A series of speeches by Republican presidential candidates on Saturday to a large gathering of Jewish donors and activists showed how the escalating conflict in the Middle East has made foreign policy a dominant campaign issue and exposed new divisions within the primary campaign.
Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, attacked former President Donald J. Trump as “confused” about the threats facing the United States and Israel. Mr. Trump vowed to fight “jihadists, terrorists, Marxists” abroad and at home. And Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida denounced the “false moral equivalence” between Hamas and Israeli deaths.
The address to the Republican Jewish Coalition came at a sprawling convention center at the Venetian in Las Vegas as Israel expanded its ground operations in Gaza and at a critical moment for the primary campaign. With Mr. Trump far ahead in the polls, time is running out for his challengers to make their mark. And Ms. Haley and his other rivals see new opportunities in his clumsy response to attacks in Ukraine and Israel that threaten to escalate into larger regional conflicts.
Mr. Trump, who spoke last, ignored the other candidates in his remarks and focused squarely on attacking President Biden as weak while arguing that the world would be safer if he were still in the White House.
“If I were president, the attack on Israel would never have happened,” he told the 1,500 attendees who packed the ballroom. “I think you believe that. Ukraine would never have happened. There would never have been inflation.”
Mr. Trump struck the most militaristic tone of the speakers, warning those in attendance of threats from “many young, strong men” entering the country who are “the same people who attacked Israel.” And he praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the neo-authoritarian leader admired by far-right nationalists in the United States and Europe and who has been accused of using anti-Semitic language for political gain.
In his remarks, Mr. Trump put himself in a similar mood to Mr. Orban — a “very strong man,” he said — who vowed to protect the country through the threat of force.
“If you shed a drop of American blood, we will shed a liter of your blood,” he said, arguing that the world has become less safe under Mr. Biden’s leadership. “I will defend America, and I will defend Western civilization from the barbarians, savages and fascists you now see trying to harm our beautiful Israel.”
Mr. Trump did not comment on the exit of his former vice president, Mike Pence, who had announced he was ending his presidential bid before Mr. Trump took the stage. In the final speech of his campaign, Mr. Pence warned his party against pursuing an isolationist foreign policy – like the policies put forward by Vivek Ramaswamy, who preceded him on stage.
The annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition was perhaps the highest-profile meeting of the fall Republican primary and took on greater urgency after Hamas’s attack on Israel three weeks ago. Last week, the organization was added as a sponsor of the third Republican debate, a reflection of how Israel united a broad coalition of party voters and officials, including foreign policy hawks, business leaders and evangelical Christians.
It’s also an exciting moment for Republican officials: At the last minute, the event’s schedule was changed to accommodate the first national appearance of newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, who will address the group Saturday night.
Ms. Haley used her address to launch some of the most scathing attacks of her 2024 primary, questioning Mr. Trump’s ability to manage the foreign policy of a country facing multiple military entanglements abroad. She highlighted the former president’s comments criticizing Israeli intelligence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as weak just days after the attack.
“As president, I will not compliment Hezbollah. Nor will I criticize the Israeli Prime Minister in the midst of tragedy and war. We have no time for personal vendettas,” she told the crowd of donors, activists and officials. “With all due respect, I won’t be confused.”
Ms. Haley, known for her strong support of Israel as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, has risen in the polls after two strong debate performances.
“Eight years ago it was good to have a leader who broke things. But right now we need a leader who also knows how to make things right,” she said. “America needs a captain who will stabilize the ship and not capsize it. And Republicans need a candidate who can actually win.”
All eight candidates who appeared expressed strong support for Israel and pledged to support military operations and fight increasing anti-Semitic threats at home, particularly on college campuses.
Of all the candidates, only Mr. Ramaswamy qualified his support, signaling that he would be less inclined to provide military support to Israelis in the escalating conflict. The entrepreneur and author tried to win over the crowd by entering to the music of Matisyahu, an observant Jewish hip-hop artist, reciting a line of a Jewish prayer in Hebrew and giving a generous shout-out to David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister , quoted .
In his address, which included a convoluted account of modern Israeli military history, Mr. Ramaswamy sought to reframe a more isolationist stance in support of Israel’s right to self-defense.
“If Israel wants to destroy Hamas, it should go ahead and destroy Hamas,” he said. “But these are decisions Israel has to make, not America. I am not running for president of Israel. I am running for President of the United States.”
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who has been Trump’s primary opponent in the campaign for months, struck a darker tone in his remarks, saying: “This is too serious a moment for pettiness.”
Mr. Christie and Mr. Ramaswamy were the only candidates whose speeches were met with loud boos, albeit from different parts of the audience: Mr. Christie was a target of Trump supporters, and Mr. Ramaswamy was widely criticized for his hesitation to provide military support.
Mr. Trump entered Saturday’s event as a crowd favorite and was appreciated for his record as Israel’s president, which included moving the American embassy to Jerusalem and signing the Abraham Accords, an agreement to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Emirates and Bahrain. He also cut aid to Palestinians and his government took steps to label a campaign to boycott Israel as anti-Semitic.
But his criticism of Israeli intelligence and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he called weak just days after the attack, and his description of the Hezbollah attackers as “very clever” have drawn attacks from his rivals.
Amid expressions of concern and solidarity for one of America’s closest allies, Republican politicians saw political opportunity in the divisions the conflict has created at home.
Several of Saturday’s speakers disparaged progressive Democratic lawmakers, particularly Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, whose names drew loud boos from the audience. Others spoke about tensions on university campuses, where students clashed over the war.
“Progressives say they only care about the safety and feelings of minorities, the oppressed and the marginalized,” said Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. “But when it comes to Jewish Americans who are doing poorly – they remain silent.”