“Pence is probably the best person in the administration in terms of a combination of seniority and the way that Republican Jews see him,” said Tevi Troy, a policy adviser and Jewish liaison for President George W. Bush’s White House. “There is still discomfort within the Republican Jewish ranks about Trump.”

Dachau Visit

The vice president’s activities ahead of his RJC speech, which included a meeting with Netanyahu, a tour of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany and a visit to a suburban St. Louis Jewish cemetery damaged by vandals, have boosted his standing with the group. Brooks called Pence “one of the most pro-Israel members of Congress” during his tenure in the U.S. House, while dismissing a question on whether he might be more popular than the president with RJC members.

Trump was widely criticized by Jewish groups -- even mildly by the RJC -- when the White House late last month released a statement marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day that failed to mention Jewish victims. Aides stood by the statement by saying it was meant to be an “inclusive” message not intended to marginalize Jewish victims.

While the RJC has backed Trump ever since he secured his party’s nomination last year -- even if a bit less robustly than for past Republicans -- the courtship wasn’t always smooth.

"I had one conversation with Sheldon and all he wants to do is protect Israel,” Trump told MSNBC in November 2015. “But I don’t want his money. I don’t need his money."

Adelson and his wife, Miriam, contributed at least $82.5 million to conservative causes during the 2016 election cycle, ranking first among Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Four years earlier, they’d given at least $93 million.

Adelson, who is listed by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as the 15th richest U.S. resident with an estimated fortune of $27.6 billion, didn’t respond to an interview request made through RJC spokesman Fred Brown.

Midterm Targets

Brooks said the group is already lining up against some Democratic incumbents for the 2018 midterm elections, including Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. The group is also looking at races in Florida and Indiana, he said.