Ron Paul victory in Iowa could imperil aid to Israel

 

By Gary Rotto

 

SAN DIEGO — I contacted a friend recently who at one time served on the staff of the Republican Jewish Coalition and is still very involved in the Republican Party to discuss the danger of Ron Paul. 

Actually, I asked if he would co-author with me articles on the threats to the US- Israel relationship in both parties.  He rightly pointed out some threats in the Democratic Party (that I will address in another article) but responded “We agree about Ron Paul…but there is no one I respect in GOP politics who is for him on foreign policy.”  

The Ron Paul candidacy is a real threat to the pro-Israel community.  His viability is not make-believe.  And his potential influence is on the rise in the Republican Party nominating process.  Here is why:
On Tuesday, Jan. 3, over 5,000 volunteers will rise at 1,774 precinct gatherings around Iowa to make the pitch as to why Republican caucus goers should write their favorite candidate’s name on a slip of paper. The most recent Des Moines Register poll shows Mitt Romney with 24% and Ron Paul with 22% … with the margin of error of 4%.  The final results could vary as in Iowa; the key is to get folks to the caucus gatherings. 

It’s a true ground game in several ways. First, there’s no such thing as absentee votes – you have to show up at the precise time and stay for the caucus in order to vote. Second, you need a volunteer to stand up at each site and give the pitch about your candidate.  Third, after the vote is the voting for delegates. Paul’s official campaign site provides the following directive:

“First, vote for Ron Paul in the caucus. After voting takes place, most folks will leave – DON’T! It’s critical as many Ron Paul delegates are elected as possible. So secondly, sign up to become a delegate or raise your hand when asked, and be sure to vote for other Ron Paul supporters to be delegates.” 

Assembling a volunteer army is key. Several articles point to an army of young people descending on Iowa to help Ron Paul. As recently as December 23rd, one “Fan” site of Ron Paul (not an official campaign site) called for an additional 200 out-of-state volunteers and provided space for people to sign up.

Paul holds extreme isolationist views. Writing for Andrew Breitbart, one of the foremost conservative bloggers, Jeffrey Scott Shapiro recounts an encounter with Congressman Paul at event held at the Americans for Tax Reform headquarters:

“And so I asked Congressman Paul: if he were President of the United States during World War II, and as president he knew what we now know about the Holocaust, but the Third Reich presented no threat to the U.S., would he have sent American troops to Nazi Germany purely as a moral imperative to save the Jews?

And the Congressman answered:   “No, I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t risk American lives to do that. If someone wants to do that on their own because they want to do that, well, that’s fine, but I wouldn’t do that.”

His non-interventionist views go even farther.  At the Fox News debate on the campus of Iowa State University in August, when asked about the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon,  Paul stated, “Even our own CIA has no evidence that they’re working on a weapon.”  Really?  The International Atomic Energy Agency report issued in November points to the development of such a program.   

Along with Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, Ron Paul is one of only two house members who voted  against the Rothman-Kirk Resolution, which called on the United Nations to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the genocide convention of the United Nations Charter based on statements that he has made.

As a member of Congress, he has repeatedly voted against foreign aid – which includes aid to Israel. Backers are spinning this as a way of actually being Pro-Israel.  They reason that if Israel is not dependent on the US, Israel can do what is in its best interest without US intervention.  But this means that when Israel is in need of help, the US would stand idly by. If this philosophy were in place, Israel would not have received the financial help in terms of defense aid needed to make the Iron Dome possible, and many more Israelis would have died from short range rocket attacks. 

Paul reminds me of the members of the American First Committee, who attempted to keep the US out of World War II.  The idea was basically to keep the US out of war at all cost.  But to keep the US out of any foreign situation would be to deny that there are those with whom we share a common destiny and share moral values. 

The practical problem is that a strong showing in the Iowa caucuses on Tuesday will assure that Ron Paul will be around for at least several more contests- maybe even the whole primary season. 
Mainstream Republicans insist that he will not win the presidential nomination. But the more delegates he gains, the more of an impact he would probably play in determining how policies are written in the Republican Platform.  And if no clear-cut nominee emerges by the time the Republican convention rolls into Tampa in late August, Paul becomes an active player as to for whom his delegates would support for the nomination. 

But prior to that, Paul would be engaged with the eventual nominee in seeking support and implementation of his ideas – which could include his severely isolationist views that would clearly impact support for Israel.

*
Rotto is a freelance writer based in San Diego.  He may be contacted at gary.rotto@sdjewishworld.com