Sen. Marco Rubio says if an imminent vote in the United Nations to create a Palestinian state is successful, it would set back the Middle East peace process and combined with other regional turmoil would complicate Israel’s stability. The Florida Republican also told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Wednesday the only job President Barack Obama’s jobs plan will save “is his.”
“One of the things I’ve tried to do is engage with some of the leaders in the Western Hemisphere and Latin America . . . and I’ve written letters to some of their presidents and asked them not to vote for this,” Rubio said. “I think it sets the peace process back — the key is to have a Jewish state and have the Palestinians recognize Israel — I think that’s where the starting point needs to be.
“And I think a vote by the U.N. could set us back when Israel is surrounded by tremendous uncertainty — we saw events in Cairo last week, the uncertainty in Egypt — Jordan has its challenges, Iran continues to move forward with their nuclear ambitions,” he said. “All things combined are putting Israel in a difficult position, which makes it harder to reach that settlement everyone would like to have. I hope our allies will join the United States in voting against that measure.”
Turning to President Barack Obama’s jobs plan, Van Susteren asked Rubio what he thought it means for the nation.
“Really the only job I think it is designed to protect is his — but there are some things there, the payroll tax holiday, that’s fine. But the plan is not a serious effort to create jobs,” Rubio said. “I think it’s largely a political move and the need to do something. But the jobs issue is enormous — I’ve said repeatedly the biggest issue in Washington is the debt, but the biggest issue in America are jobs.
“But what the president is saying he wants to do to help create jobs in America is not going to work — it’s basically a lot of the stuff we tried before — all it does is cost us money,” he continued. “We really need some basic things — they are not exciting and the media hates it when I say it because it is not new. That’s like telling a farmer: Stop focusing on fertilizer, soil, and water.
“What it takes to grow the economy: tax reform, regulatory reform, certainty about our debt — many of these are things that worked,” Rubio said. “That’s what we as policymakers should be focused on.”