Despite the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump this past weekend, the Republican Party Convention (RNC) will begin as scheduled this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will feature a handful of Jewish speakers and events.
At the four-day conference where Trump will formally be announced as the Republican presidential nominee and reveal his pick for vice president, several Jewish organisations including the American Jewish Committee and the Republican Jewish Coalition are slated to host Israel-focused events for the roughly 50,000 visitors set to attend.
On Tuesday, the AJC is scheduled to hold a panel discussion called “Israel and the Path to Peace,” which will include remarks from Eliav Benjamin, the Israeli Embassy to Washington’s deputy chief of mission. The AJC, run by former Democratic US Rep. Ted Deutch, will also host a diplomatic reception on Wednesday.
RJC CEO Matt Brooks will address the convention on Tuesday and, on Thursday afternoon, the organisation is set to sponsor a “Salute to Pro-Israel Elected Officials.”
The Trump 47 Committee’s newly formed Jewish Leadership Coalition will hold a brunch on Wednesday and feature speeches by Sen. Lindsey Graham, Rep. David Kustoff and former Rep. Lee Zeldin. Both Kustoff and Zeldin are Jewish, and Kustoff is only one of two Jewish Republicans in the Capitol, alongside Rep. Max Miller.
Recent Harvard University graduate Shabbos Kestenbaum, who filed a lawsuit against his former school for allowing antisemitism to proliferate on campus since October 7, was invited to speak at
the event this week.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 15: Harvard University graduate student Shabbos Kestenbaum testifies during a House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government hearing on antisemitism on college campuses at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. House Republicans have raised concerns over what they call a rise of antisemitism amid the widespread Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States which have called for schools to divest from Israeli interests amid the ongoing siege of Gaza. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
A group of fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who protected the American flag against anti-Israel protesters on campus in April were also invited to address attendees at the convention.
On Monday the Republican National Committee will vote on the Trump campaign’s recently released 2024 Republican party platform, a 16-page document outlining the Trump administration’s agenda for the next four years if he is elected president.
The document, which is nearly 40 pages shorter than platforms released in previous election years, covers Trump’s plan to “bring common sense to our government and renew the pillars of American civilisation,” and highlights his administration’s intentions to curb illegal immigration, restore fiscal balance, and revitalise American family values.
The document gives a special mention to the condemnation of antisemitism, promising to “support revoking Visas of Foreign Nationals who support terrorism and jihadism” and to “hold accountable those who perpetrate violence against Jewish people.”
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - JULY 14: Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald await his arrival at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 14, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Law enforcement officials began final preparations on the eve of the Republican National Convention where Trump is expected to formally receive the GOP nomination for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election. Trump suffered minor injuries during a campaign rally on on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania after a gunman opened fired, killing one person and injuring two critically. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
It also pledges to fight “anti-Christian bias” with a new federal task force that will “investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.”
The document also makes a specific nod to Israel, the only foreign country that Republicans will advocate supporting:
“We will stand with Israel and seek peace in the Middle East,” the document reads. In a nod to the Abraham Accords, it continues: “We will rebuild our Alliance Network in the Region to ensure a future of Peace, Stability, and Prosperity.”
The document also references the Iron Dome, promising to “restore peace in Europe and in the Middle East and build a great Iron Dome Missile Defense Shield over our entire country – all made in America.”
The four-day RNC comes just days after former President Trump was grazed by a bullet during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The shooter, identified as Thomas Crooks, was killed moments later by Secret Service agents.
