From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
GOP Jewish leader: Trump’s call to swiftly defeat Hamas amounts to ‘blank check for Israel’ in Gaza
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
MILWAUKEE — Continuing his address to the Republican National Convention, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks touts Donald Trump’s record on Israel as president, promising the GOP nominee will “rebuild the US-Israel relationship after four disastrous years under President Biden.”
Brooks excoriates Biden for withholding 2,000-pound bombs from Israel, which the president says he doesn’t want being dropped on highly populated areas.
Trump has also criticized Israel’s prosecution of the war against Hamas but has also asserted that the IDF should be allowed to “finish the job quickly.”
Speaking to reporters after his address, Brooks says this message amounts to a “blank check for Israel.”
“If you need to carpet bomb the area, do it. Just get it done. Rip the band aid off. Finish the job because Hamas needs to be destroyed,” Brooks says.
“This is just taking months and months. All [Trump] is saying is that time is not Israel’s ally. The longer this continues, the more public support erodes, the more international support erodes, and Trump’s point [is] do what you have to do, get it done and get out,” he adds.
