In a special edition of the Haaretz Podcast ahead of Tuesday’s 2024 U.S. presidential election, Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and Peter Deutsch, a former Florida congressman, faced off in a heated exchange of views, debating whether a victory by Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House would best serve the interests of Israel and the American Jewish community.

The debate was moderated by Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer and Haaretz Washington correspondent, Ben Samuels. 

Deutsch argued that for American Jewish voters “effectively, there are two candidates in the race, one that's giving money to people that are literally killing your family, and another who, for four years, protected your family and kept peace in the world.”

Soifer staunchly defended Harris, saying the current administration provided Israel with “more military assistance than any White House in a year in history.” She had her own harsh words for the Republican nominee, calling him an "indecent and immoral man" and a “bigot” and “felon” who “aligns with and dines with Holocaust deniers and right wing extremists.”

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