(Headline USA) GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said this weekend that he would support cutting off all aid to Israel by 2028.
Currently, the U.S. sends $3 billion in aid to Israel — an amount that should at least be debated before Congress approves another aid package, the 38-year-old candidate argued.
“If we’re successful, the true mark of success for the U.S., and for Israel, will be to get to a 2028 where Israel is so strongly standing on its own two feet, integrated into the economic and security infrastructure of the rest of the Middle East, that it will not require and be dependent on that same level of historical aid or commitment from the U.S.,” Ramaswamy told the Washington Free Beacon on Saturday.
The U.S.focus moving forward should not be on sending the country more money, but on helping negotiate peace treaties that will bolster its standing, he explained. Ramaswamy said he would broker expanded agreements between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Indonesia, and predicted he could “deliver that in my first year in office.”
“Why is that important? That integrates Israel into the economic and security infrastructure of the rest of the Middle East, in a way that hasn’t happened because Israel has been wrongfully held hostage over a complex historical Palestine question, from being able to integrate itself,” he said.
Ramaswamy clarified that he would support extended aid to Israel past 2028 if his plan is ineffective.
“The big difference is to see if the Abraham Accords 2.0 is indeed successful at getting Israel to a stronger place than it is today while relying on U.S. aid,” he said. “If it is, then that is the best-case scenario for all; if it’s not, then the aid will continue.”
His comments quickly drew the ire of his Republican rivals, including former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley.
“Support for Israel is both the morally right and strategically smart thing to do. Both countries are stronger and safer because of our ironclad friendship. As president, I will never abandon Israel,” she said.
