The former president Donald Trump won the Republican Party primaries held in New Hampshire earlier this week, and appears to be racing once again for a head-to-head battle with the incumbent president Joe Biden.
Trump increases the gap with Biden: “Make a change, nothing stops him”
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Dr. Eli Cooka senior lecturer in the department of general history and head of the US studies program at the University of Haifa, assessed in a conversation with “Maariv” that “I think the process that happened here from this point of view is very interesting. Until October 7th, the majority of the public in Israel would have seen this as a supporter of Trump in a survey conducted even in Israel About a month and a half ago, we saw a change and a turnaround in that Biden became more popular than Trump. The Israeli public recognizes something right.”
What do you think leads to change?
“Although the Republican Party is considered more pro-Israel but I think the reasons they are pro-Israel should bother us. Part of this has to do with Christian evangelicals, who think that all Jews should be in Israel and then bring about the disaster of the Jews for the coming of Jesus. In addition, Trump is an unpredictable narcissist and unpredictable person. His after the seventh of October scared Israelis and not for nothing that Bibi disappointed him, and did not support him and he did not back him up and also the lie about stealing the elections.”
So what is the concern?
“The biggest danger from someone like Trump is that everything with him is personal and for some reason he will feel that someone does not respect him in Israel on a personal level, he may surprisingly play the cards.”
And what is Biden’s advantage in this matter?
“It’s not for nothing that they call Biden the last Zionist president. He comes from a different generation, a man who has supported Israel for over four decades, he has a lot of background and knowledge about foreign policy as a senator and the head of the most important committee in Congress. He is seen as more level-headed. In Trump’s favor, you can perhaps say that sometimes you need an unexpected person Compared to Biden who does not try to create confrontations and dramatic statements but compromises and agreements behind the scenes, but again in the end after the seventh of October Trump said, for example, ‘Hezbollah is very smart’ Israelis say the safe and familiar is better.”
How do you actually deal with the fact that, despite the unpleasant rhetoric, Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem, recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and more?
“In the end these things were nice and exciting but in the end these are symbols, Biden on the other hand has been bypassing Congress for months to transfer weapons to Israel and knows how to use the military system compared to Trump who is very conflicted with the CIA and the military and a lot of people don’t like him. It’s a bit like Trump level Symbols. Trump is hated in the world, and if we now think that our situation in the world is not something, in fact Biden is considered by backing Israel as something much more significant that Israel is actually not part of the American right but a strategic asset regardless of politics and this is a very important thing. There is also a definite possibility to criticize Trump for The Abraham Accords This idea that peace can be made over the heads of the Palestinians ‘exploded in our faces’. Qatar’s money suitcase was also arrested, he, like others, did not think that the threat from Gaza should be taken seriously and this should also be said.”
And in general we saw after Iowa and New Hampshire that Trump’s path is paved?
“Yes, Trump will be the candidate and he has a very good chance of winning the elections. There will of course be legal drama. There are those who say that if Trump is convicted before the presidential elections, it may hurt his popularity, but I don’t know if this is really true. He manages to bring in new young Mexicans and African Americans. .”
What is actually the burning issue that may affect the voter in the United States economy?
“Precisely in this matter there is a surprise. Unemployment has decreased. Inflation has decreased, and in any normal year I would tell you that Biden takes, but for an unknown reason, it is a kind of mystery. Biden is not popular and the Americans do not think that he did a good job in the economy. There are theories about the increase in inflation and they do not remember the increase in salaries, about The paper says the economic situation is excellent but people are not satisfied and this may help Trump beat Biden.”