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- GOP candidate Ramaswamy backtracks: ‘Won’t cut aid to Israel’
GOP candidate Ramaswamy backtracks: ‘Won’t cut aid to Israel’
Vivek Ramaswamy also vowed to 'make sure that Iran never, ever, ever has nuclear capabilities'
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on Monday elaborated on his previous comments about U.S.-Israel relations, saying he wouldn’t cut aid to the Jewish state unless Jerusalem asks for it.
Speaking with Israel Hayom daily, the 38-year-old businessman said, "we will not cut aid as long as Israel tells us so." Ramaswamy's campaign website, which launched a new page on Monday dedicated to "addressing the BS."
Ramaswamy's campaign website said that the presidential candidate "won’t cut aid to Israel until Israel tells the U.S. that it no longer needs the aid."
In his interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Monday night Ramaswamy also had to defend his recent comments made nearly two weeks ago to Rumble host Russell Brand, when he suggested that Washinton shouldn’t give special treatment to Israel and would no longer need to send aid beyond what's already been committed through 2028.
"There’s no North Star commitment to any one country, other than the United States of America," Ramaswamy told Brand, sparking backlash from other Republican candidates, including Nikki Haley, who accused him of wanting to "defund" Israel at the first primary debate.
"I said it would be a mark of success if we ever got to a point in our relationship with Israel if Israel never needed the United States' aid," he then explained to Hannity.
"I've traveled to Israel, I have business partners in Israel. The reality is this- by the end of my first term, our relationship with Israel will be stronger than it ever has been because I will treat it as a true friendship, not just a transactional relationship," he continued, adding that "Abraham Accords 2.0" would be his "top priority” as he will push for business agreements with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
He also vowed to "make sure that Iran never, ever, ever has nuclear capabilities."