DES MOINES, Iowa — Hawkeye State voters are dialed in on agriculture, inflation, and immigration, but there’s one foreign policy area that’s high on their priority list.

The Israel–Hamas war is playing a major role in how voters approach the caucuses on Jan. 15. For many voters here, support for Israel has become their No. 1 issue.

The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel triggered the war by killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of more than 23,000 people in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. The numbers do not specify the difference between the deaths of civilians and combatants. 

“My vote will go to the candidate who is strongest on Israel,” said Sara Kleinman, a voter from Davenport who was at a campaign event for Nikki Haley in Bettendorf on Saturday. 

Kleinman, who is Jewish, is still undecided about which candidate to support, but she said she asks every GOP presidential candidate she’s able to speak with one-on-one about the conflict overseas.

“I want to know how they intend to get our hostages out, how they are going to support our only democracy in the Middle East,” Kleinman said.

The Jewish community in Iowa is small — approximately 5,450 people, or less than 1% of the state’s population. Despite their small numbers, Iowa’s Jewish residents are politically active and play an outsize role on the state’s presidential caucus.

Will Rogers, an Iowa Republican who resides in Des Moines, also sees support for Israel as a top issue. He wrote and mailed a personal letter to 335 Jewish community members to emphasize the importance of participating in the Iowa caucuses and to “stand up for Israel.” The letter was sent out to 221 households that identify as Democrat, 42 who identify as independent, and 70 who identify as Republican. The letter did not endorse or criticize any candidate running for the White House.

“It’s basically saying, we need you to go to the caucus on Jan. 15, Republican or Democrat, and you need to make sure that we stand up for Israel and we put pro-Israeli planks in our platforms, Democrat and Republican alike,” he said. “It also recommends that you also consider going on to become a delegate to county district and state conventions.”

According to an Iowa poll released in early November, 57% of likely Republican caucusgoers ranked the Israel-Hamas war as extremely important. Another 37% said the Israel-Hamas war is important, while 6% said it is not that important. 

For evangelical Christians who dominate the Republican electorate in the state, the conflict is more than foreign policy. The Hamas attack and the Israeli government’s response have put a new focus on support for Israel that traces back to beliefs rooted in the Bible. 

“I think one of the reasons why is because of the strong evangelical influence among the Iowa Republican caucusgoers,” said Charles Schneider, former Republican president of the Iowa Senate and a co-chairman of Iowans Supporting Israel, a nonprofit bipartisan organization. “Israel has seen an increasing amount of evangelical support in recent years, and that is reflected in what Iowans are thinking about.”

“How we stand with the nation of Israel is very important to the caucusgoer overall,” said Bob Vander Plaats, an influential evangelical leader who endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) late last year. 

“They must understand the relationship biblically and also strategically,” he added. “It’s a major issue for us, and the war has raised it to an even higher level.”

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has received some criticism for his views when he has at times criticized U.S. aid to Israel.

“That’s been a knock on him amongst our base as well. They don’t think he’s as solid on Israel as he should be. He’s more nuanced,” Vander Plaats said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “The advantage goes to a DeSantis who has been very cleareyed on the nation of Israel and why we stand with them and how Israel has every right and responsibility, quite frankly, to uproot Hamas at every level out of Gaza.”

A majority of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers said former President Donald Trump is the candidate that would do the best job of handling the Israel-Hamas war. The Iowa poll conducted in October found 52% of likely caucusgoers named Trump as the candidate who would do the best job of handling the conflict.

During his presidency, Trump moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; helped broker the Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and several Middle Eastern countries; and recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Marni Hockenberg, a Jewish Republican voter who resides in Des Moines and has committed to caucusing for Trump, said the former president’s record on Israel speaks for itself.  

“I think the evidence shows that President Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history,” Hockenberg said. 

“Trump correctly identifies Hamas as an Islamic terrorist organization, and he fully supports the IDF in their war to eliminate Hamas from the planet,” she added.

In the poll, Haley was chosen as likely caucusgoers’ second choice to handle the conflict, with 22% saying she would do the best job.

As the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, she’s touted her foreign policy experience on the campaign trail and has called on Israel to destroy Hamas. 

“I like Nikki because she reminds me of a young Golda Meir,” said Marc Daniels, a Jewish voter, who was passing out yarmulkes with Haley’s name spelled out in Hebrew at an event in Bettendorf on Saturday. “I said to her, ‘OK, Golda, how are you going to get our hostages,’ and she answered me.” 

“I personally think she’s the best choice. I think all Jews should vote for her,” he added. 

While foreign policy isn’t typically top of mind for voters, this is one that appears to be in the spotlight and transcends political parties here in Iowa.

“I think the general consensus of politics is people vote on domestic and kitchen table issues and foreign policy isn’t one of those,” said David Adelman, a prominent Iowa Democrat and president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines. “However, I think because of the radical Left that is protesting the war, it has become top of mind, and it’s almost become a domestic issue.”

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Another motivating factor is the business ties between the Hawkeye State and Israel. In 2022, Iowa exported more than $34 million worth of manufactured goods to Israel, and Israel now ranks as the state’s 26th leading trading partner.

“The war is on the minds of Iowa business people. There is significant trade between Iowa and Israel,” said Mike Ralston, the president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “The governor has done her part to raise the profile of that trade and done her part to encourage business between Iowa and Israel.”