LAS VEGAS — Donald Trump wasn't in the room at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in the swing state's Sin City on Thursday, but a crowd of hundreds stood by nonetheless, floored by his pro-Israel message.
“Kamala Harris is the candidate of the forces that want to destroy Western civilization and Israel,” Trump told attendees via video link. “I'm the candidate of the forces that want to protect Western civilization and Israel.”
“If she becomes president, you will no longer have Israel. Israel will no longer exist,” Trump warned.
Trump received a standing ovation from his eager audience when he vowed that his administration would “keep America safe, and make sure Israel stays with us for thousands of years.”
The former president condemned Hamas terrorists who murdered six Jewish hostages last weekend, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
“Only an evil and inhumane, truly inhumane ideology would kidnap, torture and murder innocent men, women and children,” Trump said of the terrorists.
“Likewise,” he said, addressing Democrats, “only a deeply sick political party in America would team up with people who sympathize with such evil, and they are.”
After this, Trump explained his foreign policy to the audience.
“When I left office, America was safe. Israel was safe. The Jewish people were safe, and there was peace throughout the world,” he said. “When I was president, American Jews felt safe on our streets and on our college campuses, and we kept radical Islamic terrorists out of our country.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition has always been pro-Trump in recent years, and this was no exception. Attendees waved placards with “Trump” written in Hebrew and English letters and cards that read “Kamala … Oy Vey!”, a Yiddish word expressing disappointment or sadness.
The RJC is spending $15 million this cycle to get out the vote and reach “influential” Jewish voters in pivotal states including Nevada, Arizona and Pennsylvania, said Matt Brooks, the coalition’s chief executive.
Among those persuaded Thursday was Harvard University graduate student Shabbos Kestenbaum, who said he would remain a registered Democrat but would vote for Trump because of the anti-Semitic stances expressed by President Biden and Vice President Harris.
