Throughout his career in the Florida Legislature and during his five plus years in the United States Senate, Marco Rubio has shown himself to be a strong supporter of Israel. He made a point of mentioning his commitment to the Jewish State during the announcement of his candidacy on Monday. It came in a section of the speech worth reprinting in its entirety since it essentially lays out the candidate’s foreign policy agenda:
And if America accepts the mantle of global leadership, by abandoning this administration’s dangerous concessions to Iran, and its hostility to Israel; by reversing the hollowing out of our military; by giving our men and women in uniform the resources, care and gratitude they deserve; by no longer being passive in the face of Chinese and Russian aggression; and by ending the near total disregard for the erosion of democracy and human rights around the world; then our nation will be safer, the world more stable, and our people more prosperous. [Emphasis added]
Yet despite Rubio’s history of supporting Israel, the National Jewish Democratic Council issued a press release saying that Rubio would be bad for U.S.-Israel relations because (and you cant make this stuff up) he is a supporter of Israel, and, hence, plays partisan politics:
With Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) announcing today that he will seek the Republican Party’s nomination for the President of the United States, the National Jewish Democratic Council expressed concern over his tired political platform and his willingness to jeopardize the U.S.-Israel relationship for his own political gain. The group released the following statement:
“Sen. Rubio believes that he is ‘uniquely qualified’ to represent the Republican Party and protect the American Dream. However, his recent actions have demonstrated that instead of moving America forward, Sen. Rubio plans to run on the same tired Republican platform. While Sen. Rubio is also trying to frame himself as a serious foreign policy candidate, he continues to undermine the United States’ relationship with Israel as a fundraising tactic for his campaign.
“Sen. Rubio has discussed adding an amendment to Sen. Bob Corker’s (R-TN) bill requiring congressional approval of a nuclear deal with Tehran, which would demand Iranian recognition of Israel’s right to exist. This amendment, which the New York Jewish Week called a ‘blatantly transparent ploy,’ has no purpose other than to politicize the U.S.-Israel relationship at a time when the Jewish state needs our steadfast support. It is shameful that Sen. Rubio would further polarize this issue to advance his own political goals…..
So this is what the NJDC has come to: bashing a supporter of Israel for supporting Israel! Obviously the organization is more concerned with protecting Barack Obama from criticism for his dangerous Iran deal than it is with protecting Israel from annihilation.
It’s worth noting that the NJDC also issued a release praising Hillary Clinton’s entry into the 2016 race. They did not criticize Ms. Clinton, even though except for the period when she needed New York’s Jewish voting bloc to further her political aspirations, she has never been pro-Israel. I guess the NJDC has exposed its priorities, and support of the Jewish State is not one of them — the group’s name notwithstanding.
Cross-posted at The Lid
