Former President Donald Trump outlined his pro-Israel policies and told members of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Thursday that he is the best candidate for Israel.
“With your vote, we will defend our citizens, we will defend our values, and we will defend our country,” he told the Republican Jewish Coalition at its annual leadership summit via satellite. “America and Israel will be respected again.”
The coalition’s annual event was held a few weeks before the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel that resulted in over 1,200 Israelis killed and 240 people taken hostage, and just days after six hostages were killed by Hamas. That includes 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents spoke at the recent political conventions advocating for his release.
Trump said he is devastated by the death of Goldberg-Polin and the hostages who were killed last week.
“As for the evil savages responsible for these murders, may they never know peace or comfort ever again,” he said.
Since the Oct. 7 attack that led to Israel to declare war, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and 94,000 have been wounded, according to the Gaza health ministry.
At previous years’ summits, the event served as a stage for a long line of GOP presidential candidates; last year, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence made appearances on stage. This year’s conference highlighted Trump’s campaign and his policies on Israel versus that of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Harris vs. Trump’s stances on Israel
Trump, as well as the many GOP speakers, criticized the Biden-Harris administration for withholding weapons from Israel and for issuing a $10 billion Iran sanctions waiver. They also criticized Harris for skipping Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in D.C. in July, though her campaign said she’d plan a separate meeting.
The former president highlighted his record, from opening a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, signing the Abraham Accords, defeating ISIS, withdrawing from the Iran Nuclear Deal and what he called the “antisemitic” United Nations Human Rights Council.
Trump claimed the attack on Israel never would have happened if he had been president and claimed a Harris presidency would lead terrorists to drive Jews from Israel.
“I am the candidate of those who want to defend Western civilization, defend Israel,” Trump said. “I will support Israel’s right to win. It’s war or terror, and we will win fast. We have to win.”
At the Democratic National Convention a few weeks ago, Harris gave a clearer picture of her stance on the war, saying that she will stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and make sure it has the ability to do so, while also recognizing the civilians killed in Gaza.
She said that she and Biden are working to end the war so “Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” receiving perhaps the loudest cheers of the night from the Democratic crowd.
Jewish support
The former president boasted the percentage of Jewish people who are voting for him but lambasted the 50 percent of Jewish people who are voting for Democrats.
“Who are the 50 percent of Jewish people that are voting for these people that hate Israel and don’t like Jewish people?” he said.
Halie Soifer, the CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said 75 percent of Jewish Americans will support Harris, who will “protect our fundamental freedoms, defend our democracy, and support the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
A Pew Research Center survey released in April found about 69 percent of Jewish voters associate with the Democratic Party, while 29 percent affiliate with the Republican Party.
Trump promised to deport “foreign Jihad sympathizers,” receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of approximately 1,000 people, according to the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“If you hate America, if you want to eliminate Israel, then we don’t want you in our country,” he said.
He also said taxpayers will not fund universities that sympathize with the “creation of terrorist sympathizers.”
Other speakers throughout the two-day event — including National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa — made similar statements. They said Israel should be allowed to destroy Hamas and called for the ending of government funding of universities that condone the pro-Palestine protests.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who last year addressed the Republican Jewish Coalition for the first time as House Speaker, spoke via satellite while at a G7 conference in Israel.
“Iran must be dealt with forcefully,” Johnson said, receiving applause.
“Israel must be allowed to eliminate Hamas,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said. “The world cannot have peace until Hamas is gone.”
Miriam Adelson, a major GOP donor and owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, spoke ahead of Trump and introduced him as a friend, saying he will save Israel.
“The world is against us, and we need a good friend,” she said.
This Thursday evening, the annual leadership summit will continue with a lineup of speakers, including Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of an Israeli-American hostage who spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday about their son.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.
The Review-Journal is owned by the Adelson family, including Dr. Miriam Adelson, majority shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp., and Las Vegas Sands President and COO Patrick Dumont.