Israeli diplomatic delegation to keep focus on policy amid pomp and circumstance of RNC
The convention will be followed next week by PM Netanyahu’s scheduled address to a splintered Congress over support for Israel’s war with Hamas and growing concern over hostilities with Hezbollah.
Israeli diplomats from consulates across the country are attending the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee to focus on Israel’s relationship with the United States at a critical juncture in the two countries’ alliance. Opinion on how to navigate the increasingly tense relationship differs vastly along party lines.Yinam Cohen, Counsel General of Israel to the Midwest, spoke with The Jerusalem Post from Milwaukee in between sessions of the convention, focusing on the conversations he has had this week with policymakers and elected officials.
He was quick to highlight that the Israeli diplomats will also be attending the Democratic National Convention next month, and having the same conversations.
But in Milwaukee, with a potential Republican administration returning to the Oval Office in 2025, there’s a lot for Cohen and the other diplomats to understand about the party’s platform, which is vague in its mentioning of specific Israel policy.
Donald Trump, the now-official Republican nominee, has long maintained that October 7 and what followed wouldn’t have happened if he had been president.During the presidential debate last month, Trump lobbed a derogatory slur at Biden, calling him “like a Palestinian” for not letting Israel “finish the job.”Trump also said during the debate that Israel wants its war with Hamas and that he’d “have to see” about supporting a future Palestinian state. Other than these comments, it’s unclear what a future Trump administration’s substantive policy toward the Middle East would look like.
Cohen did not go into detail about specific policies
Cohen wouldn’t go into detail about the specific policies he’s interested in engaging lawmakers in, though he said the diplomats aren’t pushing for any policies in particular.
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