You don't have to be the only Jewish candidate for president to get a wildly enthusiastic reception from the nation's leading liberal pro-Israel group. But it helps.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont had barely walked onto the stage at the national conference of J Street, a group dedicated to a Middle East peace that includes justice for both Jews and Palestinians, when thousands of people in the packed ballroom leapt to their feet and cheered.

And Sanders said he wasn't going to take a seat either, though that was the format for the q-and-a sessions with Democratic presidential candidates. With a heart attack, schmart attack wave of his hands, Sanders said "it's hard to talk when you're sitting," and chatted animatedly about Israel, his Jewish heritage and peace while also dismissing any residual worries about his health.

"I'm very proud to be Jewish and look forward to being the first Jewish president!" Sanders said, drawing one of many standing ovations from the group. "As a people who have suffered for century after century…if there is any people on earth who understand the dangers of racism and white nationalism, it is certainly the Jewish people."

"And if there is any people on earth who should do everything humanly possible to fight against (President Donald) Trump's effort to divide us up by the color of our skin, or language, or where we were born, if there's any group on earth that should be trying to bring people together around a common and progressive agenda, it is the Jewish people," Sanders thundered.

When one of the moderators – the younger Ben Rhodes, who was deputy national security adviser to former President Barack Obama – said he didn't think he could stand for the entire session, the 78-year-old Sanders responded, "I don't want to raise the age issue!"

Sanders on the Trail View All 15 Images

Sanders was clearly in his element, both in terms of his personal story and his politics. He talked about his trips to Israel, about his father's family most of whom were killed in the Holocaust – and his months working on a kibbutz when he was a youngster.

And when it came to policy towards and in concert with Israel, Sanders had an approving audience.

When it comes to peace in the Middle East, "I believe not only in the right of Israel to exist, but to exist in peace and security. What I also believe is that the Palestinians have the right to live in peace and security," Sanders said in an endorsement of J Street's approach to Israel policy.

Nor should Americans – Jewish or not – fear questioning the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants to annex more areas of the occupied West Bank, Sanders said. "It is not anti-Semitic to say the Netanyahu government has been racist," he said.

He pulled out his liberal bona fides on Middle East policy, noting that he had voted against both the Gulf war and the war in Iraq. He said U.S. taxpayer money would be better spent by building up diplomacy rather than military might. He noted he was the only Democratic candidate who has voted against all of Trump's military budgets.