Israel continues to find itself the subject of harsh language from the White House and President Barack Obama, continuing a pattern of “throwing Israel under the bus,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said in a press conference.
In a briefing arranged for reporters by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, Cantor took issue with comments Obama made in a recent interview with 60 Minutes.
“The President in his comments last night indicated that Israel was somehow one of our closest allies in the region,” he said. “That took me off guard because I think clearly most Americans would say that Israel is undoubtedly our best ally in the region, the one that stands for the same things we do, that is human progress, universal rights, rights of the minority, rights of free speech, and downright democracy and freedom in a region where that is in very short supply. So for President Obama to indicate that Israel is on a par with other allies in the region struck me as very, very concerning.”
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Cantor said that Israel continues to stand “side by side” with the United States against the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Very, very concerning about the President’s attitude towards Israel given his past remarks that began during the initial days, initial months of his presidency where Israel continues to find itself on the receiving end of harsh language by the president and the White House. I think as Governor Romney has said before there is somewhat of a continued pattern of throwing Israel under the bus when Israel stands as our closest ally.”
Cantor added that recent events in the Mideast involving the security of U.S. embassies and the death of the U.S. ambassador to Libya all speak the fact that the threat posed is not just to our allies and Israel but to the United States.
“It just seems there is a pattern here where that the United States finds itself on the receiving end on the defensive in the Middle East now under President Obama’s leadership instead of what I think most Americans expect of our president which is a strong leadership hand and a country as we have always knows ourselves to be that would take the lead,” he said.
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