US presidential elections: Donald Trump says Israel would cease to exist if Kamala Harris wins the race for top post

Former US President Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the presidential elections debate. Pic/AFP

United States (US) Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has accused his Democratic rival Kamala Harris of "hating" Israel, and said if she wins the election, the Jewish state would not exist "within two years from now".

The former president's comments came during a bitter televised US presidential elections debate with Harris on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, news agency PTI reported.

Trump asserted that the Israel-Hamas war would have never started if he had been the president.

"She wouldn't even meet with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu when he went to the Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers. She hates Israel," the 78-year-old former president said.

"If she is president, I believe Israel will not exist within two years from now," he claimed, adding, "I've been pretty good at predictions, but I hope I'm wrong on that one."

"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," Trump reiterated during the US presidential elections debate hosted by ABC.

This was the first US presidential elections debate between Trump and Vice-President Harris ahead. The country will go to polls on November 5.

Trump said Iran under him was broke and had no money for Hamas, Hezbollah or any other terror group.

"Look at what's happening with the Houthis in Yemen. Look at what's going on in the Middle East. This would have never happened. I will get that settled and fast."

When Harris, 59, was asked to respond to Trump's claim, she said, "That's absolutely not true," and described herself as a lifelong supporter of the Jewish state.

The US Vice-President also asserted that Israel has the right to defend itself after Hamas's October 7 massacre.

When asked by the moderators how she would secure a hostage-ceasefire deal and about her remarks from months ago when she had stated "Israel has a right to defend itself, but it matters how," Harris started by explaining how the almost year-long war in Gaza was triggered.

"Let's understand how we got here. On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organisation, slaughtered 1,200 Israelis, many of them young people who were simply attending a concert, where women were horribly raped. And so, absolutely, Israel has a right to defend itself; we would," she said.

"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 end immediately, and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out. So we will continue to work around the clock on that," she said.

The Democratic candidate said the US must chart a course which should ensure security for Israelis and "in equal measure" for the Palestinians.

"The one thing I will assure you always: I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself, in particular as it relates to Iran and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel. But 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," the Vice-President added.

(With PTI inputs)