Karger said he sought to distinguish himself from the social conservatives in his party.
"[Former Senator Rick] Santorum [R-Penn.] is sending a terrible message and pushing away young people by comparing gay marriage to polygamy and claiming that children would be better off with a mother and a father, even if the father was in jail," Karger said.
Karger, who was a senior campaign consultant for former United States President Ronald Reagan, said that although many of the Republican presidential candidates attempt to cast themselves as followers of Reagan's example, Reagan would not have agreed with policies like Santorum's.
"Reagan helped lead the gay rights movement when he opposed the Briggs Initiative in 1979, which would have banned gays from teaching in California schools, even though he was gearing up for an election that was only a year away," Karger said. "Reagan would not like this."
Karger compared his fight for gay rights to the efforts of his grandfather, a Dartmouth alumnus, who battled anti-Semitism by doing social work in Chicago for Jewish immigrants.
"These immigrants were fighting employment discrimination and hate crimes does that remind you of anybody?" Karger asked. "His efforts are inspiring, and I'm proud to be named for him and to return to his alma mater."
Karger described the current wave of conservative support for Israel as a "complete shift" for the Republican Party. Republican presidential candidates have publicly attacked U.S. President Barack Obama for his policies on Israel, and Israel's cause has been adopted by far-right evangelicals, Karger said.
"I've called Obama the world's worst negotiator," Karger said, discussing Obama's request that Israel return to its pre-1967 borders. "In negotiations, you're not supposed to show your hand like that, even if it's what you want. We need diplomacy to get things done."
Paul Lazarow '13, the president of Students for Israel, said that bipartisan support for Israel should be an American foreign policy priority.
"Since this is a representative democracy, we should be implementing policies that represent what the voters want, and pro-Israel policy is important to a lot of people," Lazarow said.
Karger also expressed his frustration that the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group he has belonged to for 25 years, did not invite him to their December Candidates Forum. While Ron Paul was also not invited due to his "extreme" anti-Israel views, Karger said, he wondered why the first Jewish Republican candidate was not given the opportunity to speak.
Dan Schley '12, a member of Students for Israel, said Karger represents an important shift in Jewish voting patterns.
"My grandparents were partisan Democrats and were very proud of the fact that they had never voted Republican," Schley said. "Karger is part of something new."
The event was sponsored by Dartmouth Students for Israel.
