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Inside the minds of young Americans in Israel who chose Trump, Clinton or neither

Trump, Clinton or neither? The stakes and passions ran high for 200 young American Israelis who gathered Tuesday in Jerusalem at an election viewing party organized by Masa Israel.
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November 11, 2016

Trump, Clinton or neither? The stakes and passions ran high for 200 young American Israelis who gathered Tuesday in Jerusalem at an election viewing party organized by Masa Israel. As a significant segment of the hundreds of thousands of American voters living in Israel—many of them dual citizens—the young voters had much to say about this year’s relatively polarizing candidates and what it was like to be in Israel during this groundbreaking election.

At the election viewing party in Tel Aviv, Masa — an initiative of The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli government which hosts what it calls “immersive, international experiences” for Jews ages 18-30 — polled the Masa fellows and alumni on their preferences between the two major candidates. A large majority, 70 percent, favored Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, with many citing her experience and inclusive leadership as her biggest strengths.

Julie Duitch, who is originally from New Jersey, is interning for Signals Analytics as part of the Israel Experience Career Israel program. She maintained that Clinton was a much more qualified presidential candidate.

“The values that Trump has do not align with where America needs to be going, and Hillary has been providing so much for the United States in all of her past positions. She is much more ready to represent our country throughout the world,” said Duitch.

Josh Linden, who teaches English in Petach Tikvah as part of Masa’s Israel Teaching Fellows program, said he liked what Clinton stands for — namely, the way in which she brings people and countries together through her leadership style. “Clinton is all about moving forward and extending our hand to the rest of the world,” he said.

Among those who favored Clinton, many cited negative perceptions of president-elect Donald Trump as the main reason for their preference for his opponent. Na’ama Goldfill, who is originally from Los Angeles and is now interning for Career Israel at a preschool for children with autism, viewed Trump as a scary candidate with respect to his prioritization of white male voters over the electorate’s other races and genders.

“Despite the fact that I don’t agree with all of Hillary Clinton’s policies, I think she’s a more qualified candidate overall,” Goldfill said. Linden, similarly, said Trump’s “us versus them” rhetoric makes him uncomfortable. Trump’s policy on marriage equality is especially concerning for Linden, who is gay.

Some American-Israeli voters preferred Trump as a means to shake up the establishment and to influence the U.S. Supreme Court. Gabby Shuster, who is originally from Milwaukee and now works as a project manager for an Israeli overseas events company, said she voted for Trump because of the Supreme Court’s transitional period during the next presidential administration, including the need to fill the former seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

“There will be maybe four Supreme Court appointments, which means instead of a 50/50 court left and right it will be a very clear majority left-wing,” said Shuster. “For me that’s a very significant power shift that is generational.” She reasoned that while a Trump presidential term would last four years, the Supreme Court seats are lifetime appointments that affect “everything in America.”

A select few of the American Israelis in attendance chose not to vote as a conscious decision and due to their lack of faith in the democratic process. Amy Albertson, who is originally from Sacramento, California, and now works as a creative content manager for Masa in Jerusalem, said she registered to vote long before the deadline. Yet she ultimately decided not to vote because she felt this election did not offer candidates who embodied the American democracy in which she strongly believes.

“I want to know that whatever bad result comes out, I don’t have blood on my hands and I didn’t contribute to this mess,” Albertson said.

Spencer Tracy, a freelance journalist from Michigan who now lives in Tel Aviv, said that while everyone around him said he had a moral obligation to vote, he chose not to cast a ballot because of his perceptions on the deterioration of American Democracy.

“It doesn’t matter who wins or loses because money is in charge no matter what…the government is run by money. The two-party system is really a one party system. Whatever minor policies they are working on are superficial,” said Tracy.

Many at the Masa event noted the significant interest that Israelis exhibited in the U.S. election, and some hypothesized which candidate might be “better for Israel.” Julie Duitch argued that Clinton would represent the interests of minorities—including Israel as a minority in the Middle East. Josh Linden was surprised by how many Trump supporters there were in Israel, but said he ultimately understood that phenomenon.

“They want something that is more American and less this vague sense of cultural identity — which is what I think is great about America — but they want something more concrete,” he said. “People here in Israel seem to think that Trump’s foreign policy is more in line with what Bibi (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nickname) wants and more pro-Israel than I think it actually is.”

Overall, many of the American Israelis expressed their relief that the election was coming to a close, while exhibiting a hint of skepticism about the future. Spencer Tracy said he has had enough of the election because it pervaded nearly everything aspect of life. He called Clinton “the better person” who would keep the world turning, but was curious what would happen with a Trump victory.

“I know it’s not going to happen,” he quipped — though he was wrong. “But if Trump wins, then I’d like to see what happens.”

Ian Kaneshiro, who is originally from Los Angeles and works in Tel Aviv as a digital advertiser, hoped that above all else, “Americans can pull together as one and unite under whichever president is elected….We need to work together regardless of who we voted for in this election.”


Eliana Rudee is a fellow with the Haym Salomon Center. She is a graduate of Scripps College, where she studied international relations and Jewish studies. Her bylines have been featured in USA Today, Forbes, and The Hill. Follow her column on JNS.org.

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