Asked what a negotiated agreement between Israel and the Palestinians might look like, Cruz was succinct and to the point: “The question of how peace will be resolved, whether it will be a one- state or two-state solution, is a question for Israel as a sovereign nation to make, and America should not be attempting to dictate the terms.”
As for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, he described it as “noxious ” and dangerous.” It is, he said, “born of anti-Semitism, and it should stop. And if I am elected president, we will cut off federal funds to any university that boycotts or otherwise undermines our support to the nation of Israel.”
Does he believe that Israel is a God-given land that belongs to the Jews? “Israel,” he affirmed, is the Promised Land that God has given to the Jewish people. Genesis 12:3 tells us, ‘I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.’ If I’m president, America will stand unapologetically alongside the nation of Israel.”
Cruz spoke bluntly about several other critical issues and how he would deal with them as president.
On immigration and security: “We will finally secure the borders and end sanctuary cities. Border security is national security, and we will not be admitting jihadists as refugees. I introduced legislation in the Senate that would suspend all refugees for three years from countries where ISIS and al Qaeda control substantial territory. It’s not a war on a faith. It’s a war on a theocratic and political ideology that seeks to murder us.”
On the Iran nuclear agreement: “I will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal. The single greatest threat facing American today is the threat of a nuclear Iran.”
On U.S. military preparedness: “We will rebuild our military and our honor. We will no longer have our fighting men and women going into battle with both hands tied behind their backs. When American military forces engage, we will engage to win.”
On the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare): “I will go [as president] to Congress and we will repeal every word of Obamacare. We’ll pass healthcare reform that makes insurance personal and portable and affordable and keeps government from getting in-between.”
On what the Republicans need to do to win back the White House: “The stakes have never been higher than they are now. You do not run to the middle. Every time we follow that advice we get clobbered.
“If we’re going to win, the central question is how do you inspire and motivate and bring back to the polls the millions of evangelicals who stayed home in 2012? How do you motivate and bring back to the polls the Reagan Democrats, the libertarians, the independents who stayed home in 2012? If we nominate another candidate in the mold of a John McCain or a Mitt Romney, the same voters who stayed home in 2008 and 2012 will stay home again.”
Finally, on the roots of his love for America and its freedoms: “Freedom is not some abstract concept we read about in school. Freedom is real and personal in our lives. For me, I think about my dad.”