‘Draw strength from each other’: Jewish Republicans gather at annual event

Miami resident Denise Tamir had just returned home from Shabbat dinner Oct. 7 with her husband when her phone app that alerts her of missile fire in Israel started going off nonstop. When she turned on her TV, she realized this wasn’t the normal amount of missile fire.

“As that unfolded during the course of the night, we didn’t sleep,” Tamir said. “Quite honestly, my husband and I, I don’t think we’ve slept a night through since Oct. 7.”

Tamir has been coming to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Annual Leadership Summit for several years to hear from elected officials about their positions.

This year, she’s here to collectively mourn with other Jewish Americans following the unprecedented Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, an armed Palestinian terrorist group that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and took nearly 200 people hostage.

“We still haven’t been able to internalize our pain,” said Tamir, who lost family members and whose cousins are serving in Israel. “So I think the added reason this time, this year, is the need to come together and support each other, and to draw strength from each other.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership summit draws Jewish Americans and others from across the country to Las Vegas every year to hear from the biggest GOP leaders about their visions for the country.

With the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas — and as Israel begins its ground operations in the Gaza Strip — the annual event brought even more attention and national significance.

On Friday, attendees heard from Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, who said Nevada stands unequivocally and unapologetically with Israel and the Jewish community.

He touted some of his accomplishments, such as setting a record of the most vetoes during a single legislative session, signing the largest education funding bill in Nevada and making changes to Nevada’s criminal system.

“I’m excited and eager to work with what we’ve done and move forward at this point,” he said. “And I look forward to working with you and the Republican Jewish coalition over the next several years to advance our shared priorities,” he said.

Attendees also heard from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, Tennessee Rep. David Kustoff, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Hearing from the candidates

On Saturday, the biggest GOP presidential candidates are expected to speak, including former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Some attendees said they are looking forward to hearing what the candidates have to say and want to hear strong support of Israel.

“The world has changed entirely from October 6 to today,” Gabriel Groisman, who serves as mayor of Bal Harbour in Florida. “I want to see what their responses are, try to get a feeling for if they have a grasp or not on the situations.”

‘They’ve got our backs’

Attendees of the summit expressed support in the United States’ response to the attacks but opposed talks of ceasefire.

Tamir said the Biden Administration’s support in both words and deeds, such as sending aircraft carriers to the area, have helped Israeli people feel comfort and solidarity.

“I think on many levels the United States’ response militarily has been unbelievable,” Tamir said. “For the first time, we’re concerned about our existence and our big brother came up right behind us and said, ‘We’ve got your back.’”

Harry DeMell, a New York resident, said that even though he is a Republican and can criticize Biden on many things, he feels the president is standing with Israel.

“I’ve never been prouder to be an American as I am right now,” DeMell said.

Ron Innerfield from Huntington, West Virginia, expressed support for strong action to defeat what he deems the enemy, even if there are civilian casualties. He compared it to President Truman’s decision to end World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

“Sometimes, unfortunately, humans are animals,” Innerfield said. “We’ve tried to be as humane as possible. This has just reached a point of no return where we have to inflict harm on people where there’s a greater than 55 to 60 percent approval rating of Hamas, even today. Unfortunately there’s going to be casualties.”

Human rights concerns

Since Israel declared war on Hamas, blocking supply lines of basic necessities and leading air strikes on Gaza, which the Ministry of Health in Gaza says have killed at least 7,000 Palestinians and calls a “genocidal war,” human rights organizations have expressed concerns.

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had “no confidence” in the Palestinian death toll reported by the ministry. If those numbers are verified, that death toll would make it the deadliest conflict for Palestinians since at least the Lebanon war of 1982, according to the New York Times.

Nearly half of the population of Gaza are children, and about 15 percent are under the age of 4, according to a 2022 annual report from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

Amnesty International, an impartial human rights organization, urged Israel to lift its 16-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, calling it cruel and inhumane in an Oct. 12 statement.

“As the occupying power, Israel has a clear obligation under international law to ensure the basic needs of Gaza’s civilian population are met,” Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in the statement.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.