Trump and Cruz made the remarks during their speeches to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington’s biggest pro-Israeli lobby group, as protesters were shouting anti-Israeli slogans outside the Verizon Center on Monday. “Politics should be about bringing us together, about uniting us”.
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Democrats also will vote on Tuesday, in Arizona, Utah and Idaho, with front-runner Hillary Clinton aiming to pile up more delegates in her race against challenger Bernie Sanders. “Not a president who says he’s neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday and who knows what on Wednesday because everything is negotiable”, Clinton said to thunderous applause.
“My friends, Israel s security is non-negotiable”.
“We will send a clear signal that there is no daylight between America and our most reliable ally, the state of Israel”, Trump said.
Democrat Clinton bashed her rival as prejudiced and insufficiently pro-Israel, signalling some of her likely points of attack should she face the Republican frontrunner in November s United States presidential election.
On Monday, Trump tried to rally anxious party leaders to his insurgent candidacy during a stop in Washington, D.C., where he warned against efforts to deny him the nomination if he falls short of securing the 1,237 delegates needed ahead of the party’s July convention. The attendees included at least two members of Congress who have endorsed him: Reps.
Trump then pointed to Iran’s recent missile tests, which included threats against Israel.
Inside the arena, Mr Trump won further plaudits from the 18,000-strong crowd when he promised to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv “to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem” – something he had previously avoided on the grounds that it could hurt his negotiating position with the Palestinians.
Socially liberal Jews object to his controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants, women and Muslims, with some drawing analogies to the European persecution of Jews that eventually led to the Holocaust.
He also sought to portray himself as “very different” from Clinton, knocking the former secretary of state on trade and her Middle East policy.
Clinton earlier packed the arena, where she implored the crowd: “If you see a bully, stand up to him”.
“America should be better than this, and I believe it’s our responsibility as citizens to say so”.
Mr Trump was followed on stage by rival Ted Cruz, who opened his speech by pointedly noting Mr Trump’s use of the term “Palestine”.
The Vermont senator criticized Netanyahu’s administration for the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and withholding tax revenues from the Palestinians.
“I have the steadiest hands, look at those hands”, Trump said, clenching his fist, during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. He was the only 2016 candidate to skip AIPAC.
Yet the organization has delved into highly partisan political debates over issues of interest to Israel, most recently and notably the nuclear deal, which it vehemently opposed. He said he would come down hard on Iran if it failed to cross “a single T” in living up to the nuclear agrement.
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Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton touched off her party’s fresh anti-Trump campaign during a morning foreign policy speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Conference (AIPAC), questioning the former reality television star’s readiness to guide the nation through delicate global entanglements.
