Title: At Republican-Jewish Confab, GOP Set to Proclaim Itself America's Only pro-Israel Party - U.S. News - Haaretz.com
All under one “Big, Happy Tent,” of Trumpite Traditional Conservatives/Kendallians, Hazony’s/Vance’s National Conservatives, Quincy (Koch) Institute/TAC “Restrainers,” and Republican Israeli Settlers like David Friedman. Brings to my mind this scene where Hedley Lamarr is signing up the “worst of the worst bad men,” to destroy the people of “Rock Ridge,” with Palestinians being the targets in this case:
BLUF: Further indicating the tensions presented by Vance's foreign policy positions, he will also appear as a special guest on Tucker Carlson's U.S. tour one week later.
TP-Are there people who actually don’t know that words out of politicians mouths, to include Trump’s most important dissimulation expert, Tucker Carlson, are entirely “tactical,” as situational, with even seemingly contradictory messages subsumed under the “strategic mission” of getting Trump elected? In other words, “lies,” are the coin of the realm in that field. Which explains how Tucker Carlson, perhaps the most hawkish China War Hawk, and Heritage Foundation partner and fellow payee of Thiel/Koch, is now a “Dove,” and selling Trumpism, as “Dovish,” while selling their ultra-Hawkish “product,” Project 2025, to the American People! “Contradictory” propaganda messages aren’t necessarily contradictory to the most effective propaganda, serving a higher strategic priority, which at this time, is getting Trump elected!
Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, speaking during the Republican National Convention in July.Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
LAS VEGAS – With nine weeks to go until Election Day, Republican-Jewish megadonors and top GOP politicians are gathering at the Venetian resort to make their final push toward sending Donald Trump back to the White House, retaking the Senate and expanding their House majority.
At the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual confab, which starts Wednesday, lawmakers at the national and state level – along with top GOP influencers – will make a case for why they believe the Republicans are now America's only pro-Israel party.
Already one of the most hotly anticipated events of the presidential campaign's final stretch, the Vegas gathering is gaining unprecedented levels of attention and urgency since six Israeli hostages, including American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, were killed amid the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to secure a cease-fire/hostage release deal.
Beyond serving as a gathering for the most powerful Republican-Jewish megadonors, the annual confab has served as a particularly valuable litmus test for where GOP Jews stand on Trump and Israel.
The event in November 2022, days after the disappointing GOP showing in the midterm elections, portended a shift away from Trump toward potential presidential nominees like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. Last year's gathering, weeks after October 7, showcased a begrudging acceptance of Trump's inevitable candidacy amid the shock of the Hamas attack.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaking during a Moms for Liberty event in Washington last week.Credit: Jose Luis Magana/AP
This year's gathering will surely serve as a megaphone for Trump's repeated charge that the majority of American-Jewish voters "should have their head examined" and are deserving of shame for supporting the Democrats.
"It is long past time for Biden and Harris to stop pressuring Israel, which has already accepted unprecedented strategic concessions and is actively risking IDF soldiers' lives to free the hostages while minimizing civilian casualties in Gaza. Maximum pressure should be on Hamas," the RJC tweeted on Monday, following Vice President Kamala Harris' call for a cease-fire after a White House situation room meeting over the state of hostage-release talks.
Trump has also accused Democratic rival Harris of being beholden to the left's antisemitic fringes and using the word "Palestinian" as a racial slur to denounce Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer – the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history – and trafficking in dual loyalty tropes while attacking prominent Democratic Jews like second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
While other Republicans have followed suit, as they invariably do with every attack started by Trump, the onslaught on Biden and Harris is set to reach unprecedented heights following Goldberg-Polin's killing by Hamas.
Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of American-Israeli hostage Omer, will address the gathering, months after appearing before the Republican National Convention aiming to stress the apolitical nature of the hostage crisis.
Trump, who is set to headline the event via a satellite address, placed blame for Goldberg-Polin's killing squarely on his Democratic rivals' shoulders.
Rachel Goldberg and Jonathan Polin attending the funeral of their son Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was killed by Hamas in Gaza, in Jerusalem on Monday.Credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AP
"Make no mistake – this happened because Comrade Kamala Harris and Crooked Joe Biden are poor Leaders. Americans are getting slaughtered overseas, while Kamala is disparaging and making up lies about Gold Star families, and Biden is sleeping on the beach on this 16th consecutive day of vacation. They have blood on their hands," Trump posted on Truth Social as Harris was speaking with Hersh's parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg.
"Sadly, this is the total lack of 'Leadership' that Kamala and Biden represent – One that allows terrorists to take American lives, because they only care about Weaponizing the Department of Justice against their Political Opponent," Trump continued.
Other leading Republicans have since followed suit, endorsing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's message of prioritizing "total victory" over Hamas – and therefore treating any sort of "imposed" cease-fire deal as unduly endangering Israel's security.
Several of these lawmakers will be present in Las Vegas, where they will doubtless seek to outline why they believe Biden's supposed weakness on Hamas and its sponsor Iran are to blame for all the ills of the Middle East, as well as the fate of the hostages.
"The genocidal maniac who leads Hamas just executed six hostages – including an American – rather than let them be rescued," stated Sen. Tom Cotton, a potential Trump foreign policy official who will speak at the confab. "Kamala Harris believes if we just negotiate more with that maniac and give him more concessions, then he'll voluntarily release other hostages. How deluded do you have to be. Kamala Harris is dangerously naive and weak."
Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff waving after a reception to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, in the White House two years ago.Credit: Susan Walsh,AP
Meanwhile, Sen. Steve Daines, chair of the GOP committee aimed at electing Republicans to the Senate, posted that "Israel has every right to destroy Hamas and I stand unequivocally with Israel as it continues to do so."
"Hersh's brutal murder by Iran-backed Hamas cannot be ignored. This is a barbaric regime that has been emboldened to celebrate the death of Americans when they should be cowering in fear of the response awaiting them for spilling American blood," echoed Sen. Joni Ernst.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, considered the most important Republican pro-Israel stalwart in Congress, attacked the Democratic ticket by saying: "We can't 'hope and wish' terrorism away. It has to be confronted. The Harris-Walz ticket does not strike fear in our enemies nor is it reassuring to our allies."
"Joe Biden and Kamala Harris threatened Netanyahu and withheld weapons to stop him from going into Rafah. The bodies of Hersh and the five other hostages murdered by Hamas were recovered in tunnels under Rafah. If Biden would not have impeded Israel's advance, these innocent people might still be alive," said Sen. Rick Scott in a statement riddled with disinformation that directly goes against the families, who have repeatedly said that Biden is doing more to free the hostages than Netanyahu.
Hammering home the message
Even before the events of recent days, Republicans have seized upon the backlash to the Gaza war as a political advantage – particularly focusing on campus antisemitism and pro-Palestinian activism.
This will be made apparent from speakers including House Speaker Mike Johnson, GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Harvard alumnus and activist Shabbos Kestenbaum (who addressed the RNC about voting for Trump despite being a registered Democrat), student activist Eyal Yakoby and others.
Rep. Elise Stefanik speaking during the second day of the Republican National Convention in July.Credit: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
They will be flanked by rising stars in the GOP like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (a former Trump rival turned supporter) and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who ordered the state's flags flown at half-mast in Goldberg-Polin's memory.
Republican efforts to combat such activism will be further detailed at the RJC gathering by local officials like Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Florida State Rep. Randy Fine.
Other leading Republican figures slated to speak who will seek to amplify the message of the GOP being the sole pro-Israel party for American voters include former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Fox News host Mark Levin, and social media personalities like Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl, Douglas Murray – who will be honored with the RJC's Champion of Freedom Award – and Emily Austin.
Republicans are not only hoping to use this issue to propel them to the White House, but also as a means to retake the Senate.
Several key GOP Senate contenders will appear before the crowd hoping to make their case. These include Nevada candidate Sam Brown (challenging Jewish Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen, who is among the most pro-Israel Democrats), Pennsylvania's Dave McCormick (who has repeatedly attacked Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. for being too weak on antisemitism) and Montana's Tim Sheehy.
Also speaking will be Arizona's Kari Lake, who was recently endorsed by the RJC to the surprise of many. A former Phoenix news anchor, Lake rose to prominence after calling for the 2020 presidential election results to be decertified. She has previously associated with QAnon conspiracy theorists and posed for a photo with a Nazi sympathizer and told him on Twitter: "It was a pleasure to meet you, too!" She also endorsed an Oklahoma candidate who called Jews "evil" before pulling it.
She unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor in 2022, but during her Senate campaign she has nodded toward the GOP's more traditionalist element, writing in a May opinion piece for Townhall that "the U.S. must not tie Israel's hands in their response. We must recognize that only through the total annihilation of Hamas, Hezbollah and affiliated terrorist organizations, can Israel achieve security for itself, and reclaim the fragile regional peace that President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and Republicans achieved through the historic Abraham Accords."
One person not slated to appear this week is Trump's running mate, JD Vance. While the RJC praised Vance's appointment in real time, the Ohio senator notably voted against providing Israel with $14 billion in emergency assistance earlier this year due to its pairing with Ukraine aid.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaking at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, last month.Credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images via AFP
RJC CEO Matt Brooks dismissed concerns about Vance's Israel positions, saying at the Republican National Convention that he is going to be "an absolute stalwart friend of Israel and a rock-solid supporter." He added that "he's also the vice president to the most pro-Israel president in history. The president sets the foreign policy agenda, and I don't think there's any daylight between Donald Trump and JD Vance when it comes to Israel and making sure Israel is safe and secure."
Following these remarks, however, it emerged last month that Vance derided late GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson in texts to right-wing blogger Charles Johnson, saying ""Never met him. Hes dead. Don't care."
Adelson's widow, Miriam, who has pledged over $100 million to Trump's reelection efforts based on his Israel policies, is expected to make a rare public address to the RJC, after maintaining her support despite any supposed tensions.
"She is unfazed," Adelson family spokesperson Andy Abboud told The Washington Post. "She will continue to have a good relationship with JD Vance."
Vance will further make his case to Jewish voters in the days following the RJC gathering, headlining a fundraiser for Trump's Jewish backers hosted by megadonors like Keith Rabois, Jacob Helberg, Jonathan Burkan and Paul Packer.
"America has got a unique role in the world to help defend liberty and support democracy and fight back against totalitarianism. We're going to continue to wage that battle in the party and make sure the Tucker Carlson wing of the party doesn't get a foothold," Brooks said on the sidelines of the RNC.
Further indicating the tensions presented by Vance's foreign policy positions, he will also appear as a special guest on Tucker Carlson's U.S. tour one week later.
TP-Are there people who actually don’t know that words out of politicians mouths, to include Trump’s most important dissimulation expert, Tucker Carlson, are entirely “tactical,” as situational, with even seemingly contradictory messages subsumed under the “strategic mission” of getting Trump elected? In other words, “lies,” are the coin of the realm in that field. Which explains how Tucker Carlson, perhaps the most hawkish China War Hawk, and Heritage Foundation partner and fellow payee of Thiel/Koch, is now a “Dove,” and selling Trumpism, as “Dovish,” and selling this “product” to the American People! “Contradictory” propaganda messages aren’t necessarily contradictory to the most effective propaganda, serving a higher strategic priority, which at this time, is getting Trump elected!
