Kosher wine flowed at the Plaza Hotel on Monday evening as Republican Jews from across the country gathered to sing President Bush’s praises.

Hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition, the event featured a right-of-center lineup that included House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Pennsylvania Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, and the Congress’s most vocal Arafat critic, Eric Cantor.

Amid the din of speakers pledging their devotion to Israel, Jewish leaders circulated through the crowd advocating political involvement outside the community’s Democratic comfort zone. “It would be absolutely foolish for the Jewish community to put all its eggs in one basket,” said the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Michael Miller.

For William Bruenner, a member of the RJC’s Georgia chapter and a retired Air Force careerist, voting Republican is an obvious choice. “I’m a member of the Vietnam vets against Kerry,” he said. “In Georgia, John Kerry could not be elected dogcatcher.”

Fred Zeidman, a Texan, RJC vice chairman, and Bush-appointed chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, said Jews should vote for Bush because “he’s the single greatest friend the state of Israel has ever had.” But what about domestic policy? “I think the Jewish community would have a whole different set of problems in this country if there was no Israel,” Mr. Zeidman said.