“I’m a negotiator, like you folks”, he said.
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“Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t negotiate deals? They want to know what’s in their hearts and guts on these weighty issues”.
“I want to say where have you been for the last 70 years?” “Mr. Trump’s presentation was completely supportive of Israel and the Jewish community, even if one might disagree with him on some of the other issues he raised”.
“I believe that I can put both sides together”, he said, “but it will take six months”.
“I’m leaving for Israel in a very short period of time”, he told the Jewish Republican Coalition in Washington DC during a campaign stop in which he sought to burnish his Jewish ties.
“You’re going to like me very much”, he said.
“As we all know, 67 years ago was 1948, the year of Israel’s creation”, Rubio pointed out.
“It’s obvious. We have to help people that respect us, that want things to be done and properly done”.
“Stupidly, you want to give money”.
The New York Times reported some of the comments were met with displeased silence, with the most tense moment coming when Trump seemed to imply that the status of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital should be up for bargaining.
Ted Cruz. Michael Leventoff, a NY businessman and member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said Trump questioning Israel’s commitment to the peace process is another example of him “just getting it wrong”. “As a single achievement, that would be a really great achievement”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the pact is an existential threat to Israel. He repeated the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” and mocked President Obama for his refusal to utter those words.
Bush, who had been described as “low energy” by the GOP front-runner, Donald Trump, barely an hour before, was anything but in his appearance at the forum.
But his call for parity in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict made his rhetoric rare among recent presidential contenders.
And on Thursday, attendees at the RJC’s meeting hinted at why – Rubio, they said, may be a victor on substance, but he left clear questions on style.
Although presidential candidates typically adopt that position during their campaigns, they abandon it when in government.
“I don’t want your money”.
But he repeatedly mispronounced “Hamas”, the name of a Palestinian group accused of promoting violence against Israelis in the region (most said it sounded like “hummus”), and left the stage without taking questions from the audience, as every other candidate had before him.
“The person I rely on most as it relates to U.S.-Israeli policy is my brother”, Bush said to cheers. “For someone who claims to be so smart, he should know better than to reinforce and legitimize this history old anti-Semitic canard”.
The other candidates at the forum also bragged about their Jewish ties – their friendliness toward Israel and the depth of their friendships with Jews.
The casino magnate has yet to make up his mind how who he’ll support in the GOP primary, said Adelson’s political adviser, Andy Abboud.
The common rejoinder to calls for Israel to take action is that Palestinians have rejected peace on multiple occasions and it should not be incumbent upon Israel to keep falling for the same ruse.
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In another proposal that won applause from his audience, the Texas lawmaker said that if he is elected president, he will cut off federal funding for any university supporting the BDS movement, a pro-Palestinian effort to back “boycotts, divestment, and sanctions” against Israel.
