Trump Opens Third Campaign Office in Israel, But is Failing to Open Offices in America
Young Israeli men campaign for Trump while an IDF soldiers walks past. Image Credit: JPost
BY:Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opened a campaign office near Tel Aviv last week. The office is located in Tel Aviv’s diamond district, serving central Israel.
This is the third office Trump has opened in Israel. It joins two others in Occupied Jerusalem and Modiin, a city in the Occupied West Bank. Donald Trump is set to open a fourth office, also in the West Bank, in the near future.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are roughly 140,000 American Jews born in Israel, many of whom are capable of voting in American elections. In 2012, over 80,000 Americans living in Israel casted votes in the presidential election, of which 85% voted for Mitt Romney. Republicans hope to see the same turn out for their nominee this year, Donald Trump.
Most Israeli Americans come from New York, Donald Trump’s home state, and California, a traditionally blue state. However, many Israeli Americans also hail from presidential election battleground states, such as Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Donald Trump’s ability to win the Israeli vote could give him a slight edge in many tough states.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has not opened a campaign office in Israel. However, the candidate’s promises to take Israel to the “next level” and banish BDS if elected has given her immense financial support from Israeli Americans.
Trump’s Tel Aviv opening coincided with new office announcements in Colorado, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio. However, the announcements do not necessarily mean that physical offices will open.
Days before the Republican National Convention in late July, Sam Stein of The Huffington Post investigated Trump’s campaign offices in every state. What he found is that most are either non-functioning, non-existent, or will be “opening soon,” according to Trump staffers. In states like Georgia, Washington, New Hampshire, and Michigan, campaign offices were announced months ago, but have yet to open. Clinton, meanwhile, just opened up five more offices in Michigan, making that 16 in total for the Democrat.
Trump’s New York campaign office has 12 employees, while Clinton has 350 staffers in her office. Image credit: Conservative PostNorth Carolina, an important Republican state with many electoral votes, has criticized Trump for not opening any offices there, while Clinton has 19. Florida, which has only one office, has also called on the Republican nominee to try a little harder in the swing state.
Trump is making a stronger effort to gain Israeli votes than those of major U.S. states like California, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, which could use four campaign offices each. Trump has no problem opening three, possibly four, offices in Israel and illegally occupied territories in order to gain less than 100,000 votes. Yet, he has not fulfilled his many promises of opening offices across the U.S. where he could earn up to 146,311,000 votes.
Furthermore, his decision to open offices in the Occupied West Bank shows neglect of international law and U.S. policy, which is against the illegal settlements. The Republican nominee’s unabashed choice of funneling campaign dollars into Israel, instead of America, is a sign of what a Trump presidency could look like: one where Israeli interests are put ahead of Americans’ needs.