Balloons fell from giant nets in the ballroom of the Venetian casino as hundreds of attendees leaped to their feet following a video address from former President Donald Trump at the RJC Annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas.
Trump, who had attended the summit last year, spoke via satellite, though he was still able to see and hear the audience.
“I look forward to being back with you next year as the 47th president of the United States,” he began. After the applause died down, he then took a moment to honour the six hostages murdered by Hamas in Gaza this past weekend and recovered by the Israel Defense Forces, singling out 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
He condemned Hamas, a terror proxy of Iran, stating, “May they never know peace or comfort ever again.”
Trump has also said that the Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, which resulted in the murder of 1,200 with as many as 250 hostages taken into the Gaza Strip, some 95 of whom are still there, would not have happened on his watch.
The former president reminded the audience of the accomplishments of his presidency in the region, including moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, recognising Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which he claimed crippled the Iranian economy.
“When I was in office, Iran had no money. Now, they have $350 million in three years,” he said. “The Oct. 7 attack on Israel would never have happened if I was president.”
He shifted to the rise of antisemitism in the United States, primarily on college campuses, as has been a theme of speakers at the summit.
“We must reject antisemitism” in all its forms, he said.
As he concluded, he claimed that if Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, the current vice president, is elected, “Israel will no longer exist.”
“If you do not vote Trump, you will not have a country,” he said.
RJC CEO Matt Brooks and Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary for the George W. Bush administration, commented on the statement during a press conference after the speech.
“Nothing like that happened under Donald Trump,” Fleisher told JNS, referring to the Oct. 7 massacre. “Iran feared Donald Trump.”
Meanwhile, Kamala Harris’ running mate for Vice President, Governor Tim Walz, was also asked on Thursday about the Israel-Hamas war and whether the policies of a Harris-Walz administration would differ from President Joe Biden’s approach.
ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 05: Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks to a gathered crowd of supporters during a campaign rally at the Highmark Amphitheater on September 5, 2024 in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
Walz began by condemning Hamas for October 7, which he said was a “horrific act of violence”, and confirmed Israel’s right to defend itself.
"But,” he said, “we can’t allow what’s happening in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves. We need to continue, I think, to put the leverage on to make sure we move towards a two state solution.”
Walz added that we are at a "critical point right now”.
“We need the Netanyahu government to start moving in that direction. But I think those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons. It’s a humanitarian crisis. It can’t stand in the way it is, and we need to find a way people can live together in this. And we’ve said it and continue to say it, getting a ceasefire with the return of the hostages, and then moving towards a sustainable, two state solution is the only way forward.”
