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Israel, prominent in first GOP presidential debate, gets no mention in second
(JTA) — Israel, which featured large in the first Republican debate, got nary a mention in its sequel on Wednesday night, as the candidates on stage in California instead devoted much of their focus to Donald Trump, who opted to skip the proceedings.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations, once again tangled with Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, but it was not over his proposal to wind down defense assistance to Israel, as it was in August at the first debate.
Instead, they fought over TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform which Ramaswamy has embraced as a means of reaching young voters and which Haley decries as an instrument of Chinese influence.
“Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little dumber,” she told Ramaswamy in one of the debate’s moments that set social media on fire.
The debate, often raucous, was broadcast by Fox News’ business channel, and Univision, a Spanish language network. Trump, the former president who is leading in the primary polls by a huge margin, gave a competing speech in Michigan at the same time. He loomed over the proceedings, with a number of candidates taking shots at him for ducking the debate.
Iran, Israel’s deadliest enemy, scored a number of mentions for its role in backing and supplying Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. One of the most substantive splits among the seven candidates was whether to continue funding Ukraine’s defense, with Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embracing U.S. support for Ukraine, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ramaswamny arguing that aid to Ukraine should end.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was the sole candidate on the stage at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, who mentioned that Iran could soon pose a threat as a nuclear armed nation, an issue that Israel and its allies here believe should be front and center of U.S. foreign policy.
Burgum attacked the Biden administration for its recent prisoner exchange with Iran, which included the release of $6 billion in money South Korea owes to Iran for oil sales, which the Biden administration insists will only be used for humanitarian purposes.
“Six billion dollars, they traded for five people,” Burgum said, calling the Biden administration’s Iran policy “appeasement.” “They just now set a price on anyone’s head who is a tourist from America, who’s a student from America, for kidnapping — if you want more kidnapping, put a price on it. And they’re also helping Iran get to have, get more closer to a nuclear weapon.”
Ramaswamy attacked Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that he had saluted a former Nazi in the Canadian parliament last week. “This is a country whose president just last week was hailing a Nazi,” he said.
There is no evidence that Zelensky knew that the man, who was invited by the Canadian Parliament speaker, had a Nazi background. The speaker said he had not known the man’s background and resigned as a result of the ensuing scandal.
DeSantis once again invoked George Soros, the Jewish progressive megadonor who is a frequent target of the right and of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Soros has funded election campaigns for progressive prosecutors. DeSantis has sacked two elected prosecutors in his state for being too liberal, and he said he would take the same fight to the White House.
“I will use the Justice Department to bring civil rights cases against all of those left-wing Soros-funded prosecutors,” DeSantis said. “We’re not going to let them get away with it anymore.”
Also missing from the debate was any discussion of antisemitism, which Jewish organizations say has spiked in recent years and which is the focus of a major strategy rolled out this summer by the Biden administration. The moderators also did not raise the four criminal indictments Trump is facing, including charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
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The post Israel, prominent in first GOP presidential debate, gets no mention in second 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.