Ron Paul on Israel, Iran, and the Jews

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Ron Paul on Israel, Iran, and the Jews Below is a partial sampling of former Representative Ron Paul’s (R-TX) extensive record of antagonism towards Israel and the Jewish people.

Foreign Aid & Israel Paul’s former aide said: “[T]the elderly congressman ‘wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all.’ The congressman's former aide insists in his blog that Paul expressed the controversial sentiment ‘numerous times in our private conversations.’ Paul's view, he said, ‘is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.’” [Ynet, December 26, 2011] Paul stated that U.S. support for Israel was to blame for the 9/11 terrorist attacks saying: “I think most people in the Middle East and probably in Israel would agree that this was a major factor” [International Business Times, January 13, 2012] On January 9, 2009, Paul voted against recognizing Israel's "right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks" and reaffirming the U.S.'s support for Israel. In a 2009 interview with Iranian state television, Paul referred Gaza as a "concentration camp" and denied that the Hamas terror group was the aggressor. In 2009, Paul voted against recognizing Israel’s 61st anniversary and the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. In February 2011 Paul proposed an amendment to the continuing resolution that would cut American foreign aid to Israel. Paul advocated for the U.S. to abandon support for Israel at the negotiating table with the Palestinians. [News Real Blog, February 28, 2011] In the same interview, when Paul was asked about a hypothetical situation in which he would support taking action to protect Israel, Paul answered: First off, they’re under threat because we’re there. We’re a greater threat to them, and our polices, because they have assumed that we’ll [intervene] if they don’t do the right things for themselves. I don’t know of anybody who can militarily threaten them. They have 300 nuclear weapons. Nobody’s gonna touch them. This notion that we have to support them over the Palestinians -- we shouldn’t favor one over the other. It’s a very different problem over there. If you’re a Palestinian-American, you might not like [America’s position on

Israel]. I’m not saying you should support the Palestinian side or the Israeli side. I’m saying let them work it out. [News Real Blog, February 28, 2011] Paul also reiterated his position that the United States should withdraw its support for Israel, and “let them work it out.” He also said, “Israel is in worse shape than ever because of our so-called protection.” [News Real Blog, February 28, 2011] During a Republican presidential debate in November 2011, Paul questioned the U.S.-Israel relationship saying: “Why should we commit -- we don't even have a treaty with Israel. Why do we have this automatic commitment that we're going to send our kids and send our money endlessly to Israel? So I think they're quite capable of taking care of themselves.” [Republican Presidential Debate, November 22, 2011] At the same debate in November 2011 Paul said if Israel were to launch a military strike against Iran’s nuclear weapons program, "that's their business, but they should suffer the consequences." [Republican Presidential Debate, November 22, 2011] In January 2012, Paul briefly met with a representative of the extreme anti-Zionist sect Neturei Karta who told Paul that Judaism "is a religion, and it should never be transformed into a nationalism." Paul reportedly replied that the suggestion was "good advice." [Haaretz, January 10, 2012]

Iran Paul voted against the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009. During the Iowa Republican Presidential Debate, Paul defended the Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons: Just think of the agitation and the worrying of a country that might get a nuclear weapon some day. And just think of how many nuclear weapons surround Iran. The Chinese are there. The Indians are there. The Pakistanis are there. The Israelis are there. The United States is there. All these countries -- China has nuclear weapons. Why wouldn’t it be natural that they might want a weapon? There’d be -- internationally, they’d be given more respect. Why should we write people off?... Stay out of their internal business. [Iowa Republican Debate, 2011] During the January 2012 New Hampshire Republican presidential debate Paul railed against Iran sanctions. Paul voted “no” on Iran sanctions in 2012, calling them “terrible.” [The Hill, February 7, 2012]

The Newsletters Paul’s newsletters are infamous for containing anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements. In 1979, Paul thanked Amos W. Bruce for a copy of an article in The American Mercury -- a notoriously anti-Semitic magazine owned by holocaust denier Willis Carto saying, “the copy of the article in The American Mercury and the copies of your essays. I found them all very interesting.” Among the articles included in the issue were: “You Can't Escape the Kosher Food Tax,” “Are You Ready for the White Man's Doomsday,” and “Racism - Black African Style.” Paul’s thank you note was written on Congressional letterhead. [The New Republic, January 17, 2012] The New Republic reported, “A 1987 issue of Paul’s Investment Letter called Israel “an aggressive, national socialist state.” [The New Republic, January 8, 2008] The February 1988 issue of his newsletter alleged that the terrorist responsible for the Berlin disco bombing that killed American servicemembers “was in cahoots with Syria, or Israel’s Mossad, which always seeks to stir up anti-Arab feeling here.” [The New Republic, January 17, 2012] The November 1989 issue of the Political Report accused Israel of deliberately attacking the U.S.S. Liberty during the 1967 war. [The New Republic, January 17, 2012] The February 1991 Political Report said Israel’s supporters “were the most bloodthirsty for war.” Paul wrote, “someone please explain to me, are we supposed to be so grateful to Israel because it lets us fight its war?” He also wrote that Iraq “was Israel’s enemy. This poor country of 17 million with a GNP less than 1% of ours, was no threat to us, despite the hysteria of the Israel First Lobby.” [The New Republic, January 17, 2012] Paul’s February 1993 newsletter said “major Jewish organizations are complaining that Zionists did not get enough jobs in the Clinton administration. Plenty of Jews were appointed but just being Jewish doesn’t count. These lobbyists want people 100% dedicated to Israel.” [The New Republic, January 17, 2012] Paul’s newsletter said of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, “Whether it was a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly a retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, matters little.” [The New Republic, January 23, 2011] The New Republic published in-depth reports on Paul’s newsletters on January 8, 2008, January 14, 2008, December 23, 2011, and January 17, 2012.

Other On September 7, 2000, Paul was alone in his opposition to a bill exempting the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum from budget limits established during the previous year's budget. Paul’s former aide said that he “does not believe the United States had any business getting involved in fighting Hitler in WWII. He expressed to me countless times, that 'saving the Jews,' was absolutely none of our business." [The Weekly Standard, December 28, 2011] In April 2013 Paul formed a think tank comprised of anti-Semites, 9/11 truthers, Civil War revisionists, and other questionable figures.