Israeli MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party) met over the weekend with a number of senior Republican officials, including former US president Donald Trump, at an annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he said on Sunday.
Rothman set out to the conference following the support of 99 members of the Knesset from the coalition and opposition to a resolution against the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state on Wednesday. He participated in a breakout panel in which he spoke about antisemitism in general and on campuses, incitement to terrorism, and the Palestinian state. Rothman argued that there was a "direct line" that linked the Hamas massacre and the "incitement in mosques and increase of antisemitic events on the streets of New York."
He also stressed the need to hand Hamas a resounding defeat, and that even speaking about a Palestinian state as a result of Hamas' October 7 massacre was a "prize for terror."
Rothman speaks at CPAC
The conference also included a special Shabbat program, in which Rothman spoke about the "painful reminder of the unity of fate" between all parts of the Jewish people as a result of the October 7 attack.
According to Rothman, Trump reiterated at the conference a position he has voiced since October 7, that Hamas would not have dared to launch the attack against Israel had he been in power, as he would have prevented a "policy of rapprochement" towards Iran that enabled it to "fund and arm Hamas and Hezbollah."
Participants in the conference, many of whom were Trump supporters, were critical of US President Joe Biden for his executive order to sanction four Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinian civilians, as well as the president's reported idea to move towards a Palestinian state.
This was both an ideological belief and a political viewpoint – as participants also criticized Biden for his immigration and education policies, among other topics. The issue of Israel was an important aspect but one of many issues on the agenda, Rothman said.