WASHINGTON – Former president Donald Trump’s fiery, nearly 35-minute speech largely dominated the opening of the Israeli-American Council National Summit on Thursday night in Washington, which featured dramatic programming around October 7, and spotlighting a released hostage, Israeli-American hostage parents, and the father of an IDF soldier who was killed during Hamas’s attack.
Trump, who in his speech assailed American Jews who vote for Democrats and criticized Vice President Kamala Harris's immigration policy, did speak about October 7 during his remarks.
“In less than three weeks, October 7 marks the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust,” he said. “What a horrible time, unthinkable. We pray Israel will redeem their deaths with the ultimate victory.”
Trump’s echoing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of total victory was notable, as was the IAC’s featuring of released hostage Andrei Kozlov, who was released during an IDF operation in June, as less than a dozen hostages have been rescued alive in military operations.Trump invited Kozlov onstage, saying he has more courage than him and calling Kozlov a “good-looking guy.”
Trump also brought onstage Dedi Simhi, Israel’s former fire and rescue commissioner, whose soldier son Guy was killed on October 7.Simhi spoke about how he drove to Kibbutz Re’im, where his son’s body was recovered, to retrieve him.“When they brought me my son, I thought maybe they made a mistake. When I hugged him, I slapped him on the face hoping he would wake up, but he was very, very cold. It is my duty and my honor to bring my son back home. It is the least I can do for him,” Simhi said.
Israeli-American hostages
Hostage families in attendance included Yael and Adi Alexander, of Tenafly, New Jersey, whose 19-year-old son Edan is being held hostage by Hamas, and Orna and Ronen Neutra, of Plainview, NY, whose 23-year-old son Omer also remains in Hamas captivity.
The American hostage families were in Washington this week for the 13th time since October 7 for a whirlwind of meetings with senior Biden administration officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The families also met with Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz.
Antisemitism
After Trump’s remarks, IAC CEO Elan Carr, who served as the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism under Trump’s administration, spoke alongside the current US special envoy, Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt, about the steep rise in antisemitism and anti-Zionism post-October 7.
Carr praised Lipstadt and the Biden administration’s decision in appointing her to the position.Lipstadt said she was not surprised by the trend, but “shocked by the degree.” Antisemitism “comes from the right, it comes from the left, it comes from Christians, it comes from Jews, it comes from atheists. It’s bad from wherever it comes from,” she said.Lipstadt spoke of the 12 Global Guidelines against antisemitism her office has developed, while Carr spoke of his work advocating with foreign leaders to address antisemitism. Despite the troubling post-October 7 trends, Carr said, “The good news is, today we all see it, we all get it, we all see how severe it is, and no one is confused anymore by how profound the problem is. And that’s actually a good thing, because now we can work together and solve the problem.”Both antisemitism experts agreed that the battle against antisemitism and to support Israel must cross political lines. “We cannot let Israel become a partisan issue,” Lipstadt said. “Israel is something that is in concert with American ideals, with democracy. When you support Israel, when you fight antisemitism, you are supporting American ideals.”
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania also took the stage, reaffirming his commitment to Israel and the US Jewish community.