Issue Position: The Middle East

Issue Position

The American-Israeli bond runs deep, born out of mutually held values of democratic norms, rule of law, and freedoms of religion and opportunity. As a long-time supporter of Israel, I will ensure that our alliance does not waver, and that America continues to support Israeli security, advocate for her on the international stage, and contain the threat from Iran and terrorism across the region.

Earlier this year, my wife and I spent 10 days touring Israel on an educational trek led by Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard University. We received briefings on Israeli politics, history, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from experts in Israeli government, activists, member of Parliament, and even the President himself, Reuven Rivlin. We visited my classmate's childhood home in Gush Etzion -- a beautiful settlement outside Jerusalem -- and spoke to residents of a small kibbutz right next to Hamas-controlled Gaza. We also toured the West Bank and heard from a cross-section of Palestinian leaders. In the end, we came away with a deep appreciation of Israel, and the complex challenges she faces.

America must continue to show leadership in the Middle East. We cannot afford to allow vacuums of power in places like Syria and Yemen, to be filled with radical Sunni extremists on the one hand, or Iranian proxies on the other. Neither scenario is acceptable to American or Israeli interests, and it will take a well-coordinated, determined, and long-term strategy to overcome these threats. Ensuring a strong and capable Israel must be a central component of American strategy in the region.

We accomplish this in five ways:
1. Maintain the Israeli Qualitative Military Edge (QME). I will continue to support the approval of US-Israeli Security Memorandum of Understanding and ensure that Israel has access to the most advanced and capable military hardware. This includes the most up-to-date missile defense systems and cyber capabilities, as well as frequent joint training exercises. This benefits the United States in three ways, (1) Supporting the American military-industrial complex, (2) creating a force multiplier in the region, since Israeli military operations often support U.S. interests, and (3) providing additional deterrence against the Iranian threat.

2. Support President Trump's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. I will support the President's courageous and rightful decision to implement the wishes of the U.S. Congress as per the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and I am proud to see our President take a stand on this issue.

3. Push back against BDS and anti-Israel bias. Misguided BDS movements, popular on some college campuses, in parts of Europe, and even at the United Nations, unfairly and counter-productively seek to delegitimize Israel. America must continue to highlight the hypocrisy and bias of such policies, and use American economic power to pressure nations to engage in productive free-trade practices with Israel. Along these lines, I will continue to call out the United Nations' clear bias against Israel, given that -- at a time of spreading civil wars and unprecedented refugee crises -- more than 80% of UN General Assembly condemnations target Israel. The bias and hypocrisy is even more egregious within the UN Human Rights Council -- whose members include human rights violators like China, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela -- where there is a standing agenda to condemn Israel.

4. Confront our Mutual Enemies. Israel's enemies are America's enemies. Groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS are threats to America, Israel, and the region. And Iran will continue to seek increased influence and control throughout the region. America must fiercely confront Hezbollah's international money laundering and drug trade, and double-down on efforts inside Lebanon to decrease their stranglehold on the Lebanese government. We must hold them accountable for their terrorist activities and deaths of U.S. soldiers. We must do the same against Hamas, and seek ways delegitimize them in the eyes of Palestinians who are increasingly supporting Hamas over the Palestinian Authority. This is a very dangerous trend.

And finally, as we complete our large-scale operations against ISIS, we must refocus our efforts against Iran and their incursions across the region. By 2025, key provisions in the JCPOA will begin to expire and by 2020, the UN Arms Embargo expires. Our leverage will be vastly diminished unless we take strategic steps to contain malign Iranian influence. This means bolder operations in the Arabian Gulf to counter Iranian aggression, maintaining our presence in Iraq and the region, and rebuilding our economic leverage over the Iranians by targeting the IRGC and their ballistic missile program.

5. Promote the Peace Process. America must continue to encourage a peace process that ends in an agreement between Israel and the PA. We are the only country with the credibility to bring both sides to the table, and while maintaining a clear-eyed understanding of the impediments we must not lose sight of the goal of peace. An eventual agreement would give Israel the long-awaited security guarantees she has tenaciously pursued and urgently deserves, while also removing a key pretense for biased international condemnation of Israel.

If elected, I will use my vast experience in the Middle East to give credibility to the discussions surrounding American support for Israel. I believe deeply in our friendship with Israel, and its importance to American interests in the region. It is not only practical, it is the right thing to do.

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