WASHINGTON — Democratic and Republican presidential hopefuls competed March 21 to prove who is more pro-Israel at the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in a show of political correctness that extended even to real estate magnate Donald Trump.

Trump, the Republican front-runner who has raised eyebrows in debates and interviews by asserting that he would be “neutral” in peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians and questioning US aid to the Jewish state, executed a 180-degree turn as he delivered what appeared to be his first prepared campaign speech before an enthusiastic crowd of 18,000 at a Washington sports arena.

After asserting, “I didn’t come to pander,” he ran through a series of positions that closely follow the policies of the current Israeli government on Iran, the Palestinians and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He also vowed to “totally disband Iran’s global terrorist network” without defining it or specifying how he would accomplish that goal.

Trump asserted that he was a “lifelong supporter and true friend of Israel,” but the evidence he cited was thin. Trump said he lent his private plane to New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to visit Israel after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and was grand marshal in the 2004 Israel Day parade in New York City. “Many people turned down this honor,” Trump said, adding, “I took the risk and I’m glad that I did,” although failing to explain what was risky about walking down Fifth Avenue in a city with a large Jewish population.