“A lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal – whether or not Israel’s willing to sacrifice certain things”, Trump told The Associated Press.
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Later, the crowd erupted as Trump declared that the Jews in the audience wouldn’t support his candidacy because they like being asked for money and he’s the only one not seeking their financial support.
“I’m a negotiator, like you folks”, he said. Trump said later. “Probably more than any room I’ve ever spoken”.
Kasich, however, likely irked fewer voters than Trump, who, speaking immediately after Kasich, said he wasn’t sure if Israel “has the commitment” to make a Mideast peace deal.
“I said you have to have the commitment to make it. I don’t know that Israel has the commitment to make it, and I don’t know that the other side has the commitment to make it….”
A gathering of GOP presidential candidates before major donors on Thursday prompted predictable condemnations of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy and a surprise bill of attainder against the Republican Party. “They are dead wrong, and they don’t understand the enduring bond between Israel and America”.
The nicest thing that you can say about these comments is that they play on ancient stereotypes of Jews as money-grubbing merchants.
He said the Palestinian side has succeeded in garnering the support of world parliaments in the past, but now it is governments’ support that Palestinians must obtain against the Israeli occupation. Later, he asserted that the audience wasn’t going to support him “because I don’t want your money”.
Trump, generally considered a strong supporter of Israel, was still booed when he refused to commit to moving the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which both Palestinians and Israelis consider their capital.
– “I think you as business people will feel pretty good about this, and respect it”, he said, about how relatively little he was spending on his campaign.
“I want to wait until I meet with Bibi”, Trump said, referring to his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Trump is scheduled to visit the country later this month.
The RJC, which spent $6.3 million against President Obama’s re-election in 2012, claims 40,000 members, including several prominent Republican fundraisers. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) barely looked down at the lectern, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had his eyes on his notes.
As usual, the Republican presidential frontrunner was short on specifics.
“I’m going to win”, Trump said.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was forced to apologize to Adelson personally a year ago after using the term “occupied territories” while describing a trip to Israel.
Almost the entirety of the Republican presidential field appeared in Washington on Thursday to court some of the nation’s most powerful Jewish conservatives, as the candidates hone their messages less than two months before the first votes are cast.
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He said the best way to deal with such plots were to disrupt them. Taking the stage around noon Thursday, Trump offered a somewhat quieter version of his rambling tough-guy shtick, boasting about his wealth, his awards, and his poll numbers.
