Hoenlein to Newsmax: Concerns Whether Harris Will Be Tough on Iran

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told Newsmax on Thursday that he is worried about whether a Harris administration would enact "strong policies" on Iran.

"In the past, as you know, the administration has given sanction relief to the Iranians, which I think is a mistake," Hoenlein told "American Agenda." "Anything we do to aid and abet them, it does not serve the purpose of the people of Iran, who want to see this regime removed. It also doesn't serve the purposes of the region that we enable them to continue to provide to their allies in the region the weapons, the support for the terror activities in which they are engaged to threaten our ships and so many other interests of ours and that of our allies.

"So, I would be concerned about whether there will be the kind of strong policies that send a message to our allies that we can be relied upon. I think the Americans have done a good job, especially [U.S. Central Command], bringing aircraft carriers to the Red Sea, to the Mediterranean, to stand with Israel, to stand against the terrorists. But it's a question of the sustainability and whether this message will be very clear to Iranian leaders that there will be no compromise with their terrorism."

Hoenlein stressed that Iran is aligned with China and Russia and is "trying to create an alternative alliance against the West and against our allies in the region."

"So, there is a lot at stake in this, beyond just the conflict that Israel is engaged in," he said. "Israel is the front for America. The war against Israel is a war against the United States and against the West, and the outcome will affect our future security very greatly."

He also said it was interesting to see Iran threaten revenge on Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran "after they have launched thousands of rockets against Israel since Oct. 8 and assaulted Israel in many ways, killed people, drove 80,000 people out of their homes, have sustained and continued the rockets, the drones, the other assaults against Israel."

After those mass casualty assaults, "Israel responded with a very targeted hit … and eliminated a leading terrorist," Hoenlein said.

"We can anticipate that Iran will join with Hezbollah and its other members of the Ring of Fire – the Houthis, the Hamas, the militias – to respond to Israel, but I think they will face a strong coalition of many other countries that want to see Iran eliminated, the threats of terrorism eliminated, and support what Israel is doing, even if they can't say it publicly," he added.

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