By Ian Tuttle
Friday, March 20, 2015
On the Senate floor on Thursday, Florida senator and
prospective Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio delivered a scathing
rebuke of the Obama administration’s recent treatment of Israel.
Beginning with a declaration of Israel’s virtues — “How
much better would the world be if the Middle East looked more like Israel?” he
asked — and noting its special purpose as a homeland for the Jewish people,
Rubio launched into a withering condemnation of the Obama administration.
“As far as I know, after this election, the president has
yet to call the prime minister,” said Rubio (the president has since been in
touch with Prime Minister Netanyahu). “That is unlike the fact that in March
2012, he was among the first to call and congratulate [Vladimir] Putin in
Moscow. Or that in June of 2012, he was among the first to call [Mohamed] Morsi
and the Muslim Brotherhood when they won the Egyptian presidency. Or that in
November of 2012, they called to congratulate the top Chinese communists on
their new position — which by the way is not elected in the way you and I would
consider there to be an election.”
Rubio chronicled several years of the Obama
administration’s distaste for Netanyahu and for Israel, and also recounted the
several times that the Palestinian Authority has refused peace accords offered
by Israel.
The Obama White House’s decision to air its grievances
with Israel publicly earned Rubio’s harshest criticism: “Allies have
differences, but when allies like Israel, when you have a difference with them
and it is public, it emboldens their enemies to launch more rockets out of
southern Lebanon and Gaza, to launch more terrorist attacks, to go to
international forums and delegitimize Israel’s right to exist,” said Rubio,
accusing the Obama administration of “a historic and tragic mistake.”
“This is outrageous, it is irresponsible, it is
dangerous, and it betrays the commitment this nation has made to the right of a
Jewish state to exist in peace,” he concluded. “If America doesn’t stand with
Israel, who would we stand with? If Israel — a democracy, a strong American
ally on the international stage — if they are not worthy of our unconditional
support, then what ally of ours around the world can feel safe in their
alliance with us?”
The speech is likely to bolster significant recent
pro-Rubio presidential buzz.
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