By Lisa Landau Rudner & Matan Rudner

To answer the question “Which U.S. presidential candidate would be better for Israel?” we must pull the camera back from this election to better understand the repercussions of this moment for the future of the United States, the State of Israel and the world. To fully discern the contrast between the two nominees regarding Israel, the decision must take much more than Israel alone into account, because the aspirations of both Israel and the United States are so profoundly and directly tethered to each other’s flourishing democracies. The U.S. candidate for president who devotes themselves more fully to the democratic values of America will be the president who better serves the needs of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, thus safeguarding Israel to the extent that any U.S. Administration is able.

Under former President Donald Trump, the American Embassy was finally relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, after decades of unfulfilled bipartisan promises to move it to Israel’s capital. Under the Trump Administration Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights was recognized. The Abraham Accords, treaties normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, were signed. These symbolic and momentous accomplishments should be lauded.

On Oct. 7, 2023, after the most grotesque terrorist attack in Israel’s history, the Biden/Harris White House made a powerful verbal and military commitment to Israel. President Biden spoke passionately about Israel’s right to defend itself against its enemies, including terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the government of Iran, which has funded, trained and coordinated this axis of evil. The Administration sent arms and munitions desperately needed by Israel to fight this multi-front war. The Administration recently sent anti-missile air defense systems and one hundred U.S. troops to help operate them should it become necessary to activate their use.

As we look to the future, would either Trump or Harris be a perfect president vis-a-vis Israel?  No. No U.S. Administration, Democratic or Republican, has ever been wholly perfect for Israel, despite being extraordinarily helpful regarding economic and military aid, and at times diplomatic mediation. Truthfully, serving Israel’s needs first is not the primary job of an American president. We are grateful that Israel is stronger, more adept and adaptable than the whims and decisions of any one U.S President, though the alliance between the countries is essential and mutually beneficial. All we can ask is that the partnership between the United States and Israel reinforce, invigorate and inspire both countries and all nations who seek high democratic ideals of equality, honesty and justice.

With this in mind, for whom should we vote? We are at a precipitous moment — a tipping point in our democracy, choosing between a stable and recognizable future or something unknown and unrecognizable in our nation. We must pause and consider our next step, our next vote with the urgency this election demands. Civilization is in peril because democracy itself is at stake.

We have learned through brutal wars and the terrors of history that only democracies are capable of strengthening, aiding, and at times saving other democracies. History has also taught us the savagery of the converse, that fascists seek other despots to wreak destruction on the innocent, the vulnerable, and on perceived enemies of the state such as journalists, lawyers, civil servants, authors and people of differing religions, sexual orientation, political, social or economic thought. In electing the U.S. President, we are designating the leader of the free world. In which version of this world does Israel best thrive, and is she the most secure?

Trump has rejected our international alliances, such as NATO, and has horrified our fellow democratic allies in Europe and around the globe. Trump’s well-established adoration for dictators Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping and Viktor Orban is mind-bending. Trump once remarked with admiration that these brutal totalitarian tyrants are “at the top of their game, whether you like it or not.”  Yes, Mr. Trump, top of their game for jailing and killing their own people, controlling their state media, restricting freedoms of speech, assembly, protest and for threatening neighbors with their ever-growing armies.

Donald Trump also has a bizarre history of engaging in antisemitic discourse and behavior. He failed to call out the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville in 2017 and defended them by saying there are, “some very fine people on both sides.”  Trump used a Star of David against a backdrop of money in political ads in 2016. He has associated with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes — two strident, vocal haters of Jews. Trump recently told a gathering of Jews, including many Israeli Americans, that Israel will face “total annihilation” if Harris is elected. Such menacing, arrogant and intimidating language from any political leader is repulsive. Israel’s sovereignty is not dependent on any American politician. To state the obvious, antisemites are neither dependable nor lasting friends of the State of Israel.

Beyond his dictatorial inclinations and his antisemitic conduct, Trump’s fundamental values are unmoored from decency and truthfulness. With every passing hour Trump’s cavern of mendacity deepens and darkens. 

Who are we as human beings, as Jews, to allow ourselves to be taken in, or worse, to accept, to celebrate the vile, shameful and autocratic ramblings of a convicted felon running for president? Trump’s incoherent rage towards others, all others who do not stand with him, is unconscionable. Trump threatens with violence anyone he believes to be his enemy. Trump never accepted his defeat against Biden in 2020; he called for the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump watched for three hours as his supporters defaced and defiled the United States Capitol in Washington as they hunted for Vice President Pence to keep him from certifying the election — threatening violence all the while. 

In the meantime, the number of noted Republicans endorsing Kamala Harris is growing every day, including many who worked in the Trump Administration — a telling statement about what they witnessed in the White House.

Beyond Harris’ role as vice president in the Biden Administration, she has consistently declared her support for Israel, and has opposed any arms embargo. Kamala Harris has kept the atrocities of Oct. 7 and the plight of the 101 hostages still held in the tunnels of Gaza at the forefront of meetings and discussions about the war. Harris has been unequivocal about the necessity of destroying Hamas so that Israelis can live in safety —without fear of rockets and missiles raining over them.

Harris’ husband Doug Emhoff has also employed his position as Second Gentleman to work against antisemitism both in the U.S. and abroad, including chairing forums on this critical topic in Washington, Germany and Poland.

Kamala Harris is a sharp-minded, thoughtful, moral human being with vast experience in domestic governance and foreign policy. One need not agree with Vice President Harris on every program or every economic decision to vote for her — although it is comforting to know that her mind is strong, and her heart is open and unquestionably “for the people.”

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once said that “in any free society where terrible wrongs exist, some are guilty — all are responsible.”

Let us act responsibly in our role as redeemers of our own democracy, and by extension, Israel’s democracy, so that “the better angels of our nature” move us closer to both the principles we hold as Americans and the ethics we cherish as Jews.

If we believe in the tenets of democracy and in the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution, there is only one choice, and that is Kamala Harris for President of the United States.

Lisa Landau Rudner lives in Dallas with her husband Steve and is a passionate Israel advocate. Her son Matan Rudner, a native Dallasite, made aliyah in 2017 and served in the IDF. He is a certified Israeli tour guide and attends Hebrew University in Jerusalem.