Ron DeSantis tells Jewish audience he’d be most pro-Israel governor
PLANTATION — On issue after issue, Republican Ron DeSantis said Sunday, he’s been a committed friend to Israel and would do even more for the Jewish state and its supporters if he’s elected Florida’s governor.
“I think I can pledge this very credibly: As soon as I take the oath of office to be the next governor that very day we will have the most pro-Israel governor in America here in Florida,” DeSantis said.
Speaking to an audience at
aBroward County synagogue, he touted his record and outlined his priorities on Israel and other issues important to many in the Jewish community. Among them:
— Longstanding support for the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. “Of all the professional things that I’ve done, being there for that embassy opening was one of the best. It was awesome.”
— His first overseas trip as governor would be to Israel.
— His wife Casey brought back water from the Sea of Galilee during one of their trips to Israel. When their first child was born, they used the water from Israel to baptize her. “It was very, very special to us.”
— He’ll tap Israeli ingenuity as part of his search for solutions to the Florida environmental crisis involving the spread of thick, bluegreen algae that’s spoiling water in wide areas of the state. “Who better to go to than people in Israel in terms of that ingenuity? ... I think that if you look at the innovation, there’s no place on the planet that has more innovation per capita than Israel right now.”
— Anyone he appoints to boards of state colleges and universities must be committed to combatting anti-Semitism on campuses.
— Direct airline flights from South Florida to Ben Gurion International, the main airport in Israel, must be preserved.
DeSantis didn’t mention Democratic nominee Andrew Gillum’s name during the 32 minutes he spoke and answered questions at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation.
But he hinted at one of his central criticisms of Gillum in recent weeks: An assertion that that the Democrat isn’t really opposed to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, a highly controversial attempt to impose pain on Israel.
“BDS nothing more than warmed over anti-Semitism,” he said. “And I would never seek, nor accept support from any group political or otherwise that supports boycotting Israel.”
That’s a reference to the Dream Defenders, a group whose support Gillum has welcomed. The organization has supported BDS.
Speaking briefly to reporters after the event, DeSantis asserted that Gillum’s professed opposition to BDS is “a conversion of economic
convenience … I think he realizes that actively running on that position would be fatal to his candidacy so I think people advised him to try to dial that back. I just don’t think it’s credible.”
On other issues, DeSantis said:
— The environment is the top issue facing the next governor.
— He’d require 80 percent of education money to be spent in classrooms and said he supports charter schools, repeatedly citing the charter school affiliated with the synagogue where he was speaking.
— Vocational and technical education should get more emphasis. DeSantis said college isn’t appropriate for everyone, and there are better alternatives than graduating with a mountain of debt and a “degree in zombie studies which doesn’t get them anything.”
— School security is a priority. He said he’s worked with Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was one of the 17 people killed and 17 wounded during the Feb. 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland.
DeSantis said he recently attended the private unveiling of Meadow Pollack’s tombstone. He called the Pollacks “a great Jewish family.”
The person who introduced DeSantis at the synagogue, state Rep. Randy Fine of Brevard County, suggested that Gillum couldn’t be trusted to continue state money for security at Jewish schools. Fine didn’t offer any evidence for his assertion that Gillum wouldn’t approve such money if he’s governor.
Fine initially introduced himself to the audience as the only Jewish member of the Legislature, then quickly corrected himself and said he’s the only Jewish Republican. Multiple Jewish Democrats are in the Broward and Palm Beach County legislative delegations.
DeSantis “has been a remarkable leader,” Fine said. “We have a friend in this community, and I do not want anyone to be complacent because for the last 20 years we have had a good ride.”
He said DeSantis should be elected because “there are forces at work in Tallahassee who do not believe that we should fight BDS. There are forces in Tallahassee that do not believe we should make sure Jewish children are safe when they go to Jewish day schools.”
Reporters weren’t allowed inside the event, but it was live-streamed on the synagogue’s Facebook page. The DeSantis campaign said about 300 people were in the audience.
When senior Rabbi Howard Needleman welcomed them, he said he’d been “asked to ask if there are any members of the press in this room to please exit this room as this is a closed discussion to the press.” The audience applauded.
Gillum is scheduled to speak to the same synagogue on Oct. 25.
The appearances are part of an intense effort by both candidates in an exceedingly tight race for governor to appeal to Jewish voters in South Florida. The intensity of the campaign in the Jewish community is akin to what’s normally seen in presidential elections, not in gubernatorial contests.
On Oct. 7, Gillum spoke to about 450 people at a synagogue in Pembroke Pines, repudiating suggestions that he isn’t a friend of Israel or a friend of the Jewish community, assertions he said come from “folks that would like to spew misinformation about my record.”
Gillum’s appearance was open to news coverage, but he wasn’t available afterwards to answer reporters’ questions.
On Sunday, DeSantis’s running mate, Jeanette Nuñez, visited the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie, and visited the day school there. Reporters also weren’t allowed in Nuñez’s event.