Pence urges US Jews to vote with Trump’s Israel record in mind

Pence: ‘Look at the record … look at the inconsistency from the [Biden] administration compared with the bedrock support of our administration.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

In a speech delivered at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York, Donald Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “deeply disappointed to see Biden’s faltering rhetoric for Israel.”

Before receiving a standing ovation from the audience, Pence gave a carefully worded speech that criticized Biden’s handling of the Gaza war yet stopped short of fully endorsing former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Although he acknowledged that President Joe Biden went to Israel after October 7th and seemed to support Israel’s military goal of eliminating Hamas at the outset of the war, in the ensuing months, he has been less supportive in his rhetoric; a development Pence described as “disappointing.”

“All President Joe Biden should be saying in this dark hour is that America stands with Israel today, tomorrow until the hostages are home and Hamas is destroyed once and for all,” Pence said. “If there was ever a time when America should be sounding a clear support for Israel, it is now.”

Pence said one thing Biden could do to show support for Israel is to sanction the ICC, whose prosecutor, Karim Khan, is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Pence urged the US to stay firm in its support of Israel despite pressure from radical groups.

“I think there are forces afoot in America today, particularly in the other party, that would lead in another direction,” Pence said. “Whether it is in the days ahead of another half year, the American people will have their way. And the American people will stand with Israel.”

Pence said he would refrain from discussing the 2024 Presidential election, and although he didn’t mention Donald Trump by name, he encouraged the audience to look at the record of the “president with whom I served” when it comes to Israel.

“Look at the record. Maybe you’ve voted Democrat your whole life, but look at the inconsistency from the [Biden] administration compared with the bedrock support of our administration,” said Pence.

He recalled how many world leaders warned the Trump Administration against moving the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem or pressing forward with the Abraham Accords.

“There was never a hesitation,” Pence said. “Standing with Israel without ambiguity made peace possible, and it’s still the surest pathway to peace today in the region and the wider world.”

Mike Pencepresidential electionUS-Israel relations