GOP candidate Donald J. Trump accepted his party’s nomination for president Thursday night at the fourth and final night of the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Introduced to the packed arena of 50,000 delegates, the political novice opened with a small smile, and a question. “Who would have believed when we started this on June 16 that the Republican Party would receive almost 14 million votes — the most in the history of the party? The Republican has party received 60 percent more votes than it received eight years ago,” he said. By comparison, the Democratic Party received “20 percent fewer votes than it received four years ago … not so good. Not so good,” he shook his head.

“Together we will lead our party back to the White House and we will lead our country back to safety and peace… But we will also be a country of law and order,” he said. “Beginning on January 20, safety will be restored,” he said.

But it was in the foreign policy section of his speech, that Trump focused on the issue of world terror, and in particular, the situation in the Middle East. He noted it had become “worse than it has ever been before.”

“After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the entire world,” Trump declared. “Libya is in ruins and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis, and now threatens the West.

“This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism, and weakness. But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy,” Trump said.

“A change in leadership is required to produce a change in outcomes,” he noted.

“Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning.

“The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been proven over and over — at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, at a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And many many other locations.

“To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things,” Trump said.

“We must have the best — absolutely the best — gathering of intelligence anywhere in the world. The best.

“We must abandon the failed policy of nation-building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, in Libya, in Egypt and in Syria.

“Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terrorism and doing it now, doing it quickly.

“This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel.

“Recently, I have said NATO is obsolete because it did not properly cover terror, and also that many of the member countries were not paying their fair share. As usual, the United States has been picking up the costs,” he said.

“Shortly thereafter, it was announced that NATO will be setting up a new program in order to combat terrorism.

“A true step in the right direction,” he commented.

Peter Thiel, billionaire entrepreneur, co-founder of PayPal, and a director of Facebook, expressed his strong support for Donald Trump from the podium of the Republican National Convention on the final night of the four-day event.

“I’m proud to be gay, I’m proud to be a Republican. Most of all, I’m proud to be an American.”

Total pandemonium in the arena, standing ovation, wild applause.

“Look. I don’t pretend to agree with every plank in the platform. But I don’t have to. I urge all of you to stand up and vote … for Donald Trump,” Thiel smiled.

Texan Senator Ted Cruz may have won a battle Wednesday night but it sure looks like he lost the war. He was pointedly turned away from billionaire Sheldon and Miriam Adelson’s suite at the Cleveland Arena Wednesday night after not endorsing Donald Trump in his speech on Day 3 at the Republican National Convention.

Cruz had stood his ground and plainly refused to endorse the party’s elected candidate to run for president of the United States.

He paid a price for his choice in the party, in media coverage, politically across the spectrum and financially as well.

When he later went to the on-site suite of Las Vegas Sands Casino chairman and his wife, each a billionaire in their own right — perhaps to explain himself more fully — he was pointedly turned away.

The message could not have been more clear.

The Adelson's with their choice for President! pic.twitter.com/gYsHBeT9AS— Andy Abboud (@AndyAbboud) July 21, 2016

This was one that Cruz should have seen coming. The couple had told media in the spring they would back Trump.

All the candidates had, from the start, signed the same agreement: they would back the party’s nominee at the end of the process. Ultimately, Cruz balked, with personal ethics winning out over politics. Ironically Donald Trump respected his choice.

Sources in the Cruz campaign told CNN the former candidate “expected people to not approve” and was “not surprised at the reaction.” But his wife required a security escort to leave the arena — which he may not have anticipated. His own state party chairs were disgusted with what they called “selfish” behavior and some denounced him to his face on the floor. A Fox News team doing the post-analysis pointed out that he seemed to be “running for the next campaign, maybe for 2018,” calling him the “eternal presidential candidate” with a chuckle.

The speech started out strong enough, talking about Republican values, support for freedom, law and order, good education and healthcare — the very things backed by GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. He even backed the now-infamous “wall” to block illegal migrants, and called on everyone to come out for the vote in November. He praised the “New York delegation.”

But Cruz appeared to take a left turn somewhere towards a description of his parents’ struggles, and the grieving daughter of one of the Dallas cops who was shot and killed by a U.S. Armed Forces veteran-turned-terrorist.

“We must make the most of our moments, to fight for freedom, to protect our God given rights, even if with those with whom we don’t agree, so that when we are old and gray, and when our work is done, and we give those we love one final kiss goodbye, we will be able to say freedom matters and I was part of something beautiful,” he said.

Bam.

The crowd booed, as Cruz said his final lines and left the stage.

Apparently none of this was a surprise to the Trump campaign, whose people knew when Cruz took the stage on Night 3 of the Republican National Convention that he would not endorse their nominee. He had already told them, and in fact Trump’s people had seen the text of his speech, and vetted it.

(The text of the speech can be found in The Washington Post.)

But as everyone pointed out after the night was over, it was in the interests of the party and the two candidates to show unity and largeness of spirit in allowing all the former contenders a chance to speak. That included Cruz, and his sour grapes.

Marc Supplesa caught this cool picture.

Jewish prayer service in the midst of @RNC crowd at @QuickenLoans arena, across from our work area. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/CgV0Oib2n6— MarkSuppelsa (@MarkSuppelsa) July 21, 2016

The theme for Tuesday’s Republican National Convention was “Make America Work Again,” and each speaker included an element devoted to the economy in their speeches regardless of what else was on the plate, and to bringing the country together.

It was “domestic policy night” at the RNC, with no mention of foreign policy, let alone Israeli politics, save a nod towards the sacrilege of Hillary Clinton’s role in helping to secure the Iran nuclear deal, and a swift passing mention of the nightmare at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Donald J. Trump Jr. were the two heaviest hitters of the evening, both in their oratorial elegance and in their ability to deliver the goods in terms of content and impact at the microphone.

Christie in particular had the audience literally on its feet repeatedly throughout his speech.

“The facts, and just the facts, lead you to the same verdict,” he repeated to the crowd. “Guilty… ” he inquired at the podium, “or not guilty?”

And the crowd roared back, “GUILTY!”

The verdict delivered by the delegates at the convention, over and over, about the various actions of Hillary Clinton during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State.

“We know what four years of Hillary Clinton will bring,” he said. “Four more years of Obama with less charm and more lies.”

As for Trump’s oldest son, “father of five, son of my father,” he told the audience that he and his siblings got their education as apprentices “from the time they could walk, learning from those with doctorates in common sense” who worked for Donald Trump.

“As for ‘impossible’ … well, ‘impossible’ was always just the starting point for my father,” Trump Jr. grinned from the podium. “And when they told my father it would be ‘impossible’ for him to succeed in running as a candidate for president 11 months ago,” chuckled the son, “well here we are…”

Former presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson also spoke, underlining the importance of a candidate who is proud to acknowledge “the Creator” as opposed to one who “acknowledges Lucifer.”

Carson went on to say, “One of the things that I have learned about Hillary Clinton is that one of her heroes, her mentors, was Saul Alinsky. Her senior thesis was about Saul Alinsky… This was someone she greatly admired and that affected all of her philosophy subsequently.

“Are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer?” he asked the crowd — which roared back, “NO!”

Alinsky dedicated his book, ‘Rules for Radicals,’ to “Lucifer, the very first radical” in a sly swipe along with a dedication to his wife Irene.

Carson had abandoned his own run for the White House in March, instead pledging support for Trump’s campaign.

Each of the speakers devoted a portion of their remarks to the issue of unity: unity of the party, and unity of the country. Republican National Convention chairman Paul Ryan emphasized the issue of equality in his own speech, which was focused primarily on keeping the party message itself front-and-center.

“Everyone is equal, everyone has a place,” Ryan. “No one is written off…that is the Republican ideal. And if we don’t defend it, who will?”

Here’s Congressman Allen West with the folks of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Reminder: the Republican Convention is on in earnest as of today, having escaped the ravages of Hurricane Isaac which is on its way to New Orleans (Please, God, not again…).

Allen Bernard West (formerly battalion commander of the 2d Battalion 20th Field Artillery, 4th Infantry Division), is the U.S. Representative for Florida’s 22nd congressional district.

Lieutenant Colonel West was fined and relieved of command in 2004 for the way he had handled an Iraqi suspect.

At his military hearing, near the end of his career, West was asked if he would act differently under similar circumstances in the future, and he testified, “If it’s about the lives of my soldiers at stake, I’d go through hell with a gasoline can.”

At a town hall meeting in Palm City, Florida, in April of 2012, West was asked what percentage of the American legislature are card carrying Marxists or International Socialists. West responded that he believed “there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democrat Party that are members of the Communist Party.” He then clarified that he was referring to the Congressional Progressive Caucus. They may not be actual Marxists, but they might as well be, is what he meant.

In July of 2011, West brawled with Democratic Representative and Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, emailing her in response to comments she had directed at him in a speech on the floor of the House, calling her “the most vile, unprofessional, and despicable member of the US House of Representatives,” adding that she was “not a Lady,” and advising her to focus on her own congressional district.

You don’t want to get caught in the crosshairs of Lieutenant Colonel Allen West.

On the economy, West is a flat tax guy, anti abortion and anti gay marriage. He is the only Republican member of the African American Caucus.

On Israel he is a straight friend. He concluded a speech on the topic with: “There are battle lines clearly drawn, I know where I stand, and that is to support the State of Israel. The lessons of history have been learned by me and I offer one simple retort, ‘Not on my Watch.'”

We wish the RJC and the RNC a fine, exhilarating convention. The Jewish Press is getting ready to endorse the Republican ticket come November, and I, for one, can find at least one excellent reason why the Republican convention should outclass the Democratic one: No Jimmy Carter speeches!