Looking to shore up his foreign policy credentials and win over a group that has at times been skeptical of his previous stances on peace talks and the treatment of immigrants and Muslims, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told pro-Israel activists Monday that his support of the Jewish state is absolute.
In remarks at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee — Washington’s most influential pro-Israel lobbying group — the New Yorker said his experience as a businessman makes him well-suited to stand up for Israel’s political and security interests at the United Nations and against Iran and the Palestinians.
“When I become president, the days of treating Israel like a second-class citizen will end on Day One,” said Trump, who promised to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “immediately” if he is elected president. “I have known him for many years, and we will be able to work closely together to help bring stability and peace to Israel and to the entire region.”
Trump walked back previous remarks that he would remain a neutral broker in Israeli-Palestinian talks, a stance that angered many American Jews and earned him rebukes that day from rivals Hillary Clinton and Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
“I didn’t come here tonight to pander to you about Israel. That’s what politicians do: all talk, no action. I came here to speak to you about where I stand on the future of American relations with our strategic ally, our unbreakable friendship, and our cultural brother, the only democracy in the Middle East, the state of Israel,” Trump said hours after he met with a group of more than two dozen Republican lobbyists and lawmakers.
The billionaire's speech was perhaps most notable in how relatively cautioned and restrained it was. Gone were the typical taunts to the press box and stereotypical remarks — a recent joke about Jewish people being good negotiators angered some in the Jewish community. Trump instead read off teleprompters, forgoing his usual colloquial and off-the-cuff speaking style in exchange for largely scripted remarks.
The crowd, which organizers estimated topped more than 18,000 and nearly filled the Verizon Center, the downtown arena that houses Washington’s professional hockey and basketball teams, was at times very receptive to his remarks, at times more subdued.
Trump hit many of the same policy notes as his two Republican rivals, Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who also addressed the gathering during the same two-hour block. All three condemned Palestinians for what they said was the promotion of terror and Iran for its nuclear tests. The trio espoused the traditional GOP stance that the U.S. Embassy in Israel should be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
They also denounced the recent nuclear deal with Iran and vowed to back out of it should they win in November.
“On the first day in office, I will rip this catastrophic nuclear deal to shreds,” Cruz said, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd. He also promised to reimpose sanctions on Iran on his first day in the White House.
Trump’s speech at AIPAC overshadowed many of the day’s events, even as AIPAC officials underscored that an invitation to speak at the event was not an endorsement.
Protesters stood outside the venue, and inside an informal coalition of rabbis had promised a walk-out on Trump, saying the billionaire's views did not align with Jewish values. None of those protests, though, appeared to interrupt the candidate's speech.
Hours before Trump took the stage, the Anti-Defamation League announced it would redirect the $56,000 the billionaire and his foundation had donated to the organization over the years to fund new anti-bullying education programs, and it called on other organizations to do the same. The group's CEO, Jonathan A. Greenblatt, wrote in Time magazine that the money would go toward addressing "exactly the kind of stereotyping and scapegoating (Trump) has injected into this political season."
Earlier in the day, Trump was the main target of Democratic presidential front-runner Clinton, who also offered her own full-throated defense of the Jewish state and underscored her understanding of the region from her time as secretary of state.
“I feel so strongly that America can’t ever be neutral when it comes to Israel’s security or survival. We can’t be neutral when rockets rain down on residential neighborhoods, when civilians are stabbed in the street, when suicide bombers target the innocent,” Clinton said. “Some things aren’t negotiable, and anyone who doesn’t understand that has no business being our president.”
Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking to become the first Jewish-American presidential nominee of a major party, was the lone candidate not to address the gathering.
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