Following a closed-door meeting with Jewish faith leaders in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) met briefly with the media to discuss his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East.
“Let me be abundantly clear—when I am president, we are going to take a side, and we are going to be on Israel’s side,” he said. “As I said yesterday, perhaps Mr. Trump does not understand that his position is, in fact, anti-Israeli.”
Rubio said any policy that doesn’t support Israel “100 percent” only serves to embolden its enemies. He said there is no “honeymoon period” when someone is elected president, suggesting the GOP front-runner fails the foreign policy presidential test.
Asked about the possibility of negotiating a two-state peace proposal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Rubio said he didn’t think it was possible, given the current conditions that exist between the two sides.
“I just don’t see the conditions right now for that,” he said. “Two-state solutions involves the idea that there are two parties that are willing to agree to that, and there are not.
“I think Israel is willing to be incredibly accommodating and have proven their willingness to do so. The Palestinian Authority has never shown any willingness, in fact they have turned down some very generous offers in the past.”
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