Trump calls US election ‘most important day in the history of Israel’

Donald Trump, speaking at an event commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, said Monday that it is another event — his own election or defeat in November — that will mark “the most important day in the history of Israel.”

“If you want to know the truth, I believe that. I think you believe that, too,” Trump said to applause, casting a 2024 win by Harris as an existential threat to Israel. “If we don’t win this election there is a tremendous consequence for everything.”

The former president’s remarks at his golf club in Miami came as he and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, each appeared at commemorations of the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

But while Trump and Harris both broke from the campaign trail for the solemn events, the former president once again blamed the Democratic administration, without evidence, for the atrocities that occurred a year ago.

“The October 7 attack would never have happened if I was president,” Trump said. “The past two years have proven that weakness only begets violence and war.”

The attacks — which killed 1,200 people, sparked a bloody conflict in the region, set off a vile wave of antisemitism and became a major issue in the 2024 campaign — were the focus of both campaigns on Monday.

Harris spoke at the Naval Observatory where she called the massacre “pure evil,” urging “the world must never forget” what happened. She and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish partner to a president or vice president, planted a ceremonial pomegranate tree “to remind future vice presidents” to “not to abandon the goal of peace, dignity and security for all.”

Later on Monday night, Trump addressed a crowd of supportive Jewish leaders at his golf club and described October 7 as “one of the darkest hours in all of human history.”

“One year ago today, every civilized person was filled with shock and horror and grief at news of an evil so absolute, nobody’s seen anything like it,” Trump said. “It seemed as if the gates of Hell had sprung open and unleashed their horrors onto the world.”

Trump claimed “anti-Jewish hatred has returned even here in America” and is “within the ranks of the Democrat Party in particular.” He said the Republican Party “has not been infected by this horrible disease, and it won’t be as long as I’m in charge,” even though the candidate he endorsed for North Carolina governor, Mark Robinson, is currently embroiled in a scandal partly over alleged antisemitic comments.

At the Miami event, Trump lit a candle memorializing Oct. 7 victims and made a series of promises to the room that included Republican lawmakers and prominent Jewish supporters like billionaire backer Miriam Adelson.

“I will not allow the Jewish state to be threatened with destruction, I will not allow another holocaust of the Jewish people. I will not allow a Jihad to be waged on America or our allies, and I will support Israel’s right to win its war on terror, and it has to win it fast,” Trump said to applause.

Trump did not repeat his claim that the “Jewish people would have a lot to do” with it if he loses the election, but during an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Monday morning, Trump said that Israel needs to “get smart about Trump.” And he reiterated his belief that while he has done more for the Jewish people “than anybody,” it is “not reciprocal, as they say, not reciprocal.”

Earlier in the day, Trump visited the New York City gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as Lubavitcher Rebbe, who was the last Chabad leader and is a revered Jewish figure. Trump, wearing a yarmulke, placed a note praying for the release of hostages held in Gaza, and was accompanied on the visit by the parents of American-Israeli hostage Idan Alexander.

In Harris’ remarks, she reiterated her commitment to “ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself” and her demand to release the hostages still held by Hamas.

Harris also mentioned Palestinians, who she called for “reliev[ing] the immense suffering of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, who have experienced so much pain and loss over the year.”

“We must continue to see light amidst the darkness,” Harris said.

As Harris and Emhoff spoke, protesters gathered outside the Naval Observatory, and their chanting could be heard throughout the vice president’s remarks. The war in the Middle East has become a flashpoint for the Democratic Party and exposed a rift between its moderates who support Israel and some progressives who back Palestinians and railed against Biden for his support of Israel.

When asked by reporters about a ceasefire deal, Harris said: “We’re not giving up,” calling it “one of the highest priorities of this administration.”

Meanwhile, Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, visited the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Culver City, California, that commemorates the victims of the massacre at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7.

“One year ago, the world watched in horror as the terrorist organization Hamas carried out an appalling assault on Israel and massacred 1,200 innocent people. Today, I join Vice President Harris, President Biden, and all Americans to again condemn Hamas’s brutality and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and to the safety and security of the American Jewish community,” Walz said in a statement.

Walz added that he met with the families of Americans who are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza last month and called for a hostage deal and ceasefire “that ensures Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”

Biden spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday, according to the White House, and he and Jill Biden hosted a memorial service.

Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, have long been sharply critical of Biden and Harris’ response to the October 7 attack.

Vance addressed Philos Project’s Memorial Rally and March on the National Mall in Washington on Monday afternoon where he offered support for Israel and slammed the Biden administration’s handling of the hostages “disgraceful.”

“We unite to say that this incredible and terrible assault on the Jewish people must never, ever happen again,” said Vance.

“It is disgraceful, and I hate to get — I’m gonna get a little political here — it is disgraceful that we have an American president and vice president who haven’t done a thing. Vice President Harris, our message is, bring them home. Use your authority to help bring them home. We can do it. We just need real leadership

Mia McCarthy and Meridith Lee Hill contributed to this report.