Republican Jewish Coalition Plants 1,189 Trees in Israel After Democrats Fail to Praise Israel at Convention

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) said Friday that even though not one Democrat had praised Israel from the podium during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, it would plant 1,189 trees in Israel, anyway.

The number of trees corresponds to the number of victims of the Hamas terror attack against Israel on October 7.

When RJC CEO Matt Brooks spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July, he invited the crowd to praise Israel — then predicted they would never hear that at the Democratic National Convention.

“Let me hear you cheer if you support Israel!” Brooks said to the cheering crowd. “Now, if someone tried that at the Democrats’ convention, they’d be booed off the stage,” Brooks said. “But here, at the Republican convention, we proudly, and loudly, stand with Israel.” Brooks and the RJC announced that if any Democratic speaker praised Israel from the stage, the RJC would donate 1,800 trees to be planted in Israel — for each and every speaker who did it.

Ultimately, not one speaker did so. (The family of the Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin spoke and received standing ovations, but there were few mentions of “Israel,” likely to avoid antagonizing anti-Israel delegates.)

In a statement, the RJC noted (original emphasis):

The RJC challenged every speaker at the Democratic Convention in Chicago to “Praise Israel”: If any speaker from the main stage asked the crowd to cheer if they supported Israel, the RJC would donate to plant 1,800 trees in Israel in their name.

Unfortunately, the Democrats acted as if Israel didn’t exist, which is exactly what their pro-Palestinian base wanted.

Of the 155 Democratic Convention speakers, not a single one, including Kamala Harris, praised Israel from the main stage as the Jewish state fights for its very survival against Iran-backed terrorists in the aftermath of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Harris said the bare minimum, an obvious statement about Israel having the right to defend itself. But she never praised Israel. Instead, she implicitly criticized Israel for the suffering Hamas has caused in Gaza. Her support of an immediate ceasefire means Hamas survives, and that’s unacceptable.

Israel is not a needle. Support for Israel does not need to be threaded. Israel, the United States’ best ally in the Middle East, needs and deserves America’s full-throated praise and support.

While Jewish voices were elevated and championed at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Jews in Chicago were forced to run and hide from mobs of antisemitic rioters. After this week, the contrast between the two parties could not be clearer.

Although it is deeply disappointing that no Democrat speaker took us up on our challenge and praised Israel, the RJC will still donate to plant 1,189 trees in Israel in memory of the 1,189 victims killed on October 7th.

Brooks told Breitbart News at the Republican Jewish Coalition that it had become “more acceptable” among Democrats to hate Israel. 

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.