Jstreet launched a new service focused on news from the 2016 campaign trail. The aim is to keep you updated on what the candidates are saying about Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
These are remarks by Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton about this issue
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Trump
On Feb. 17 during an MSNBC town hall Trump said he wouldn’t hesitate to forge a deal between the two sides if it could be done:
“It is a very, very tough agreement to make. But I will give it one hell of a shot. That I can tell you. But of all agreements — I would say if you can do that deal, you can do any deal. That’s probably the toughest deal in the world right now to make and it’s possible it’s not makeable.”
When asked which side was to blame for the conflict Trump said:
“I don’t want to get into it for a different reason. Because if I do win, there has to be a certain amount of surprise, unpredictability, our country has no unpredictability. If I win, I don’t want to be in a position where … the other side now says, ‘we don’t want Trump involved.’ … Let me be sort of a neutral guy.”
Cruz
Cruz responded at a campaign rally in South Carolina, Feb. 19:
“Let me tell you this: As President, I have no intention of being neutral. As President, I will be unapologetically alongside the nation of Israel. There is a difference between right and wrong. There is a difference between terrorists who strap nails around their chests and go into a mall to murder women and children and the armed forces protecting the innocents in Israel.”
Trump clarified his position on “NBC’s Meet the Press” on Feb. 21:
“You’re not going to solve it if you’re going to be on one side or another. Everyone understands that. If I’m going to solve the problem, I want to go in with a clean slate. Otherwise, you’re never going to get the cooperation of the other side.”
Clinton
Clinton weighed in the same day on CNN’s “State of the Union”:
“Well, I think both of them missed the mark. First of all, Israel is our partner, our ally. We have longstanding and important ties with Israelis going back to the formation of the state of Israel. I will defend and do everything I can to support Israel, particularly as the neighborhood around it seems to become more dangerous and difficult.”
“I also believe the Palestinians deserve to have a state of their own. That’s why I support a two-state solution. That’s what I have worked on. That’s what I tried to move forward when I was secretary, and holding three very intense conversations between the prime minister of Israel and the president of the Palestinian Authority. Those are not mutually exclusive. I happen to think that moving toward a two-state solution, trying to provide more support for the aspirations of the Palestinian people is in the long-term best interests of Israel, as well as the region, and, of course, the people themselves.”
