Marco Rubio, the Florida senator running for president, ended his prepared remarks at Thursday’s Republican Jewish Coalition presidential forum in Washington with a veiled shot at some of his rivals for the GOP nomination. “I have been a staunch supporter of our military assistance to the Jewish state, especially the Iron Dome system that has saved countless lives. These programs have ended up benefiting America by leading to technological innovations now used by the U.S. military,” Rubio said.
“In choosing a president, we need to look at what candidates do, not just what they say,” he continued. “I believe those who speak about their pro-Israel views but carelessly support a gutting of our international affairs budget, including assistance to Israel, or who vote against legislation funding U.S.-Israel defense programs, need to check their priorities. You cannot be pro-Israel while also attempting to eliminate assistance that Israel uses to defend itself.”
Which Republican candidates have supporting “gutting” aid to Israel? The obvious target might be Rand Paul, Rubio’s Senate colleague, but more likely the comment was directed at Ted Cruz, a more direct threat to the Florida Republican. In 2013, Cruz signed on to Paul’s budget resolution proposal that, among other cuts, slashed defense funding and international aid, including aid to Israel. And since entering the Senate in 2013, Cruz has voted against the annual National Defense Authorization Act, a broad, comprehensive defense budget authority bill that helps fund missile-defense programs in Israel like Iron Dome.
So does Rubio’s criticism stick? Like most Republican presidential candidates, Cruz says he’s a staunch supporter of Israel. “We need a president who will stand apologetically with the nation of Israel,” he said at Thursday’s RJC forum. With a renewed terror threat and chaos in the Middle East, Cruz is touting his support for Israel more on the campaign trail, particularly in front of strongly pro-Israel evangelical crowds in Iowa. Earlier this week in Coralville, Cruz spoke about the U.S.-backed Iron Dome missile-defense system in Israel.
“You know, a couple of years ago, I was visiting Israel,” Cruz said. “And if you look at, for example, the Iron Dome-David’s Sling missile defense system they have there, it is incredible.”
But Cruz has also taken a more civil libertarian stance that informs his opposition to the NDAA and, therefore, some of the funding for Iron Dome.
“I am deeply concerned that Congress still has not prohibited President Obama’s ability to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens arrested on American soil without trial or due process,” Cruz said in a 2013 statement after his nay vote. He has offered the same explanation for his votes against the NDAA in 2014 and 2015. Cruz’s dissent has never been consequential, since every NDAA introduced since 2013 has passed.
But of the many programs funded by the NDAA support missile defense in Israel. Included in the FY2015 NDAA passed last year, for example, were $622 million for cooperative programs with Israel, including $351 million earmarked for Iron Dome. The next year’s NDAA, passed earlier in 2015, added an additional $320 million to the president’s request for Iron Dome and other cooperative programs with Israel. His reasons may have been unrelated to these programs, but Cruz voted against the comprehensive bills that funding.
Requests for comment from the Cruz campaign have not yet been returned.
Cruz clearly does not oppose Iron Dome or America’s cooperation in providing the technology. For example, the Senate passed emergency funding to beef up Iron Dome in August 2014 by unanimous consent, without objection from Cruz. A month before that funding passed, Cruz took to the Senate floor and gave an impassioned defense of Iron Dome. So there’s no reason to believe he’s being insincere when he speaks with admiration and praise for the program as he did in Iowa this week.
But the votes against the NDAA show a tension in Cruz’s positioning on issues regarding foreign policy and national security—one Rubio may be exploiting more on the trail.
Update: Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier has responded to THE WEEKLY STANDARD: “Sen. Cruz is extremely supportive of the Iron Dome funding included in the NDAA and other programs that support our friend and ally, Israel. Every year NDAA has been voted on, he’s made clear the reason for his no vote (specifically indefinite detentions) in spite of his support for many important programs in the bill.”
