Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis vowed Monday to end President Joe Biden’s “horrendous treatment of Israel” — on cue with the purveyors of “antisemitism” within the Democratic Party.
“Here’s the thing: No one has to like every country’s policies or whatever — and I get there’s criticism you can make — but when you devote all of our attention and energy to focusing on this one little country, the only Jewish state in the world, what does that say about you,” said DeSantis to the Daily Mail at the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Summit.
“Why are you excusing or don’t care about all these other things in the world — you only care about that — to me, that’s rooted in antisemitism.”
DeSantis denounced the divestment, boycott, and sanctions movement as a product of the left as well as an open attempt to make Israel a “scapegoat” and diminish its influence as the number one U.S. security ally amid decades of war and instability in the Middle East.
“I think things like BDS are rooted in antisemitism,” continued DeSantis. “And so we are not going to allow people on the left to scapegoat the world’s only Jewish state.”
The governor vowed that if elected president, he would “toss aside Biden’s horrendous treatment of Israel.”
“We will reestablish an iron-clad relationship between the United States and Israel,” said DeSantis, “and that means things like butting out of their internal affairs. It means things like being tough on Iran. The era of appeasement against Iran is over. And then, of course, making sure that we’re standing by their right to defend themselves.”
DeSantis called out anti-Israel Democrats in Congress
Governor DeSantis called congressional anti-Israel Democrats’ continued attacks “deplorable,” including Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, saying Sunday, “Israel is a racist state.”
“Israel is not racist — how ridiculous,” said DeSantis. “They are the most free democratic country in the entire Middle East.”
“Arab Israelis have a better standard of living than they would in any other place in the Middle East. They’re really a beacon of freedom for this world to look at, and it’s a country that’s been under siege since the modern founding in 1948, and yet they continue to stand strong, and they continue to advance,” he continued.
According to DeSantis, the U.S. needs Israel as much as Israel needs the U.S.
“It’s a unique relationship,” DeSantis told the Daily Mail. “If you look at Israel, our society has really been birthed by what happened in the holy land thousands of years ago. We’re a society based on Judeo-Christian principles, so there’s a unique bond between our two countries, first and foremost.”
“Second, they are our best security partner in the Middle East, bar none,” he said.
Not only should anti-Israel Democrats change their stance, but they should also call for peace and try to avoid more division.
“I think we have a great opportunity to have a peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel and really create a strong Middle East opposition to Iran — which is really, really good,” continued DeSantis.
“And then we have a tremendous economic relationship. There is more innovation being done per capita in Israel than any other place in the entire world. As governor of Florida, we’ve tapped into that, developed great relationships, but I think that it’s important for our country to be able to continue these relationships.”
