Israel is gone if Harris wins, Trump tells Jewish coalition

Jews will be abandoned if Democratic nominee is elected to power, former president tells supporters

Former president Donald Trump on Thursday told Jewish donors in Las Vegas that they would be “abandoned” if Vice President Kamala Harris wins November's presidential election.

Speaking remotely to hundreds of donors with the Republican Jewish Coalition in Nevada, Mr Trump said he would bar refugees from Gaza and other “terror-infested areas” from the US and would arrest “pro-Hamas thugs”, in an apparent reference to pro-Palestine protesters on US university campuses.

“You’re going to be abandoned if she becomes president,” Mr Trump said. “If they win, Israel is gone, just remember that.”

Ms Harris has stuck to President Joe Biden's strong support of Israel and rejected calls from some in the Democratic Party that Washington should rethink sending weapons to Israel because of the high Palestinian death toll in Gaza.

She has, however, called for a ceasefire in Gaza, describing the situation as “devastating”.

Mr Trump promised supporters that, if elected, he would make sure US universities would lose accreditation and federal support over what he described as “anti-Semitic propaganda”. Protests erupted at college campuses across the country this spring, with students opposing Israel's war in Gaza and demanding institutions divest from companies backing Israel.

Republicans said the protests showed some Democrats are anti-Semites who supported chaos. Protest groups say authorities have unfairly labelled their criticism of Israel's policies as anti-Semitic.

Under both Mr Trump and Mr Biden similarly low numbers of Palestinians were admitted to the US as refugees. From fiscal year 2017-2020, the US accepted 114 Palestinian refugees, State Department data shows, compared to 124 Palestinian refugees from fiscal year 2021 to July 31 this year.

While Mr Trump sketched out few concrete Middle Eastern policy proposals for a second term, he painted a potential Harris presidency in cataclysmic terms for Israel. “You're not going to have an Israel if she becomes president,” Mr Trump said, without providing evidence.

Health authorities in Gaza say more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of the enclave since the October 7. The conflict began when Hamas militants led an attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.