In Jerusalem, DeSantis says U.S. shouldn’t ‘butt in’ to Israel’s judicial overhaul debate
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives a speech during the Jerusalem Post conference at the Museum of Tolerance on April 27, 2023 in Jerusalem. Photo by Getty Images
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Presumptive Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis lobbed a series of jabs at the Biden administration on Thursday, criticizing the U.S. President’s record on Israel while visiting Jerusalem for a conference celebrating the country’s 75th anniversary.
“My view is that the United States should be a strong ally to Israel but we should not butt into their internal affairs,” DeSantis told reporters following a speech at the “Faces of Israel” conference at Jerusalem’s Museum of Tolerance.
Citing shared “Judeo-Christian values” as the basis for the two countries’ relationship, the Florida governor argued that the U.S. should “respect Israel’s right to make its own decisions about its own governance” and that he trusted the Israeli people “to be able to work these things out.”
His comments come a month after U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel “cannot continue down this road,” after his administration put significant pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to postpone the planned judicial overhaul. On Wednesday, Biden touted the “resilience of Israel’s democracy – the bedrock for our robust and special relationship.”
DeSantis, who oversees the world’s 15th largest economy, is attempting to publicly center his trade mission around meetings with business executives and government leaders to discuss Florida’s economic partnerships and expansions and boost trade bilateral trade with Israel, which had already reached $651 million in 2022.
The trip, however, comes with an undeniable backdrop of DeSantis’ increasingly heated rivalry with former U.S. President Donald Trump, as the two have quickly separated themselves from the rest of the pack of potential Republican presidential candidates. DeSantis’ visit to Israel is part of a wider international tour meant to bolster his foreign policy credentials ahead of a potential run for the GOP nomination for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
He mostly avoided mentioning Trump in Jerusalem however, save for asserting that he had needed to “cajole” him into moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 2018, preferring to take aim at the policies of the administration of current Democratic President Joe Biden.
Prior to Biden taking office, the Middle East was in the “best shape” it had been for a long time, DeSantis asserted, expressing disappointment with the recent rapprochement between Riyadh and Tehran brokered by Beijing and predicting that “with proper policies and proper relations you could see Saudi Arabia recognize the existence of Israel” and join a “U.S.-Israel-Arab” alliance against Iran.
In his speech, DeSantis also complained about the UN and international organizations’ criticism of Israel, and said that groups “targeting the one Jewish state” were engaged in antisemitism.
He added that “U.S. policy should recognize the truth” on Jerusalem as Israel’s “eternal” capital, while bragging about Florida’s record against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement and taking issue with the categorization of the West Bank as occupied territory.
“It’s disputed,” he said, calling the area “the most historic Jewish lands there are going back thousands of years” and stating that he “wouldn’t fund” the Palestinian Authority or the United Nations agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees if the Palestinians “are engaged in terrorism against Jews.”
DeSantis also touted his record on combating antisemitism, signing a bill to combat antisemitism during his press conference in Jerusalem as well as a proclamation celebrating the 75th anniversary of Israel’s founding.
He has long centered Israel as a tent pole of his political career, including openly pushing then-President Trump on Israel-related policies while serving as a member of Congress.
This includes a January 2017 House speech calling for the U.S. to defund the United Nations until the UN Security Council revoked a resolution condemning Israeli settlements as a violation of international law, visiting potential U.S. Embassy locations in Jerusalem and criticizing Trump for waiting too long before moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to the city.
DeSantis’ visit comes at a crucial time for his political aspirations, as Trump has created a significant polling gap between them – in large part thanks to several key endorsements from Florida Republican lawmakers. Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis for his international trip, including the Israel stop, on the grounds that it is costing Florida taxpayers during the state’s legislative session.
Asked what he would do as president to make peace in the region, DeSantis —who said that any announcement of his candidacy would “come at the appropriate time”— told reporters that “it goes back to recognizing what’s right in the Middle East and what’s wrong in the Middle East. What’s right is Israel working with the UAE and Bahrain and what’s wrong is Iran ambitions.”
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