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A Jewish guide to the 2024 GOP presidential contenders as primary season opens in Iowa
(JTA) — With the arrival of the Iowa Caucus on Monday, the 2024 presidential primary season is officially underway — and so is the race to win the votes of Jewish and pro-Israel voters.
Five Republicans are vying to be the candidate to face off against President Joe Biden. Former President Donald Trump maintains a considerable lead in the polls, while challengers Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy remain firmly in the race. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is still in the mix but is polling below 1%.
The Iowa Caucus has kicked off the Republican presidential primary for decades, and its significance is more symbolic than substantive. Of the more than 2,000 delegates needed to secure the party’s nomination, Iowa awards only 40.
But Iowa, along with the other early states — the caucus is followed by New Hampshire on Jan. 23 and Nevada Feb. 6 — are a chance for candidates to build momentum and exceed expectations. The Iowa Caucus is not necessarily predictive, however: The GOP’s nominees in 2008, 2012 and 2016 all lost in Iowa.
Israel has featured heavily in the Republican primary, even before the outbreak of the country’s war with Hamas on Oct. 7.
At the first GOP debate in August, Haley and Ramaswamy tangled over their views on Israel aid, and more recent debates have included discussions about Israel’s war strategy, whether to send U.S. troops to Gaza and the possibility of expelling Palesintians from the Gaza Strip. At the first debate after Oct. 7, the Republican Jewish Coalition was named a cosponsor.
As the primary season kicks off, here’s a guide to each of the major candidate’s Jewish bona fides, listed in order of their polling averages.
Donald Trump
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an event at his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
For some Jewish Republicans, the prospect of another Trump presidency elicits anxiety — especially given the isolationist picture Trump has painted of his potential future administration.
Some insiders have pointed to fear among GOP Jewish donors that Trump has alienated himself from many of the Jewish and pro-Israel advisers who shaped his first-term foreign policy such as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They have been replaced by isolationists who have flirted with antisemitism, such as Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
That said, many Jewish Republicans view Trump as one of the most pro-Israel presidents ever, as does Trump himself. During his first term, Trump fulfilled wishes of the pro-Israel right: moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights and more.
At a rally in Florida just days after Oct. 7, Trump criticized Israeli leadership and praised Hezbollah as “very smart,” drawing ire from his fellow candidates, including DeSantis.
The former president also faces several legal challenges related to his businesses, defamation and sexual assault, classified documents, election subversion and others. Efforts are underway in many states to remove Trump from their ballots.
Ron DeSantis
Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves to supporters at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nov. 19, 2022. (Wade Vandervort, /AFP via Getty Images)
DeSantis is viewed by many as a steadfast supporter of Israel. The Florida governor visited Jerusalem last spring, voicing support for West Bank settlements and signing a bill that increased penalties for antisemitic harassment.
But just two weeks after his Israel trip, DeSantis’ education department rejected two new textbooks on the Holocaust as part of his campaign against what he calls “woke indoctrination.”
These two dynamics have come to define DeSantis’ relationship with Jewish voters and groups, especially in Florida, which is home to a sizable Orthodox population. His stance on abortion has also proven unpopular among the Jewish electorate.
Read more about DeSantis’ Jewish record here.
Nikki Haley
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley speaks to guests at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nov. 19, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, also boasts a solid pro-Israel reputation. In recent weeks, she has emerged as a favorite of Jewish Republican donors looking for an alternative to Trump.
Haley’s tenure at the U.N., during which she prevented Palestinians from ascending to top jobs and quit the body’s Human Rights Council, made her a star at conferences of American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Last summer during the first GOP debate, Haley shot back swiftly after Ramaswamy suggested cutting aid to Israel.
“He wants to stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to your friends,” she said. “It’s not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel.”
More on Haley, the lone woman in the GOP primary, here.
Vivek Ramaswamy
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in the center, speaks alongside former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy during the NBC News Republican Presidential Primary Debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County in Miami, Nov. 8, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The millionaire biotech entrepreneur breaks with his fellow Republicans on the issue of aid to Israel.
Ramaswamy, who has not held elected office, has said he believes Israel should not get more aid from the United States than its Middle Eastern neighbors after 2028, the year the current U.S. aid package of $38 billion is set to expire.
He added that he would work to expand the Abraham Accords, the series of normalization deals between Israel and Arab countries.
“Come 2028, that additional aid won’t be necessary in order to still have the kind of stability that we’d actually have in the Middle East by having Israel more integrated in with its partners,” Ramaswamy said in August.
Ramaswamy, who was a member of a Jewish leadership society at Yale University, also raised eyebrows when he appeared on the podcast of an influencer who has accused Jews of owning “almost everything.” A spokeswoman for his campaign said he was unaware of the host’s views on Jews going into the interview.
Here’s our full Jewish explainer on the long-shot candidate.
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The post A Jewish guide to the 2024 GOP presidential contenders as primary season opens in Iowa appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.