The five Republican presidential candidates gave their positions regarding Israel on Wednesday night's third debate and the role the U.S. should play in the Israel-Hamas war.
The debate was hosted by NBC News and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was first to reply about the strategy he would take against Hamas, who on October 7th killed 1,400 Israelis, wounded over 5,000, and took 241 hostages of all ages in a brutal and sadistic attack.
“I would be telling [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu], finish the job once and for all with these butchers, Hamas,” he said. “They’re terrorists, they’re massacring innocent people, they would wipe every Jew off the globe if they could — he cannot live with that threat right by his country — that Hamas should release every hostage and they should unconditionally surrender.”
“I’m sick of hearing the media, I’m sick of hearing other people blame Israel just for defending itself,” he continued. “We will stand with Israel in word and in deed, in public and in private. And I can tell you, as governor, I actually did something about it. Biden’s neglect has been atrocious. We had Floridians that were over there after the attack. He left them stranded. They couldn’t get flights out. So I scrambled resources in Florida. I sent planes over to Israel, and I brought back over 700 people to safety. There could have been more hostages had we not acted.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley answered next as she is the second ranked presidential candidate for the GOP [not including former President Trump, who is first].
“The first thing I said to him when it happened was I said, ‘finish them, finish them,'” Haley said. “And the reason is, I worked on this every day when I was at the United Nations. And we have to remember that they have to one, eliminate Hamas, two, support Israel with whatever they need whenever they need it, and three, make sure we bring our hostages home.”
“We need to be very clear-eyed to know there would be no Hamas without Iran, there would be no Hezbollah without Iran, there would not be the Houthis without Iran,” she continued. “And there wouldn’t be the Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq that are trying to hit our military men and women if it hadn’t been for Iran — and who is funding Iran right now? China is buying oil from Iran; Russia is getting drones and missiles from Iran; and there is an unholy alliance. We need to be clear-eyed, the last thing we need to do is to tell Israel what to do; the only thing we should be doing is supporting them in eliminating Hamas. It is not that Israel needs America. America needs Israel. They are the tip of the spear when it comes to this Islamic terrorism. And we need to make sure that we have their backs in that process.”
Vivek Ramaswamy was the next candidate to answer the question. He said that he would not provide support for Israel's war effort as he wanted to “avoid making the mistakes” of spending money in foreign wars, which is not the typical way to treat allies. This writer believes that it's a mistake not to support our allies in foreign wars, especially Israel, as the Jewish State is our closest ally and is strategically located in the Middle East where Islamic nations hope to eventually destroy the West and create a world caliphate. All one needs to do is consider the UK and France as bellwethers.
“The founding vision of Israel was based on the idea that they don’t want to depend on anybody else’s sympathy or direction in defending themselves,” Ramaswamy falsely claimed. “So what I would tell Bibi is that Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend itself. I would tell him to smoke those terrorists on his southern border. … That’s his responsibility.”
Yes, he's correct in part, but while Iran provides weapons to the enemies of the little nation of Israel, the United States, as an ally, has at the very least, a moral responsibility. Ramaswamy is a smooth talker but he's not presidential material in my humble opinion.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) said that Netanyahu has a responsibility to wipe Hamas off the map and that the U.S. would support Israel in its efforts. He added that alleged President Biden must be willing to strike Iran to stop the attacks from its terrorist proxies on U.S. forces in the region. However, while his idea makes sense, this might ignite an all-out World War 3 and that's a problem for me.
“If you want to make a difference, you cannot just continue to have strikes in Syria on warehouses, you actually have to cut off the head of the snake, and the head of the snake is Iran, and not simply their proxies,” he said. “In order for us to have a powerful response from America, we have to be in a position of strength. As President of the United States, my foreign policy is simple: you cannot negotiate with evil, you have to destroy it.”
Former New Jersey Governor and Trump-hater, Chris Christie said that he would provide any level of support that Israel needed to preserve its sovereignty. Good answer but he has as much chance winning the GOP nomination as a Rachel Levine would have as a fan dancer in Gaza.
“Remember that Hamas’ main goal is to get rid of Israel, is to get Israel absolutely off the map,” the big guy said. “Now, there are three things I think I would say to him when he asked for advice. The first I would say is that it is absolutely your obligation to protect the territorial integrity of Israel. Secondly, to make sure you protect the security and the safety of your people. Every time something happens to compromise either one of those things, it creates greater unrest in the entire region.”
He said that Netanyahu must make sure that Hamas can never do this again and that he needs to be focused on Iran and working with Western nations and the Gulf States to isolate Iran “so their only friends in the world are part of the evil foursome of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.”
I agree with Christie but would never support him for the nomination because I don't trust him.
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