US Republicans pledge support for Israel amid war with Hamas

Republican presidential hopefuls lined up Saturday to pledge unwavering support for Israel in its war on Hamas as they spoke at an annual gathering of influential Jewish donors.

Former president Donald Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition event he would "defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever."

The conflict between Israel and Hamas is "a fight between civilization and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil," said Trump, who received the warmest response from attendees, as he took aim at President Joe Biden's administration and avoided criticizing his rivals.

The former reality show host, the overwhelming favorite to win the party nomination to run against Biden next year despite facing multiple criminal prosecutions, spoke after sparking fury in recent weeks by describing Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah as "very smart" and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Also on hand in Las Vegas was Trump's nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who called the Oct 7 Hamas surprise attack on Israel "the most deadly attack against Jews since the Holocaust itself."

Hamas militants killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

More than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's relentless retaliatory bombardments, mainly civilians and many of them children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

DeSantis and others pointed to what they said was rising anti-Semitism on US college campuses, and proposed yanking funding for universities and canceling visas for pro- Palestinian foreign students.

"We need cultural chemotherapy to fight this cancer," Senator Tim Scott said.

"Any student with a visa who calls for genocide should be deported."

The only woman in the race, Nikki Haley, Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations, has evoked fears of anti-Semitic attacks on US soil.

"As president I will change the official federal definition of anti-Semitism to include denying Israel's right to exist," said Haley, adding she would strip tax breaks from schools that do not combat anti-Semitism.

"College campuses are allowed to have free speech, but they are not free to spread hate that supports terrorism," she said. "Federal law requires schools to combat anti-semitism. We will give this law teeth and we will enforce it."

The organizers said the newly installed Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise would address the gathering on Saturday night.

Former vice president Mike Pence surprised the gathering Saturday when he announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, becoming the first major candidate to suspend his campaign.

"It's become clear to me: this is not my time," he said. "After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president."

Support for Israel is a huge issue for both political parties in the United States, and a rare instance of foreign policy that matters at the ballot box, thanks in part to the large number of Jewish voters.

It is also a significant issue for evangelical Christians for whom the existence of a Jewish state is a key precondition for the hoped-for "second coming" of Jesus Christ.