Former President Donald J. Trump will headline the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, live via satellite and deliver a major address to the American Jewish community on Thursday, September 5, 2024.
RJC CEO Matt Brooks’ press release said:
“As we approach the one-year anniversary of the horrific October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, and only days after the brutal murder of 6 innocent hostages who had been held captive in Gaza, President Donald J. Trump will speak not only to the RJC’s leadership gathered in Las Vegas this week but to the entire American Jewish community.
“This is a critical moment for the Jewish community and for Israel, and the policy contrast between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris could not be clearer in this election.”
Trump has made a point of attacking Jewish Democrats, and criticizing Jews who back Democrats as “absolute fools” who need “their head examined.” Those attacks have become a battle cry in this fight for potential swing voters, seeing as Jewish Americans in critical battleground states have consistently supported Democrats. This year, swing state Jews have been increasingly concerned about rising antisemitism at home, US support for Israel in Gaza, and the Hamas hostages.
Several Jewish advocates suggested Trump’s attacks are antisemitic and recall the ancient tropes about the dual loyalty of American Jews who are conflicted between their love for the US and Israel. Some of Trump’s supporters on the right have said his comments have been “unhelpful,” repelling potential Jewish voters from down-ticket candidates.
Brooks suggested that “With President Trump, we had historic peace and security in the Middle East; with Kamala Harris, we have chaos and war. With President Trump, American Jews could wear a kippah and walk the streets without fear, and Jewish students felt safe when going to class; with Kamala Harris, antisemitism has skyrocketed to unprecedented and dangerous levels while she shamefully continues to appease the pro-Hamas mobs on our streets and college campuses and embrace the Squad.”
Except, of course, with President Trump, there was this whole year when American Jews had to wear face masks in addition to their kippah, as his administration dropped the ball on managing the COVID pandemic.
Alternatively, one might say that Harris is as responsible for the Gaza war as Trump was for the coronavirus.
“This is the most important election of our lifetimes, and we are thrilled to welcome President Trump back to the RJC Leadership Summit at this absolutely pivotal moment for America, the Jewish community, and Israel,” Brooks concluded.
He’s right, of course. Few right-wing Jews in Israel and elsewhere want to see Kamala Harris resume the Biden policies on Israel – and so far, she doesn’t appear to have anything original say on Hamas, the Gaza war, or, you know, “settler violence.”
So, it makes better sense to vote for Trump in November, but the former president who was a Democrat most of his life and contributed handsomely to Bill and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns, should not psychoanalyze Jewish Democrats who won’t vote for him.
