Right-wing Israelis joyful; Palestinians nervous
About 100 Israeli Americans spent the night at Mike’s Place, an American-style bar in Jerusalem, at an event organized by Republicans Overseas for Israel. There were periodic chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” and the occasional “USA! USA!” An American flag flew over the bar, and a dartboard with pictures of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had a dart through Clinton’s face.
As night turned into morning in Israel, some went home. By 6 am, there were only a few dozen left, mostly young men who had been drinking beer all night. As the Trump victory became clear, the chants got louder, and when Fox News, which was being broadcast on screens around the bar, finally called it, there were loud cheers and whoops for joy.
“It’s very exciting,” David Weissman, who moved to Israel three years ago from NY told The Media Line. “Israel will get to be Israel with no agendas. Hillary Clinton wanted to enforce a two state solution (referring to an independent Palestinian state next to Israel). Donald Trump will let Israel make its own decisions, and that’s how it should be.”
His sentiment was echoed by Israel’s Education Minister, hardliner Naftali Bennett.
“Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country, which would hurt our security and just cause,” Bennet said. “This is the position of the president-elect, as written in his platform, and it should be our policy, plain and simple. The era of a Palestinian state is over.”
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warmly welcomed Trump’s win.
“We will work together to advance security, stability and peace in our region,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “The strong relationship between the United States and Israel is based on shared values, common interests and a joint destiny.
“I am sure that president-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between Israel and the United States and take it to new heights.”
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat reminded the president-elect that he had promised to move the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as an acknowledgement that all of the city, including east Jerusalem which Israel annexed in 1967. Several of the people in Mike’s Place also mentioned the possibility of moving the embassy.
“Donald Trump is 100 percent pro-Israel,” Reuven Ashenberg, a volunteer with Republicans Overseas for Israel. “He wants to help Israel, he wants to support Israel and to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”
Other American-Israelis were devastated by the results of the election. Elana Sztokman, a writer from New York, spent several hours on Tuesday phoning Americans and trying to get them to vote for Hillary Clinton.
“I am completely crushed and devastated,” she told The Media Line. “I literally feel like I’m in mourning. It’s like that scene from Independence Day when the whole world is dark.”
Sztokman says that she is most concerned about Trump’s attitudes and policies about women.
“His record is clear and consistent,” she said angrily. “He is an admitted molester. He brags about assaulting women, describes women based on their looks, and brags about cheating on his wife. His win is a victory for sexual abuse and the worst part is that it’s women who are doing it.”
Another Jerusalemite, Alden Solovy who describes himself as a lifelong Democrat, reacted with dismay and sorrow.
“Donald Trump has no resume,” he told The Media Line. “He has no history of public service. The way he speaks about women, minorities, immigrants, the reaction of his people to Jews and the disabled speak volumes. This man is massively unfit and he’s now our president. It’s time to focus on healing and social action.”
Palestinians, overall, seem to be less invested in the election, saying that all US Presidents, Democrat or Republican, will support Israel. A spokesman for Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas said in a statement that the PA will deal with any president elected elected by the American people on the principle of a two-state solution.
“The US Administration should understand that the achievement of stability and peace in the region comes through a just solution to the Palestinian cause based on international legality, which will eradicate chaos and extremism in the world.”
Palestinians say that while they would strongly oppose moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, they do not believe Trump will follow through on this promise.
“This would be a clear violation of ongoing US policy and I doubt he will do it,” Ghassan al-Khatib, a Vice President at Bir Zeit University and a former Palestinian government spokesman told The Media Line. “Candidates say many things during election campaigns that they can’t do when they become president because they are part of an institution and there are commitments they have to honor.”
Many Palestinians have also been disappointed by President Barack Obama, who came into office promising to help Palestinians achieve independence.
“Palestinians are not very excited about the election, because they do not see any significant difference between the policies of the two parties vis-à-vis Palestine. Both are too biased towards Israel,” Khatib said.
Mohammed Hamayel, a Palestinian journalist, agreed that most Palestinians are indifferent to the elections.
“Many said that it doesn’t matter who would win because the situation for Palestinians won’t change,” Hamayel told The Media Line. “At the same time, Israel illegally annexed Jerusalem, and moving the US embassy would be a recognition of this illegal annexation.”
Katie Beiter contributed reporting