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As Jewish Republicans gather, Ron DeSantis is a star attraction while Donald Trump Zooms in
LAS VEGAS (JTA) — Donald Trump changed his mind and is ready to speak to the Republican Jewish Coalition. What’s not as clear is how ready Jewish Republicans are to hear from him.
As of last week, the group said Trump had cited an undefined “conflict” in turning down an invitation to address its annual convening in Las Vegas. But that was before he announced his bid for another shot at the presidency on Tuesday, making him the first and so far the only nominee to formally do so, and on Thursday the organization said Trump would speak via satellite.
The star of the conference appears to be Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has a prime speaking slot, as opposed to Trump’s less auspicious slot. One influential conference-goer who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order not to be attached to a presidential nominee too early in the process said DeSantis was his favorite going into the weekend. DeSantis, he said, embraced Trump’s policies, but more effectively and with “discipline.”
The conference is taking place, as it has for years, in the Venetian casino resort, until recently owned by Miriam Adelson, the widow of Sheldon Adelson, who was until he died in 2021 a Republican kingmaker; his endorsement of Trump in May 2016 was seen as a sign that the entire GOP was now embracing the one-time outsider.
The conference is an opportunity for candidates to meet with donors who could make or break their campaigns. As it got underway this week, delegates wandered the halls among the slot machines and crap games reconnecting and checking in; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was seen rolling his carry-on bag through the lobby.
Organizers said they expected at least 850 delegates throughout the event (the Saturday night dinner usually attracts more), a bigger number than last year, when travel was still depressed because of the pandemic and there were still three years before the next presidential election.
RJC conferences are often the first stop for likely contenders ahead of presidential election years, which is why Trump made personal appearances in 2015 and again in 2019. This conference is drawing national attention; organizers said they had about 100 RSVPs from the media.
Trump’s speaking slot, crammed in during a crowded Saturday-morning schedule, and his remote participation are signals that relations between Trump and the signature Republican Jewish group, which have blown hot and cold, are in a cooling-off stage. (The only other speaker phoning it in is Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a government to form in a distant land.)
Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden, and his insistence that his endorsees echo the lies, are seen as a drag on the GOP. Republicans are now openly criticizing him after the Nov. 8 midterms, in which they expected to win the U.S. House of Representatives by a broad margin and retake the Senate, fell flat. Republicans barely retook the House, and the Senate remains in Democratic hands.
DeSantis stood out in those elections for wiping out the Democratic opposition in his state, on a day Republicans fared much more poorly than expected nationwide, losing a slew of statewide elections they thought would be shoo-ins.
DeSantis has the coveted Saturday night slot, sharing it with Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations. DeSantis is already making inroads among Jewish conservatives, and from the start of his governorship sought to prove his pro-Israel credentials, leading one early Cabinet meeting from Jerusalem. Haley, who has not yet made clear whether she is running in 2024, is a star for right-leaning pro-Israel groups for helping to shepherd through changes in U.S. and U.N. policy that marginalized Palestinians.
Trump is squeezed among 12 speakers on Saturday morning, a time when folks are expected to keep it short and sweet. Joining him are a number of speakers either not in contention for the presidency — Jewish Republican congressmen David Kustoff of Tennessee, Max Miller of Ohio and George Santos of New York — or long-shots such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and also-rans whom Trump annihilated in 2016, including Christie and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. (Miller and Santos are freshman Trump endorsees who have embraced Trump’s election denialism; Santos was at the Jan. 6 protests.)
Opening the conference Friday night are four speakers, three of whom have notably separated themselves from Trump: former Vice President Mike Pence, who has said this week that he and Trump no longer speak and that he remains angry at the president for not stopping the angry mob that called for Pence’s death during the deadly Jan. 6, 2001 insurrection; Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a consistent opponent of Trump since 2015; and Mike Pompeo, Trump’s secretary of state who has in recent days said Trump’s victim act is getting old. All three are seen as presidential contenders.
The conference is open to the public on Friday and Saturday, But it really started earlier in the week with smaller private meetings between the major Jewish Republican donors and others in the party. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has also distanced himself from Trump, spoke privately with RJC bigwigs on Thursday night.
Trump remains popular in some Jewish conservative circles; he was honored by the Zionist Organization of America earlier this month — an event that he attended in person. Trump executed historic changes in Israel policy, among other things, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, dropping a commitment to a two-state outcome and quitting the Iran nuclear deal. Biden is keeping the embassy in Jerusalem, but hopes to restore two-state outcome ambitions and reenter the Iran deal.
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Media Blindness: When Hamas Breaks the Ceasefire and Headlines Blame Israel
The headquarters of The New York Times. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The Gaza ceasefire almost collapsed this week. It happened because Hamas killed two Israeli soldiers in an area controlled by the IDF, according to the internationally-backed agreement with the terror group.
In response, Israel retaliated with air strikes on Hamas targets in the enclave.
Yet the media managed to blur the first fact and emphasize the second, portraying Israel as a regional bully breaking a fragile truce.
They did it by using skeptical language — or by omitting Hamas from the story altogether.
Skepticism and Doubt
The first tactic questioned what Hamas actually did. Phrases that made Hamas’ actions look like a mere “accusation” made headlines in The New York Times:
Two Israeli soldiers lie dead & more are seriously injured.
How much evidence does it take before @nytimes stops treating Hamas crimes as more than an “accusation?”
So, NYTimes, stop spitting in the faces of both Israel and your readers and start reporting the facts. pic.twitter.com/OUUaFBRI0m
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 19, 2025
The BBC was also skeptical — but it went further. The UK broadcaster subtly questioned whether Israeli troops were indeed inside the agreed-upon perimeter, known as “The Yellow Line,” effectively implying the attack might have been justified.
According to @BBCNews, it all started when Israel fired back.
When Hamas breaks the ceasefire and attacks Israelis, guess who the BBC frames as the aggressor.
And the yellow line is the area that multiple countries signed off on — not “what Israel says,” according to the BBC. pic.twitter.com/rJs0hifemm
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 19, 2025
Sky News even doubted whether the Hamas operatives who killed the two soldiers by firing an RPG directly at them were terrorists. And it relied on Hamas — disguised under the title “The Gaza government media office” — to blame Israel for other violations.
.@SkyNews also doesn’t know what the “Gaza government media office” is that they are relying on for their “news.”
It’s propaganda straight from Hamas, and Sky is happy to broadcast it. https://t.co/fpLd9FM00D
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 20, 2025
The Times of London did not bother attributing accusations. Its headline simply led with Israel’s strike and called Hamas’ attack “alleged.”
Two dead Israeli soldiers are being buried today. Yet, somehow, they were killed in an “alleged attack” according to @thetimes.
And somehow, the ceasefire is in doubt, not because of the attack that breached it, but Israel’s response.
Make it make sense. pic.twitter.com/2DQKIHY6kc
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 20, 2025
Omitting Hamas
Meanwhile, Reuters avoided the facts altogether by not mentioning Hamas in its headline — which focused solely on Israel.
And the leading paragraph in the agency’s story described “an attack” without perpetrators:
The Israeli military said on Sunday a ceasefire in Gaza had resumed after an attack killed two of its soldiers and prompted a wave of airstrikes that Palestinians said killed 26 people, in the most serious test yet of this month’s truce.
The Associated Press followed suit, offering no mention of Hamas:
France24 went even further, not only omitting Hamas entirely and blaming Israel, but also adding its own spin — that the Jewish State acted “despite [the] ceasefire agreement.”
The Israeli media reported that Hamas broke the ceasefire by killing two Israeli soldiers in Gaza and that Israel then *retaliated* against Hamas.
Not an “attack on Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement.”
But that would ruin @France24_en‘s skewed anti-Israel narrative. pic.twitter.com/JQtlpdtHG1
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 20, 2025
This pattern isn’t accidental — it’s systemic. By omitting Hamas or labeling its actions as “alleged,” much of the media shields the terror group from accountability while turning Israel into the perpetual villain.
When Hamas kills Israelis during a ceasefire, it breaks the truce. When Israel responds, it’s defending itself. But in the headlines, that truth is blurred — and readers are misled. Journalism’s role is to clarify, not conceal. When major outlets obscure who fires the first shot, they become complicit in rewriting the story of aggression and victimhood.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Palestinian Authority: It’s Lawful to Murder Israelis; It’s Unlawful to Arrest Palestinian Murderers
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas looks on as he visits the Istishari Cancer Center in Ramallah, in the West Bank, May 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman
Naive European leaders embrace and praise Palestinian Authority (PA) leader Mahmoud Abbas as a peacemaker — but the PA continues to justify and even glorify terror when the Europeans aren’t looking or listening.
While official PA TV regularly interviews PA officials who laud imprisoned and released terrorists, the most explicit support for terror was expressed in three official Twitter posts on the Palestinian Authority’s X page.
The PA’s post lamented that “still more than 10,000 captives are unlawfully held by Israel” followed by, “over 10,000 remain unlawfully held captive.”
The use of the term “unlawfully” is consistent with PA ideology that Palestinians have the right to murder Israelis and thus all terrorist prisoners are “prisoners of war” — lawful fighters who were captured during lawful combat and therefore must be freed.
The PA’s “lawful” fighters include bomb builder Abdullah Barghouti, who was responsible for the murder of 67 Israelis, and Ibraham Hamid, who is serving 54 life sentences. They are responsible for the murder of these people:
The naive European leaders embrace Mahmoud Abbas because he claims publicly that he condemns terrorism. However, when addressing Arabic-speaking, Palestinian audiences, he says that murdering Israelis is legitimate resistance, that those who kill Israelis “are more honorable” than all other Palestinians, and that they are “stars in the sky of the Palestinian people.”
Since Mahmoud Abbas does not consider the murder of Israelis to be terrorism, he can tell President Macron and Prime Minister Starmer that he condemns terrorism while embracing and rewarding those same murderers.
These newest Twitter posts make it clear that the PA hasn’t changed one iota from being a terror-supporting entity, in spite of all the lavish praise from Europe.
Here’s Palestinian Media Watch (PMW)’s suggestion to Macron and Starmer. Pick up the phone, call Mahmoud Abbas, and ask him one simple question: Are Abdullah Barghouti and Ibrahim Hamed terrorists? Tell him that the phone call is being recorded and that his answer will be publicized.
PMW is waiting to hear Abbas’ answer.
The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.
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New UN Nominee: Walk Out on Bibi & Get An Elite UN Position To Harm Israel
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, center, in Brussels, June 9, 2024. Photo: BELGA via Reuters Connect
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has nominated former Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo to lead one of the world’s most powerful UN agencies. If confirmed, De Croo would be ensconced in a role that gives him major influence over global aid flows, development priorities, and the international narrative around humanitarian crises — including in the Middle East, where he has the potential to greatly harm Israel and its best interests.
De Croo has a long public record of hostility toward the Jewish State — including just last month, when he walked out during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech. With a history of repeatedly accusing Israel of war crimes, and aligning diplomatically with Palestinian Arab extremists, he’s unfit for any UN role, and especially this one. He is not some neutral technocrat. This is a politician with a clear ideological agenda — now poised to turn that agenda into policy.
If confirmed, De Croo wouldn’t just be giving speeches — he’d have real tools to act. As head of this UN agency, he would help decide where international development funds go, which governments and NGOs get access to money, and how humanitarian reports frame ongoing conflicts. He could deprioritize Israeli-led or Israeli-partnered projects, steer international attention toward anti-Israel narratives, and use donor influence to pressure nations to isolate Israel diplomatically and economically — all without needing approval from any democratic government.
This UN position controls development priorities, shapes funding flows, and influences which narratives get amplified on the global stage. UN agencies publish reports that inform investors, guide donor funding, and affect international law enforcement decisions. A leader with a public track record of singling out Israel can tilt these levers to impose real costs, including restricted cooperation, reduced investment, and increased diplomatic isolation. This “soft power” is no less impactful than traditional diplomacy — especially for Israel, which relies heavily on international trade and partnerships.
De Croo’s history makes clear that he would weaponize this influence. He has accused Israel of using “hunger as a weapon,” demanded “no more civilian killings,” and publicly met with Palestinian Arab leaders in ways that underscore his bias. In March 2024, while Israel was at war to try and rescue its hostages from Hamas terrorists, he conducted a multi-nation “criticize Israel” tour and visited Jordan, Qatar, and Egypt, De Croo specifically avoided stopping in Israel on this trip. By walking out during a speech by Israel’s prime minister, he sent a clear message that he believes in boycotts and protests rather than dialogue, at least when it comes to the Jewish State.
This nomination is not yet final — and that matters. The United States is the largest single contributor to the UN’s development system. American taxpayers help fund these programs, and Congress has every right to demand accountability for who leads them. A UN leader who walked out on the Israeli prime minister and regularly condemns Israel while remaining silent on Iran, China, and other oppressive regimes should not be rewarded with a powerful global post.
There is still time to stop this appointment. Americans who believe in a fair and balanced approach to global development — and who reject using international institutions to bully democratic allies like Israel — should speak out. The evidence is clear. Giving De Croo a platform to turn that record into global policy at the already-hostile-to-Israel UN would be a mistake.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US diplomats, and pro-Israel advocacy groups should make one thing clear: this nomination is unacceptable.
Moshe Phillips is national chairman of Americans For A Safe Israel, AFSI (www.AFSI.org), a leading pro-Israel advocacy and education organization.