Governor Ron DeSantis told Newstimesuk.com that as president he would tear down President Biden’s ‘appalling’ treatment of Israel – and blasted progressive Democrats for trying to ‘scapegoat’ the world’s only Jewish state.
The 2024 presidential hopeful told Newstimesuk.com during an exclusive interview at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) summit that if elected president, he would ‘set aside’ Biden’s ‘horrendous treatment of Israel’.
Also, the Florida governor will restore an ‘ironclad relationship’ between the US and Israel. This would include ‘butting out’ Israel’s internal affairs and above all ‘standing up to the right of self-defense’.
DeSantis will also usher in a ‘tough on Iran’ administration, which he says includes stopping Iran’s Arab ‘appeasement’.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will address Congress later this week, but his trip to the Capitol has been thrown into chaos after far-left progressive Democrats from the ‘Squad’ vowed to boycott the speech.
DeSantis spoke exclusively to Newstimesuk.com on the sidelines of the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) conference.
Also, progressive Rep. Pramila Jaipal, D-Wash., took it even further and told pro-Palestinian activists in Chicago on Saturday that ‘Israel is an apartheid state.’ He was forced to apologize after his comments drew backlash from Republicans and Democrats.
“For anyone who has been on the streets and participated in many protests, I want you to know that we are fighting to make it clear that Israel is an apartheid state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy, that the dream of a two-state solution is slipping away from us, That doesn’t even seem possible,’ he said over the weekend before walking back his comments.
His comments led to a rare rebuke of top House Democratic leadership.
“Israel is not an apartheid state,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Catherine Clarke, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lew responded in a joint statement, chiding Jaipal without addressing the congresswoman.
DeSantis told Newstimesuk.com on Monday that it was ‘ridiculous’ to call Israel racist in response to Jaipal’s comments.
‘Israel is not racist. What is ridiculous. They are the most independent and democratic countries in the entire Middle East. Arab Israelis have a better standard of living than anywhere else in the Middle East.’
Israel is a ‘beacon of freedom’ despite being ‘under siege’ since 1948.
Despite this, they are ‘standing firm and they are going to move forward’, which he says is remarkable.
The governor continues to say, ‘No one has to like every country’s policy,’ and often criticizes it, but the only focus of progressive Democrats is on using Israel as a ‘scapegoat.’
‘What does it say about you when you devote all your intent and energy to focusing on this one little country, the only Jewish state in the world? Why are you making excuses or not caring about all these other events happening in the world? You only think about that. That, to me, I think is rooted in anti-Semitism,’ said DeSantis.
‘I think things like BDS are rooted in anti-Semitism. And so we will not allow the left to scapegoat the only Jewish state in the world,’ DeSantis told Newstimesuk.com.
Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) is an anti-Israel activist movement in which some US companies participate in boycotting the Jewish state’s products and services.
During his speech before the CUFI audience, DeSantis announced that his state of Florida was opening an investigation into financial services firm Morningstar for anti-Israel bias.
‘They are specifically targeting Israel,’ the governor said of Morningstar. ‘It’s disrespectful.’
The governor received a standing ovation from the CUFI crowd at the end of his speech in which he pledged continued support for Israel and condemned the Biden administration.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attends a press conference at the Museum of Tolerance on April 27, 2023 in Jerusalem, Israel
Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented the Presidential Medal of Honor to President Joe Biden
The Florida governor also called the US-Israel relationship ‘unique’ based on a thousand-year history.
‘If you look at Israel, our society is really born out of what happened in the Holy Land thousands of years ago. We are a society based on Judeo-Christian principles,’ he told Newstimesuk.com.
‘So our two countries have a unique bond first and foremost. Second, they are not our best security partners in the Middle East.’
DeSantis told Newstimesuk.com that there is a ‘big chance’ of a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel and ‘really building a strong Middle Eastern opposition to Iran, which is really good.’
He also pointed to the ‘extraordinary economic relationship’ between the two countries.
‘There is more innovation per capita in Israel than anywhere else in the entire world,’ which he says he ‘tapped’ as governor of Florida.
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