Top US Republican Jewish leaders have started meeting in Las Vegas for a key annual convention, with Israel’s war against Hamas set to dominate the gathering, AFP reports.

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), which traditionally welcomes White House hopefuls looking for donors, is expected to be an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their support of Israel. “The world will be watching,” the RJC wrote on social media as it announced a countdown to the event.

The eight main candidates for the Republican Party nomination are all expected to speak at the meeting, including frontrunner Donald Trump, and his nearest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Trump sparked fury in recent weeks by describing Lebanon-based group Hezbollah as “very smart” and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

At a rally earlier this month, Trump said that in January 2020 Israel decided at the last minute to pull out of a joint operation with the United States to kill a top Iranian security commander. “I’ll never forget that Bibi Netanyahu let us down. That was a very terrible thing,” Trump told supporters.

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