Every year, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) brings together conservative activists and officials from across the United States. Hosted by the American Conservative Union, the first CPAC took place in 1974. Jews and Christian conservatives who have a high track record of being pro-Israel attend the event, which unifies those who love both America and the Nation of Israel.
In a world after the horrific Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, everything has changed. An extravagant event such as this has unified those who hold their American values dear, love Israel and remain staunchly against the rise in antisemitism that has occurred since then.
During this year’s four-day conference, which ended on Feb. 22, a large emphasis was placed on fighting terror and the unjustified atrocities that have occurred to the hostages of all faiths who were kidnapped, and in some cases, murdered by Hamas. At the start of the event, word came that Hamas was going to release the bodies of Shiri Bibas, and her two adorable sons, Ariel and Kfir, only 4 and 9 months, respectively, at the time of their abduction. You could feel the sadness and outrage of these barbaric attacks in the room. I took the news very personally, as I had stood beside Shiri’s uncle, Maurice Shnaider, in New York on multiple occasions as he tirelessly advocated for the return of his family members from captivity.
At the conference, CPAC passed a resolution advocating for the United States to support Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Talks were held between senior CPAC figures and Israel Ganz, the Yesha Council chair and head of the Binyamin Regional Council, which includes some 45 communities. Also in attendance were Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli and Yesha Council CEO Omer Rahamim. The resolution was read in front of conference attendees by K.T. McFarland, former deputy national security adviser in U.S. President Donald Trump’s first administration.
Trump closed out the conference with a speech in which he said, “Oct. 7 would never have happened in Israel if I was president at the time and under my watch. Iran was broke, they had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah, and everyone knows that, and especially the Jewish people in the audience know that, as well. When I left office, they took all the sanctions off during the Biden administration and Iran became rich very quickly, and with oil, you can become rich very quickly and the rest is history, what a horrible thing.
“Even though the hostages are coming back, I saw this morning that we got six more back, note that Biden got none back, and he would have never gotten any of them back. They are coming back in horrible shape, and many of them are dead, and it’s a horrible thing,” Trump said. “I just want the audience to know that we are working on it, and we are in the middle of negotiations.”
Trump’s remarks were echoed by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who called the terror group’s behavior “savagery,” while the U.S. deputy special envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus called Gaza a “depraved society.”
CPAC showed that the Judeo-Christian alliance is stronger than ever and that Israel’s war on terror is America’s war as well—and vice versa. They always say that during the hardest of times, you see who your true friends are. This conference was a testament to that.