The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, took on antisemitism and anti-Israel terror in a moving set of speeches on Wednesday night featuring a Harvard student and an American-Israeli hostage family.
Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Jewish student of religion at Harvard University, told the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that he had been blindsided by the antisemitism he encountered on campus.
Anti-Israel and anti-American students, he said, openly called for new Hamas-style attacks against the United States.
And the Harvard administration did nothing.
“When Hamas terrorists butchered 45 American citizens on October 7, when they took 12 American citizens hostage, Harvard refused to immediately and unequivocally condemn this atrocity,” he said.
“Although I once voted for Bernie Sanders, I now recognize that the far-left has not only abandoned the Jewish people, but the American people.
“The Democratic Party, the party I registered to vote for the day I turned 18, has been ideologically poisoned,” he said, adding that the poison had spread to America’s youth.
“I am proud to support President Trump’s policies to expel foreign students who violate our laws, who harass Jewish classmates and who desecrate our freedoms!” he said, to cheers.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 17: Shabbos Kestenbaum speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“God bless the United States, God bless the land of Israel, God bless and return the Israeli hostages in Gaza now!”
Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of 22-year-old American-Israeli Omer Neutra, followed next. The crowd broke into a spontaneous chant of “Bring them home!”
Omer, who volunteered in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), has been a hostage in Hamas for 285 days, after being abducted during the October 7 terror attack.
Ronen (L) and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra, pose for a photo in New York City on November 6, 2023. The parents of Omer Neutra, a dual nationality US-Israeli soldier who is one of some 240 hostages seized by Hamas in its attack from Gaza, are counting on President Biden to get him back. They have had no word about him whatsoever in the month since their nightmare, and that of the other hostage families, began on October 7. Biden, who has pledged solid support for Israel in its war against Hamas, showed compassion as he spoke to the families for more than an hour and said he is determined to secure the release of the hostages, Ronen Neutra said. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Orna recalled how she survived the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, when she was living in New York, and eight months pregnant with her son.
She spoke about her daily prayers, including Psalm 23, as she hoped fervently for the return of all of the hostages.
“This was not merely an attack on Israel. This was, and remains, an attack on Americans!” her husband added. “Where is the outrage?”
The convention joined them again in a chant of “Bring them home!”
(L-R) Ronen Neutra and Orna Neutra, whose son is being held hostage by Hamas, speak during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. Days after he survived an assassination attempt Donald Trump won formal nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and picked Ohio US Senator J.D. Vance for running mate. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Former congressman and New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, a U.S. Army paratrooper veteran and noted Jewish conservative, spoke next.
He said he wanted to see the U.S. military as the “world’s greatest fighting force, not its biggest social experiment.”
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – JULY 17: Former Rep. Lee Zeldin speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Delegates, politicians, and the Republican faithful are in Milwaukee for the annual convention, concluding with former President Donald Trump accepting his party’s presidential nomination. The RNC takes place from July 15-18. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
He recalled President Donald Trump’s achievements in U.S.-Israel relations — moving the embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and forging the Abraham Accords. He noted Trump’s broader accomplishments, including defeating ISIS and placing the Iranian regime under pressure.
Biden, by contrast, had “filled Iran’s coffers” and “has pandered to antisemites who cheer Hamas’s attack, all while Americans are still being held hostage in Gaza.”
“He turned 13 Blue Star families into Gold Star families,” Zeldin said, referring to the service members who had fallen at the terror attack in Kabul during Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, and whose families had spoken onstage a short time before.
He recalled that Biden had lied during the presidential debate last month by claiming no American soldiers had died on his watch.
Only by electing Trump and JD Vance could America restore its national security, he said.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.