All but one of the 14 Republican presidential candidates took the stage on Thursday at the Republican Jewish Coalition forum -- a rare moment in the GOP presidential campaign when each White House hopeful can speak at length before the same audience in the same day. The well-informed, Jewish audience meant that candidates had to bring their A-game on foreign policy and were expected to speak to their pro-Israel stances. The forum also took place the day after the devastating mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which cast a clear shadow across the event. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was unable to make his afternoon speaking time due to votes in the Senate. Here are the top takeaways from the 13 speeches: Trump booed Donald Trump commanded the biggest crowd of the day, but it was clear he knew the audience wasn't seriously considering his candidacy and spent most of his speech making jokes about his familiarity with the room. "I know everybody in this audience," he joked at one point after recognizing an associate in the front row. RELATED: Trump to Republican Jewish Coalition: 'I'm a negotiator like you' He also cracked about being in a room full of negotiators like himself multiple times during his remarks. But he also drew boos from the audience when he refused to take a position on whether Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of Israel. "You're not going to support me even though I'm going to be the best thing that ever happened to Israel," Trump had said earlier. "And I know why you're not going to support me, it's because I don't want your money." Trump's lack of specifics but continued success riled one of his opponents, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who went off script and used his remarks to implore the audience to stop supporting the business mogul. "I think Donald Trump is destroying the Republican Party," Graham said. "ISIL loves Donald Trump because he is giving them an opportunity to bring people their way," Graham told reporters after his speech. It's still Rubio vs. Cruz The audience's clear favorites of the day included Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, two senators with demonstrably pro-Israel track records. The two young, Cuban-American senators are also rising to neck-and-neck in the polls behind front-runner Trump. On the issue of the civil war in Syria, Cruz and Rubio took different approaches to whether Syrian President Bashar Assad should be removed from power. Cruz, speaking first in the day, warned against U.S.-spurred regime change and spoke out against the Obama administration seeking to remove Assad. "Toppling a government and allowing radical Islamic terrorists to take over a nation is not benefiting our national security. Putting ISIS or Al Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood in charge of yet another state in the Middle East is not benefiting our national security," Cruz said. Rubio, taking the same stage about a half hour later, had harsh words for that perspective, saying leaving Assad in place creates the conditions for "the next ISIS." "This simplistic notion that, 'Leave Assad there because he's a brutal killer but he's not as bad as what's going to follow him,' is a fundamental and simplistic and dangerous misunderstanding of the reality of the region," Rubio said in a response to a question about Syria. The two candidates aren't just duking it out for voters -- they are also making a play to appeal to powerful donors, many of whom pay close attention to the RJC forum. Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul and GOP mega-donor, wasn't in attendance on Thursday, but the influential Jewish Republican is deciding whether to use his considerable wealth to support Rubio or Cruz. Hamas or hummus? Ben Carson showed his lack of foreign policy experience in precisely the speech experts said he needed to stave off criticisms about his weak spot. The retired pediatric neurosurgeon delivered an uncharacteristic written address, he said in order to make sure he made all the points he wanted to. But the wooden speech that was heavy on Israeli history and statistics failed to strike a chord with the audience. He also showed his lack of fluency in the topic as he several times throughout the speech failed to correctly pronounce the name of the Palestinian group Hamas, at one point sounding closer to "hummus." Carson also was one of the few candidates who didn't take questions. "(Carson) missed a big opportunity," said RJC board member Ari Fleischer. "He didn't advance his goal of showing any foreign policy. ... I admire him for trying and putting together probably one of the most meaty, substantive speeches you will hear, and what he had to say is very pro-Israel and very good to listen to. It just doesn't work." Jerusalem matters

• published: 04 Dec 2015
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