The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has expressed concern that at the Republican Jewish Coalition candidates' forum on Thursday, when asked if he acknowledged Jerusalem as the undivided Capital of Israel, Republican presidential candidate frontrunner Donald Trump stated that he will wait until after his upcoming visit to Israel before answering.

His non-committal statement drew immediately a smattering of boos from the audience as the topic of Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel is a priority for many in America's pro-Israel groups.

Trump is expected to visit Israel before the end of this year, the office of Israeki Prime Minuister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed.

An unnamed Israeli official quoted by The Jerusalem Post said that Netanyahu will meet with Trump during his visit as part of Netanyahu’s policy of meeting all major presidential candidates.

Trump has been leading the crowded Republican field in nearly every national poll over the last few months. Thursday’s confirmation of the visit comes after Trump indicated at a rally in Virginia on Wednesday night that he plans to visit Israel “soon.”

“I love Israel,” Trump told Jewish Republicans donors.

“Israel is our real strong supporter,” and a place Trump has “always wanted to visit,” he said.

Regarding Netanyahu, Trump said, “He’s a good man. He’s worked very hard. He has absolutely no support from President Obama. Absolutely none.”

But Trump got in hot water with the Jewish donors when he refused to back down on his comments that he was not sure Israel was interested in peace with the Palestinians.

Trump told The Associated Press on Wednesday he has "a real question as to whether or not both sides want to make" Mideast peace.

"A lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal - whether or not Israel's willing to sacrifice certain things," Trump declared. "They may not be, and I understand that, and I'm OK with that. But then you're just not going to have a deal."

Pressed to explain his comments, Trump refused to back down. "I don't know that Israel has the commitment to make it, and I don't know the other side has the commitment to make it," he said.

At the Jewish Republican Coalition, Trump also parroted stereotypes of Jews, likening himself to many in the room by presenting himself as a good negotiator and the ultimate deal maker.

"With us, we have a deal instinct, a lot of us," he said, claiming that he could put his talents to good use in brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal after decades of conflict.

"Is there anybody that doesn't re-negotiate deals in this room?" he said to laughs. "Perhaps more than any room I've ever spoken to. Maybe more."

He appeared to make a further stereotype about Jews by alluding to his personal wealth and public refusal to accept money from party donors.

"You're not going to support me because I don't want your money," he told the audience. "You want to control your own politicians, that's fine."

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which regularly publishes surveys of global and national anti-Semitism, issued a statement in which the organization “disagreed with those writers and commentators who suggested that presidential hopeful Donald Trump intentionally evoked anti-Semitic stereotypes.” At the same time, however, the ADL “urged” Trump “to clarify that he did not mean his comments to be interpreted that way.”

The real estate mogul is the Republican front-runner followed by another outsider, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are in a second tier of candidates, considered to have a good shot at the nomination if Trump and Carson fade in the primaries. The candidacy of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former presidents, has failed to catch fire. Other candidates include New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former businesswoman Carly Fiorina.

In an indirect reaction to Trump’s comments, Senator Marc Rubio said : "Some in our own party have actually questioned Israel's commitment to peace. Some in our own party actually call for more sacrifice from the Israeli people. They are dead wrong, and they don't understand the enduring bond between Israel and America."

Rubio continued: "I reject those who believe that Israel is the impediment to peace," he said. "Let me be crystal clear: there is no moral equivalence between Israel and its enemies."

He lauded Israel for being “on the frontlines of our civilizational struggle against radical, apocalyptic Islam.”

Rubio said it was unacceptable to let Israel face terrorism from jihadi entities without America having its back. Israel is “singled out relentlessly” by international actors that seek to undermine the Jewish State, he added.

When Palestinian leadership rejects the existence of Israel, the President of the United States should condemn such commentary, but Obama says nothing to counter the incitement by Palestinians, he said.

"We need a president who will stand unapologetically with the nation of Israel," declared Ted Cruz.

But in a clear break from Rubio and other Republican national security hawks, Cruz suggested the United States would be safer with Assad continuing in his role as Syrian president, just as the world would have been safer had Middle East dictators not been toppled in Libya, Egypt and Iraq.

"Toppling a government and allowing radical Islamic terrorists to take over a nation is not benefiting our national security interests," Cruz said.

Cruz, who recently has been climbing in presidential polls, also said he would make scrapping the nuclear deal the first order of business after assuming office following the next November's White House vote.

Both Rubio and Cruz have declared that if elected president they would move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

by Maureen Shamee