Leora Levy, 67, a Cuban-born American businesswoman who in 2022 ran as the Republican candidate for the US Senate from Connecticut, on Monday delivered a prayer from the podium at the GOP convention in Milwaukee, saying:
“O Lord our God, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, your eternal city, and for all the children of Abraham, we remember and pray for freedom for the hostages kidnapped and held so cruelly against their will. Lord, please keep them in your sight and hasten the day of their freedom.”
BREAKING:
The Israeli hostages held by Hamas, were just mentioned in a prayer at the republican national convention in Milwaukee.
Thank you, Republicans ???? pic.twitter.com/zmckn4d4Zg
— REAL JEW (@THEREALJEW613) July 15, 2024
She then said, “We pray for Corey Comperatore and his family, may his memory always be a blessing.”
Corey Comperatore was the engineer who threw himself on top of his wife and two daughters to shield them from the assassin’s bullet on Saturday at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pa. – and the bullet found him. He was 50.
Israel’s representation at the convention was limited on Monday, primarily manifesting through Levy’s prayer. The most notable Israel-related event was a pro-Hamas leftist demonstration outside the venue.
The Republican convention opened with a prayer for the hostages being held by Palestinians in Gaza.
This right here is the difference between the two parties.pic.twitter.com/iqxzm1aSRf
— Marina Medvin ?? (@MarinaMedvin) July 15, 2024
On Tuesday, Jewish students, among them Harvard’s Shabbos Kestenbaum, are scheduled to discuss their experiences with pro-Hamas demonstrations on college campuses. The focus on US policy regarding Israel is expected to further intensify on Wednesday when foreign policy takes center stage.
Levy’s mother and Grandparents escaped the Nazis in Lithuania to find shelter in Cuba, only to be forced to run for their lives once again during Castro’s revolution in 1960. She became one of the first female commodity traders to work as a sugar trader, was appointed assistant vice president at Ambrit Sugars, and later became a traffic executive and trader for international sugar, steel, and copper concentrates at Phibro-Salomon.
On September 26, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Levy to be the next United States Ambassador to Chile, but after her nomination was sent to the Senate, it was returned to the President twice.
The Republican Jewish Coalition endorsed Levy’s 2023 run for the US Senate against the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, declaring: “We also have the chance to elect the first-ever Jewish Republican woman to the Senate: Leora Levy, who is challenging Senator Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut. Levy is eager to contrast her strong pro-Israel stance with Blumenthal’s record of supporting disastrous nuclear deals with Iran and to hold him accountable for supporting the Biden agenda that has done so much damage to our country.
Blumenthal trounced Levy by 57.5% to 42.5%.
