Donald Trump has claimed Kamala Harris “hates Israel” and warned the country “will not exist in two years” if she becomes President.
In a fiery rant during the first televised debate between the pair, the former President lashed out at Harris over the Biden administration’s failings in Russia and in the Middle East.
As the one-year anniversary of the October 7 attack approaches, questions over American aid and a ceasefire deal have surged.
When asked by the ABC debate moderators how he would you negotiate with Netanyahu and Hamas in order to get the hostages out and prevent the killing of more innocent civilians in Gaza, Trump went off on a furious rant.
‘It won’t exist!’ Donald Trump claims Kamala Harris HATES Israel in fiery rant
ABC/REUTERS
"If I were President, it would have never started,” he fumed.
"If I were president, Russia would have never, ever.
"I know Putin very well. He would have never. And there was no threat of it either, by the way, for four years have gone into Ukraine and killed millions of people.
"When you add it up far worse than people understand what's going on over there. But when she mentions about Israel, all of a sudden she hates Israel.
"She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers.
"She wanted to go to the sorority party. She hates Israel.
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Donald Trump fumed Israel 'won't exist in two years' if Harris becomes President
ABC
"If she's President, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now. And I've been pretty good at predictions, and I hope I'm wrong about that one.
"She hates Israel at the same time, in her own way she hates the Arab population because the whole place is going to get blown up.
"Arabs, Jewish people, Israel, Israel will be gone. It would have never happened. Iran was broke under Donald Trump.
"Now Iran has $300billion because they took off all the sanctions that I had. Iran had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah or any of the 28 different spheres of terror.
"And they are spheres of terror, horrible terror. They had no money. It was a big story. And you know it. You covered it very well, actually.
The war in the Middle East remains ongoing with Israel bombarding the Gaza strip following Hamas attacksGETTY"They had no money for terror. They were broke. Now they're a rich nation. And now what they're doing is they're spreading that money around.
"Look at what's happening with the Houthis and Yemen. Look at what's going on in the Middle East. This would have never happened.
"I will get that settled and fast, and I'll get the war with Ukraine and Russia ended. If I'm President-elect, I'll get it done before even becoming President."
Harris responded: "That’s absolutely not true. I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people. [Trump] knows that. He’s trying to again divide and distract from the reality, which is that Donald Trump is weak and wrong on national security and foreign policy.
"It is well-known that he admires dictators and wants to be a dictator on day one."
Harris said the US must 'chart a course for a two-state solution' in Israel and Gaza
REUTERS
When asked whether she could secure a hostage deal and break through where Biden had failed, she said: "Well, let's understand how we got here. On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, many of them young people who were simply attending a concert.
"Women were horribly raped. And so absolutely. I said, then, I say, now, Israel has a right to defend itself. We would.
"And how it does so matters because it is also true that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must win. And immediately.
"And the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal, and we need the hostages out. And so we will continue to work around the clock on that. Work around the clock.
"Also, understanding that we must chart a course for a two state solution. And in that solution, there must be security for the Israeli people and Israel and in equal measure for the Palestinians.
"But the one thing I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies posed to Israel.
"We must have a two state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve."