Efforts are underway to greet presidential candidate Donald Trump with protests and a walkout when he speaks to a leading pro-Israel group next week – a reaction not only to his statements on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but to his proposals for Muslims and Latino immigrants as well.

The Republican front-runner dropped out of a scheduled primary debate, which has since been canceled altogether, in order to make an appearance at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference in Washington Monday evening.

But when he does, a coalition of rabbis, cantors and other Jewish leaders plan to lead a group that will stand and silently walk out as Trump begins to speak. Calling itself "Come Together Against Hate" in reference to the conference's "Come Together" theme, the coalition plans to distribute stickers and fliers throughout the three-day conference to encourage others to publicly oppose Trump.



"We stand up because, as Jews, we must take a stand against hate. We denounce in the strongest possible terms the bigotry, racism, xenophobia and misogyny expressed by Mr. Trump, and violence promoted by him, at various points throughout his campaign," Rabbis David Paskin and Jesse Olitzky, organizers of the protest, wrote in a statement. "We refuse to stand idly by and let his hateful message become a part of the AIPAC Policy Conference."

A Facebook group aimed at organizing the protest had more than 1,000 members as of Friday afternoon.

Others are separately pushing for protests as well, including Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin of Hollywood, Florida, who is urging a clerical boycott. Liel Leibovitz, a professor at New York University and a journalist, also has called for a walkout.

The goal of the efforts, organizers say, is not simply to express disapproval, but to deny Trump some of the legitimacy that an invitation to AIPAC can confer upon a candidate.



AIPAC, as a nonprofit lobbying group whose purpose is to promote the U.S.-Israeli relationship and encourage policies favorable to Israel, declined to comment on the planned protests, other than to reiterate its practice of inviting all active presidential candidates to its conference during election years.

The annual conference in Washington is considered a practically unmissable stop for presidential hopefuls: Both of Trump's remaining rivals for the GOP nomination, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are scheduled to speak, as is Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will address attendees as well.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton's competitor for the Democratic nomination, said in a letter to AIPAC President Robert Cohen that he would skip the conference due to his campaign travel schedule. While AIPAC has previously allowed candidates to address attendees remotely, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will do so this year, Sanders’ letter said AIPAC was not giving candidates that option and would send a copy of his remarks instead.Although Jewish voters tend to lean Democratic, pro-Israel conservatives hoped the 2016 presidential election would provide an opportunity to exploit lingering distrust of President Barack Obama, sparked by his testy relationship with Netanyahu and the Iran nuclear deal. A small shift toward a Republican candidate among Jewish voters in swing states like Ohio and Florida could prove the difference in a tight election.



But on Israel, Trump has made statements that have baffled Jewish Republicans looking for a reason to support him.

Breaking with a longstanding American political tradition – particularly among Republicans – of full-throated support of Israel as an ally, Trump has said he would use his skills as a negotiator in tackling the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Let me be sort of a neutral guy," he said at a town hall event hosted by MSNBC in February. "I don't want to say whose fault is it. I don't think it helps."

Hedging a bit a month later in a CNN-sponsored debate, Trump cited his Jewish family relations and that he had served as grand marshall of the Israeli Day Parade in New York City as evidence that he is "pro-Israel."

"If I go in, I'll say I'm pro-Israel and I've told that to everybody and anybody that would listen," Trump said of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. "But I would like to at least have the other side think I'm somewhat neutral as to them, so that we can maybe get a deal done."

As Trump's rise has continued unabated, diminished hopes among pro-Israel conservatives for a GOP nominee with a winning message on the Jewish state have dovetailed with worry over his rhetoric on the campaign trail and refusal to condemn the violence that has started to become a hallmark of his events.

"Too many democracies have failed, to be replaced by autocratic governments, when violence became a sanctioned political tool, especially by those who feel disenfranchised and choose not to await ordinary change at the ballot box," the nonpartisan American Jewish Committee said in a statement. "We do not draw analogies to the rise of communism and fascism lightly, but both of those tyrannical movements rose to power replacing democratically elected governments, by virtue of threats of, or actual, violence against their opponents."



The Union for Reform Judaism, the body overseeing Reform Judaism congregations in the U.S., also said Trump's campaign and proposals bear unsettling resemblance to some of the darkest periods in Jewish history.

"Mr. Trump's extreme anti-immigrant rhetoric reminds us that our own ancestors' access to American shores of freedom and promise were once blocked, with deadly consequences," the union's leadership said in a statement. "When he speaks hatefully of Mexicans or Muslims, for example, we recall a time when anti-Semitism put Jews at deathly danger, even in the United States. We cannot remain silent, for we have been commanded to 'remember the heart of the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.'"

In response to planned protests, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the real estate mogul "has a long history of being a strong supporter of Israel" and has "made significant contributions to a variety of Jewish related causes over the years."