The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) lashed out at Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Tuesday for saying he would like to see U.S. military aid to Israel end by 2028, arguing it will be unnecessary after he negotiates new peace deals between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors during his first term as president.
Ramaswamy made the comments in an interview with The Washington Free Beacon published Sunday. He voiced support for the Abraham Accords peace deal between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco negotiated during the Trump administration.
He added he would broker expanded agreements between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Indonesia, and believes he "can deliver that in my first year in office." He said if his attempts at "Abraham Accords 2.0" were unsuccessful, he would favor maintaining the military aid to Israel, which stands at about $3 billion a year.
"Ramaswamy naively asserted that his proposed 'Abraham Accords 2.0' with four non-neighboring countries would make Israel 'more integrated' with its neighboring countries, and then Israel should be able to stand 'on its own two feet' financially," ZOA President Morton Klein and Director of Research and Special Projects Liz Berney said in a news release. "Even if, by some miracle, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman all made peace deals with Israel, Israel would continue to face existential Iranian nuclear, missile and terror threats; 200,000 Hezbollah missiles in Lebanon, many of which are precision-guided; Iranian and Syrian missiles in Syria; Iranian missiles in Iraq; thousands of Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad missiles in Gaza – all pointed at Israel.
"Israel would continue to face the ongoing huge wave of 20 terror attacks a day against Israeli civilians by terror groups in Judea/Samaria [as well as by Israeli Arabs], abetted by the Palestinian Authority's nonstop incitement and 'pay to slay' payments to Arab terrorists to murder Jews. In other words, Israel's defense needs are likely to increase regardless of whether or not Ramaswamy's unlikely 'Abraham Accords 2.0' is achieved."
Fellow 2024 GOP presidential candidate and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley joined in the criticism of Ramaswamy.
"@VivekGRamaswamy is completely wrong to call for ending America's special bond with Israel," Haley posted on X. "Supporting Israel is both the morally right & strategically smart thing to do. This is part of a pattern with Vivek — his foreign policies have a common theme: They make America less safe."
Newsmax reached out to Ramaswamy for comment.
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Ramaswamy said "by the end of my first term, our relationship with Israel will be deeper than it ever has been because it won't just be a client relationship. It will be a true friendship. What do friends do? They push each other to be the strongest version of themselves."
He added he does not believe Israel should be treated like every other nation in the Middle East.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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