Vice President Pence’s suspension of his presidential campaign just four months after he entered the race underscores President Trump’s abiding political strength among Republicans three years after the 45th president lost the 2020 election. Mr. Pence oversaw the counting of that result, as constitutionally required.    

The announcement came during a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership summit, which convened all of the major GOP presidential candidates. They used the gathering as an opportunity to highlight their records on Israel and detail what they would hope to achieve for the Jewish state if they are handed the White House. 

“The Bible tells us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven,” Mr. Pence said at the end of his speech on Saturday. “Traveling across the country over the last six months, I came here to say it has become clear to me: this is not my time,” he shared, eliciting gasps from the audience. “So after much prayer and deliberation, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president effective today.”

Mr. Pence had struggled to find his footing in the primary contest. From the outset, he failed to raise funds that one would expect a former vice president to bring in and at no point polled in the double-digits. He even failed to qualify for the third GOP primary debate which is set to be held next month in southern Florida.  

Following the surprise end to his campaign, Mr. Pence garnered praise from some of his erstwhile competitors. Senator Scott, writing on X, said that “The Vice President has been a prayer partner, a friend, and a man of integrity and deep conviction. The Republican Party is stronger today because of Mike Pence’s leadership.”

Ambassador Nikki Haley, who served alongside Mr. Pence in the Trump administration, told attendees that both Israel and America are better off for the former vice president’s career. “He has been a good man of service, he has fought for America, and he has fought for Israel, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude,” Ms. Haley said to applause.

Ms. Haley, the only remaining candidate with significant foreign policy experience other than Mr. Trump, has won significant media attention in recent weeks for her stalwart support for the Jewish state. Following the Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, the former American ambassador to the United Nations took to television to deliver a simple message to Prime Minister Netanyahu: “finish them.”

In Ms. Haley’s speech at the RJC, she highlighted the differences between her record and that of her competitors, reserving special condemnation for Mr. Trump, who recently called Hezbollah “smart,” and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has called for minimal American involvement in both Ukraine and any Israeli ground invasion into Gaza.  

“Mark my words: those who would abandon Ukraine today are at risk of abandoning Israel tomorrow,” Ms. Haley said to applause. “They have lost sight of who our friends are and who our enemies are — who is good and who is evil. That is not what you want in the Oval Office.”

“History will record that Donald Trump was a pro-Israel president,” Ms. Haley continued, listing his withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, his recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, and the Abraham Accords as significant victories for the Jewish state. 

Ms. Haley went on to liken the state of the world today to the international landscape of the 1930s, with a land war in Europe and Communism “on the march, not in the Soviet Union but in China.”

“Given those stakes,” Ms. Haley warned, “we cannot have four years of chaos, vendettas, and drama. … America needs a captain who will steady the ship, not capsize it, and Republicans need a candidate who can actually win.”

Mr. Trump, who spoke last of the 2024 GOP presidential candidates on Saturday, highlighted his support for Israel during his four years in the White House and offered harsh rhetoric for Hamas terrorists. “Let there be no doubt: the killers responsible for this horrible massacre will burn forever in the eternal pit of hell, they’re going to burn forever.”