LAS VEGAS: Donald Trump used a speech to a Republican Jewish convention to promise reimposition of a controversial travel ban that targeted a slew of mostly Muslim countries if he gets re-elected.

“We will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump told the audience attending the annual summit of the Republican Jewish Coalition on Saturday.

“You remember the travel ban? On day one I will restore our travel ban.” At the start of his presidency in 2017, Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on the entry of travellers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and, initially, Iraq and Sudan. The order was quickly challenged in court as discriminatory against a religious group, but the bans, along with Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration agenda, were popular with his base.

President Joe Biden reversed the ban in his first week in office in 2021. Biden “was proud to overturn the vile, un-American Muslim ban enacted by his predecessor,” a White House spokesman said.

The former president had imposed restrictions on the entry of travellers from seven countries during his rule

The former US leader was among several Republican hopefuls lining up at the gathering of influential Jewish donors to pledge unwavering support for Israel in its war against Hamas.

Trump told the event, held in Las Vegas, in the southwestern state of Nevada, that he would “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever.” The conflict between Israel and Hamas is “a fight between civilisation and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil,” said Trump, who received the warmest response from attendees, as he took aim at the Biden administration and avoided criticising his rivals.

The former reality show host, the overwhelming favorite to win the party nomination to run against Biden next year despite facing multiple criminal prosecutions, spoke after sparking fury in recent weeks by describing Hezbollah as “very smart” and criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Pence drops out

Former vice president Mike Pence surprised the gathering on Saturday when he announced he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, becoming the first major candidate to suspend his campaign.

“It’s become clear to me: this is not my time,” he said. “After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president.” Support for Israel is a huge issue for both political parties in the United States, and a rare instance of foreign policy that matters at the ballot box, thanks in part to the large number of Jewish voters.

It is also a significant issue for evangelical Christians for whom the existence of a Jewish state

is a key precondition for the hoped-for “second coming” of Jesus Christ.

Published in Dawn, October 30th, 2023