The Biden administration reportedly is pressuring Israel to delay its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, but Florida Gov. and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis told Newsmax on Monday that would be a mistake.
The administration is hoping to buy time for hostage negotiations with Hamas terrorists and allow for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian citizens, The New York Times reported Sunday.
"The problem with that is when you have somebody on your border that wants to massacre your citizens and your country, and drive all the Jews into the sea, you can't just do a glancing blow because then they're going to recover, and then they're going to do it again," DeSantis told "Eric Bolling The Balance." "You really have to just eliminate the problem, and that doesn't require the United States to have, like, our troops involved. Israel's got a military, they're strong. They will be able to do it.
"But it does require that we step up in both word and deed, [and] support their right to defend themselves because this isn't just some random skirmish. They're fighting for their existence against people that would like to see a second Holocaust."
DeSantis said the U.S. should be fully supportive of Israel publicly, and privately, tell them to take care of business how they see fit.
"Whatever ongoing military support we have with the Iron Dome and all that, we should continue that," DeSantis said. "But I don't think it's going to be a situation where America is going to need to take a lead in that. I don't think we should. I don't think it's our war. I do think it's Israel's war."
Should Hezbollah try to engage with Israel along the northern border of Lebanon, DeSantis said Israel's military is capable of not only handling Hamas in Gaza, but Hezbollah as well, without direct U.S. involvement. Hamas and Hezbollah are terrorist groups supported by Iran, and Hamas is responsible for the massacre of more than 1,400 Israelis in an Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
"[Israel has] a massive military," DeSantis said. "They've called up all their reserves, so we would support them in that if it needed to be. But I don't anticipate it would be something that would draw the United States in.
"I think that we have to be careful about getting enmeshed in a war in the Middle East, partially because China is really going to take advantage of this situation, and you just find yourself $33 trillion in debt as it is, a very weakened defense industrial base. Of course, a president that's not leading on anything, and that is an invitation for Chinese aggression, so we ought to be careful about how that plays out. I do think Israel is capable of defending itself the way it needs to in this situation without needlessly provoking some type of wider war."
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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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