DeSantis, Haley Wow Republican Jewish Crowd, But Trump Still Dominates

Ron DeSantis showed results. Tim Scott roused the crowd. Nikki Haley sounded most electable.

But of all the presidential candidates who addressed the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Summit on Saturday, Donald Trump stood out most, and walked away as the overall crowd favorite — a reflection of the former president’s stature in the GOP, his standing in the primary polls and his record when he occupied the White House from 2017 to 2021.

The coalition is so large and influential that it’s one of the only in the nation to host all the top presidential candidates, as well as senators and congressmen, including newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, who closed out the summit in a Saturday evening speech after meeting privately with top donors.

Former Vice President Mike Pence used the forum to make the surprise announcement he was quitting the presidential race.

Heightening the import of this summit: the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel and the antisemitic and pro-Palestinian demonstrations across America.

All the candidates and speakers called for more sanctions on Hamas’ state sponsor — Iran — and they all emphasized the need to denounce antisemitism, defund colleges where it festers, and kick out students and deport immigrants who express hatred of Jews or call for Israel’s destruction "from the river to the sea."

Few believed Trump gave the best speech (he clearly read from notes or a teleprompter and even mispronounced the name of the Hamas terrorist group as “HOME-us”), but Oct. 7 highlighted a sharp contrast between his and President Joe Biden’s positions.

Under Trump, he reminded the crowd, Iran was crippled by sanctions, there were no spectacular terrorist attacks in Israel missed by the intelligence services, the United States recognized the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, the US embassy was moved to Jerusalem, and the “jihadist lunatics” of ISIS were wiped out in Syria

“He reassured us as to why he may be the only man who could bring us back from brink of World War III,” said Adam Margules, 43, a Miami filmmaker and commercial real estate broker.

Margules also credited DeSantis for his fiery speech that highlighted his actions as Florida governor: flying out 700 Americans stuck in Israel after the attack, limiting state investments in firms tied to Iran, fighting private companies that try to boycott Israel, and moving to ban the group Students for Justice in Palestine from state colleges and universities.

Kenin Spivak, a 66-year-old entrepreneur from Beverly Hills, said he’s leaning toward DeSantis, who gave the most “substantive” speech, “whereas [South Carolina Sen.] Tim Scott’s was more emotive … he had better delivery.”

Like many in the room, Spivak harbors deep concerns about Trump's viability in a rematch against Biden, who already beat him once and whose election he tried so hard to overturn that it led to the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol and criminal charges. Polls show Trump and Biden essentially tied.

“I think Trump did an excellent job in most respects as president,” he said. “But I think his comportment is a problem. And most specifically, he is the only leading Republican that I think Biden stands an excellent chance of beating. And that’s just counterproductive.”

Greenwich, Connecticut resident Marty Flashner, 70, who specializes in corporate tax work, said he was most impressed by DeSantis’ speech and the results he delivered.

But his campaign struggles despite his well-funded efforts make DeSantis appear “stuck in place," he complained.

Flashner said he favors Haley, the former U.N. Ambassador and South Carolina governor, who has his vote because she displays good judgment and — as a young and dynamic history-making Indian-American Republican woman — looks the most electable against Biden.

“We all like Trump. But would you take Trump with a 50% chance of winning, or Haley with 100% chance of winning? That's pretty compelling to me," he said.

Flashner said Trump’s New York roots make him at ease with Jewish people to such a degree that “sometimes he comes across as a Borscht Belt comedian.”

Both Flashner and Spivak, though, said they believed Trump would win and that, if the election were today, a majority of Republican Jewish Coalition members would probably vote for Trump over everyone else.

A dozen other attendees interviewed by The Messenger made the same prediction. Flashner said the legal cases against Trump are largely “bogus,” and have only consolidated support for him.

No one interviewed mentioned Trump’s embarrassing accidental pre-Thanksgiving dinner last year with white supremacist Nick Fuentes or the troubling number of antisemites who appeared to back Trump’s campaign in 2016.

And none expressed concerns that Trump, after the Oct. 7 attack, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a popular figure in conservative circles. DeSantis tried earlier this month to criticize Trump over his remarks, but the attack fell flat.

In a sign of Trump’s clout, he scored a private dinner Saturday night with the RJC’s grande dame, Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who made the Republican Jewish Coalition into a powerhouse and who financed both Trump and DeSantis.

The RJC’s leader, Matt Brooks, said the organization is staying neutral, but “clearly Trump has a significant record to run on to make his case to the Jewish community. Nobody questions when the chips are down and when push comes to shove, Donald Trump has and will be a strong defender of Israel and he has demonstrated that he’s willing to buck conventional wisdom to do what any previous president had been unwilling or unable to do.”

Eilan Kashani, a 24-year-old businessman from Encino, California, said he believed Haley gave the best speech. She was the only Republican candidate to advocate forcefully for funding both Israel and Ukraine, which is far less popular in Republican politics.

“I was here last year when Nikki Haley indicated she would run for president and I came to the conclusion that she's an amazing politician,” Kashani said. “However, I don't think she's fitting for the president. I think she'll be more fitting as a vice president to Donald J. Trump.”