Trump claims no Jewish person ‘could vote’ for Harris as he hosts Netanyahu
Donald Trump has claimed no Jewish person “could vote” for Kamala Harris as he accused her of being “disrespectful to Israel”.
On Friday, the former president hosted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
It was their first meeting since Mr Trump left office, and an opportunity to re-establish contact in case of a Republican win in November.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu delivered a speech to Congress in which he defended Israel’s military operation against Hamas. Hundreds of protesters rallied in Washington, drawing attention to the claimed 40,000 people in Gaza killed during the Israeli military operation after the October 7 attacks.
On Thursday, Mr Netanyahu met Mr Biden and Ms Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for President.
Afterwards she said she had raised the issue of the civilian deaths and vowed she would “not be silent” about the topic.
Before the meeting in Florida, Mr Trump told CNN: “I think her remarks were disrespectful. They weren’t very nice pertaining to Israel.”
He added: “I actually don’t know how a person who is Jewish could vote for her, but that’s up to them.”
Critics of Ms Harris claimed her comments could make it harder for Israel and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, something her team has rejected.
“I think to the extent that Hamas understands there’s no daylight between Israel and the United States, that expedites the deal,” Mr Netanyahu told to reporters at his meeting with Mr Trump. “And I would hope that those comments don’t change that.”
While Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu once had a strong working bond, with the American leader agreeing to calls to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem and recognise the Golan Heights as belonging to Israel, it reportedly soured after Mr Trump was defeated by Mr Biden in 2020.
Mr Trump was said to have been upset that Mr Netanyahu – along with virtually every other world leader – recognised Mr Biden’s win and spoke with him.
On Friday, Mr Trump beamed when Mr Netanyahu arrived and insisted there had been no falling out.
“We’ve always had a great relationship,” he said. “It was never bad.”