Worried Dems fear 'meddler' Netanyahu is trying to 'swing' US election for Trump

04 October 2024

European officials are paying very close attention to the United States' 2024 presidential election, and many of them are hoping that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris prevails over GOP rival Donald Trump — as they view Harris as a major ally of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and see Trump as anti-NATO.

But not all foreign leaders are rooting for Harris.

Far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is an outspoken Trump supporter. And according to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, Democrats "suspect" that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is trying to interfere in U.S. domestic politics by ignoring President Biden's calls to negotiate a peace deal in Gaza and by confronting Hezbollah and Iran weeks before the U.S. election."

Almost a year has passed since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Since then, tensions in the Middle East have only escalated.

"Netanyahu's relationship with even the most pro-Israel Democrats has becoming increasingly confrontational," Bolton notes. "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made headlines in March when he called Netanyahu a 'major obstacle' to peace and urged Israel to hold new elections. Around that time, Biden called Israel's offensive in Gaza 'over the top.'"

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is among the Democrats who is concerned about what Netanyahu will do.

Murphy, during an early October appearance on CNN, told host Erin Burnett, "I certainly worry that Prime Minister Netanyahu is watching the American election as he makes decisions about his military campaigns in the north and in Gaza. I hope this is not true, but it is certainly a possibility that the Israeli government is not going to sign any diplomatic agreement prior to the American election as a means, potentially, to try to influence the result."

A senior Democratic aide, presumably interviewed on condition of anonymity, agrees with Murphy and described Netanyahu as a "meddler" in U.S. politics.

The aide told The Hill, "I don't think for a minute that Bibi's not doing it just to impact domestic elections. I think he thinks he can get the Jewish vote to swing, but he may get the Arab-American vote to swing…. He understands American politics. They are 100 percent involved in American politics."

Read Alexander Bolton's full report for The Hill at this link.

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