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Tags: vivek ramaswamy | israel | camp david accords | donald trump
OPINION

Dick Morris: Vivek Makes Serious Mistake

vivek ramaswamy raises a fist and holds a microphone while speaking

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy gestures while giving a speech. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Dick Morris By Sunday, 20 August 2023 08:19 PM EDT Current | Bio | Archive

Whenever an inexperienced neophyte runs for president and ventures into foreign policy, he almost always puts his foot in his mouth due to ignorance and lack of preparation.

Now Vivek Ramaswamy, an interesting candidate, has made a big blunder by calling for a cut in U.S. aid to Israel.

He even wants its hostile Arab neighbors to get U.S. aid equal to what Israel gets.

Ramaswamy is not the first candidate to make a serious foreign policy blunder this election.

Remember how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shot himself in the foot by calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine "a border dispute" in which there were no "vital" American interests at stake?

He made the statement because he did not know that the borders of Ukraine had been solemnly guaranteed by the U.S. in the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal.

Like DeSantis, Ramaswamy does not know that the billions we give Israel are pursuant to another guarantee made by the U.S.

In 1978 Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin agreed in the Camp David Accords that Israel would withdraw from much of the territory it had conquered in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

In return the U.S. pledged to give Israel and Egypt each about an equal amount of military aid to assure peace.

Israel's territorial concessions in the 1978 Camp David Accords would have left it wide open to a fifth Arab invasion if not for the U.S. aid. 

The Camp David agreements have worked, as there has been no major Mideast war involving Israel since 1973. World War III may well have been averted, as our military support for Israel and Egypt has proven to be a good investment.

Pursuant to the Camp David Accords and other agreements, the U.S. gave Israel $3.3 billion per year in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Last year, it gave another $500 million for missile defense.

To be clear, and Ramaswamy is likely ignorant of this fact, more than 80% of U.S. military aid sent to Israel goes to American military contractors. For the most part, the U.S. aid stays here and provides for U.S. jobs.

So by proposing a cut in military aid to Israel, Ramaswamy completely undermines the Camp David Accords, the fundamental basis of peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Ramaswamy is also ignoring the very important contribution that Israeli defense technology — funded by the U.S. aid Ramaswamy wants to cut — makes to the security of the United States.

Israel's Iron Dome system, used to shield it from Arab missiles, is the first realistic missile defense in history and is the start of constructing the defense to nuclear missiles President Ronald Reagan envisioned.

The Iron Dome has been tested by repeated Palestinian and Iranian attacks in recent years and has been nearly perfect in the protection it offers. The U.S. happily cribs Israeli technology to protect our own forces.

But Ramaswamy fell for an idea that would undermine Israel and sap our own strategic abilities.

Seeking headlines, he declared, "There's no North Star commitment to any one country, other than the United States of America."

He's wrong. America has a North Star moral commitment to aid Israel if it is attacked.

America also has a North Star NATO commitment if Russia were to attack one of its members.

We have a number of North Star commitments, including to Japan, which gave up its military for a security guarantee from the U.S. after World War II.

Ramaswamy's plan shows the danger of making a 38-year-old the leader of the free world.

He dangerously argues that Israel should not get any more U.S. aid than neighboring Muslim countries.

On what basis is that fair? Israel's aid package should be determined by what we give terrorist state Syria?

President Donald Trump understood that America First did not mean America alone.

He understood the world we lived in and that our allies need support.

All over the world Trump strengthened our support of democracies, increasing military aid to countries like Poland, Ukraine, South Korea, Taiwan and more.

This episode proves that in these perilous times there is no reason to bet on an amateur when we have a seasoned "pro" like Donald Trump.

He's battle-tested and ready to take command.

Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris' Reports — More Here.

© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.


Morris
Whenever an inexperienced neophyte runs for president and ventures into foreign policy, he almost always puts his foot in his mouth due to ignorance and lack of preparation.
vivek ramaswamy, israel, camp david accords, donald trump
741
2023-19-20
Sunday, 20 August 2023 08:19 PM
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