separate calls were sponsored by the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition, the independent, non-partisan, non-denominational collective voice of Zionist rabbis.

After each presented their perspectives as to why their candidate deserved our vote, I asked questions which would be of interest to American Jews.  I did not shy away from asking tough questions.  With Ambassador Nides among the issues I probed were Harris’ comments to and about pro-Hamas demonstrators as well as concerns about who might serve as advisors and in foreign policy positions in a Harris Administration and how she would deal with the efforts of the Squad to pull her in a certain direction.  With Envoy Cohanim I raised the issue of how to justify Trump’s disparaging remarks about minority groups and how offensive and off-putting his comments are, with many believing he has contributed to heightened antisemitism in the US.  I also asked if the trend towards isolationism in the Republican party should present a problem in terms of support for Israel.  In the time allotted to us, both conversations focused heavily on issues related to foreign policy.

Both representatives spoke passionately about their candidate, each emphasizing their record of support for Israel.  The interviews can be heard and seen on our website or Youtube (www.zionistrabbis.org).

So who should we vote for?

My takeaway from the in-depth conversations we had was that the main appeal the Harris campaign is making is that – as American Jews, most of whom are liberal, Kamala Harris reflects those values and will support Israel.  Ignore all the concerns you may have or what you may have heard about her, and vote for her.  The main argument the Trump campaign is putting forth to us is – as American Jews who care about Israel Trump will be the best candidate to ensure Israel’s security.  Ignore all the concerns you have about him, and vote for him.

While each has their strong points and baggage, and each have strong advocates in our community, many Jews I speak with are not thrilled with either one of them, and wish we had a different choice.

So how are we to decide?  Regardless of who you decide to vote for, I urge you to take my grandmother’s advice, who used to ask, “Is it good for the Jews?”