As Israeli troops were expanding their ground game in Gaza on Saturday, presidential candidates were headed to Las Vegas to address the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual gathering of donors. Mike Pence announced he was bowing out of the race, and Nikki Haley took the opportunity to lean into her foreign policy experience to tell the crowd: "I’m proud to be the best friend that Israel has ever had."

Vivek Ramaswamy, who is in fourth place behind Haley in most national polls about the Republican presidential field, took the opportunity to reassure the audience that he was not "anti-Israel," as some had claimed in the weeks following the Hamas terror attack in Israel. Ramaswamy told the RJC:

Let me relieve some of the tension in the room this morning by calling out the elephant in the room: Many of you have heard my policy views described by the press as unfriendly to Israel. Some have even called me anti-Israel. That’s dead wrong.

Much of the criticism leveled at Ramaswamy was in relation to comments he made suggesting the United States should withhold aid to Israel until Israeli officials outline their post-invasion plans for Gaza. 

He told Politico on October 21:

The U.S. should be clear with Israel that further U.S. support is contingent on Israel identifying clear objectives for success in Gaza and a coherent plan for what comes after toppling Hamas even if Israel is successful in doing so. As of now, these critical questions remain unanswered.

For many, this comment only underscored Ramaswamy's lack of experience on the international stage. Haley herself called him a "neophyte" at the first presidential debate back in August.

In Las Vegas on Saturday, Ramaswamy tried to further refine his position on Israel, telling the crowd:

I am a George Washington, America-first conservative, and I believe the U.S.-Israel relationship is strongest when it is grounded in American self interest, as I believe it is and will be strongest when it is. Not in fleeting sympathy. That is better for America. That is better for Israel.

His message was reportedly met with both applause and boos. 

Clearly wanting to encourage more applause, Ramaswamy went hard when talking about what should happen to Hamas leadership:

NEW - Ramaswamy: "I would love nothing more than for the IDF to put the heads of the top 100 Hamas leaders on stakes and line them up..."pic.twitter.com/W9k9rnAknF

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 28, 2023

"Heads on stakes" was meant to get attention and was likely an attempt to steal some of Haley's foreign policy thunder in his attempt to move ahead of her in national polling.

Ramaswamy has faced intense criticism from some political observers for what they see as policy flip flops and a tendency to adjust his policy positions to suit the crowd he is speaking to at the time. The third presidential debate is coming up next week, and he is likely to find himself being subjected to pointed questions on his Israel policy. He'd better be prepared.