Rick Perry
Learn More about Republican Challenger Rick Perry
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Connection
to Israel
In an August 2009 interview with The Jerusalem
Post, Perry affirmed his support for Israel, saying “I’m
a big believer that this country was given to the people of Israel a
long time ago, by God, and that’s ordained.”
- The
Jerusalem Post, August 14, 2009.
In 2009 Israel awarded Gov. Perry with the prestigious
Defender of Jerusalem Award, given to public figures that support the
Jewish state.
Iranian
Threat
"We need to overthrow the repressive regime
in Iran. We need no longer to lead from behind. This president
has been begging for the drone back. We should either have destroyed
or retrieved it and Obama did nothing."
- Republican
Presidential Debate in Iowa, December 15, 2011
"We need to sanction the Iranian Central
Bank. That would be one of the most powerful ways to impact
that. As a matter of fact, Congressman Paul, that is what we need to
do before we ever start having any conversations about a military strike,
is to use every sanction that we have.
"And when you sanction the Iranian Central Bank, that will shut
down that economy. At that particular point in time, they truly have
to deal with the United States. And it's one of the reasons that I call
for the -- there is an area over there, of all of them working together
-- and I'm talking about Syria -- and bringing them into the mix as
well.
"As I called for, one of the options is to have a no-fly zone
over Syria at the same time you're putting those types of sanctions
against Iran. And in that moment, they will understand that America
is serious. This President refuses to do that, and it's another show
of lack of leadership from the President of the United States."
- Republican
Presidential Debate in Washington, D.C., November 22, 2011
"This country can sanction the Iranian Central
Bank right now and shut down that country's economy. And that's what
this president needs to do and the American people need to stand up
and force him to make that stand today."
- Republican
Presidential Debate in South Carolina, November 13, 2011
"Today, the greatest threat to the security of
Israel and, by extension, a threat to America, is the Iranian government
developing a nuclear arsenal. One thing is clear: we must stop Iran
from acquiring nuclear weapons. Economic sanctions must be tightened
and increased and all options must remain on the table to stop a brutally
repressive regime from acquiring a nuclear capability."
- RickPerry.org,
September 20, 2011.
"Iran pursues nuclear weapons its leaders vow
to use to annihilate Israel."
- The
Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2011.
Regarding
President Obama's May 2011 Speech
Gov. Perry criticized President Obama’s May
2011 speech suggesting that Israel withdraw to the pre-Six Day War lines,
because it "continues a misguided policy of alienating our traditional
allies, in this case Israel, one of our strongest partners in the war
on terror. As someone who has visited Israel numerous times, I know
that it is impracticable to revert to the 1967 lines."
- The
Economist, May 31, 2011.
Regarding
President Obama's Policies about Israel
"Unfortunate errors by the Obama administration
have encouraged the Palestinians to take steps backward away from peace.
It was a mistake to inject an Israeli construction freeze, including
in Jerusalem, as an unprecedented precondition for talks...When the
Obama administration demanded a settlement freeze, it led to a freeze
in Palestinian negotiations. It was a mistake to agree to the Palestinians’
demand for indirect negotiations conducted through the United States.
And it was an even greater mistake for President Obama to distance himself
from Israel and seek engagement with the hostile regimes in Syria and
Iran."
- The
Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2011.
Gaza
Flotillas
Perry wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder strongly dissuading Americans from participating in the Gaza-bound
flotillas and Perry has also called on the Justice Department to prosecute
Americans who take part in the Gaza flotilla because U.S. bans taking
part in naval expeditions against states that are allies of the U.S.
- Houston
Chronicle, June 29, 2011.
Texas-Israel
Cooperation
In 2007, Perry told Israel's Chamber of Commerce: "Of
special interest are your innovative partnerships between universities
and entrepreneurs, funded by investment from the public and private
sectors. Texas also is making great strides: since the creation of our
Emerging Technology Fund in 2005, we have invested $95 million in young
start-up companies and to bring world-renowned experts to our institutions
of higher learning. With it, we are investing in great ideas and the
people who have them. I hope that ideas incubating in small Texas companies
today will someday become products sold in Israel, through relationships
forged in this new Chamber of Commerce.”
Gov. Perry wants Texas to become the preferred location
for Israeli companies’ in business with the U.S. He reiterated
that expanding commercial activities between the two nations will lead
to greater economic strength which in turn will lead to increased freedom.
- Office
of the Governor Rick Perry, September 25, 2007.
On Palestinian Statehood
Gov. Perry's statements at a press conference in New
York in September 2011 included what he things must happen before a
Palestinian state becomes a reality:
"First, Palestinian leaders must
publicly affirm Israel’s right to exist, and to exist as a Jewish
state; Second, President Abbas must persuade all factions
including Hamas to renounce acts of terrorism and release kidnapped
Israeli Gilad Shalit, and; Third, Palestinian statehood
must be established only through direct negotiations between the Palestinian
leadership and the nation of Israel."
- RickPerry.org,
September 20, 2011.
"The Palestinian plan to win
that one-sided endorsement from the UN this month in New York threatens
Israel and insults the United States. The US and UN have long supported
the idea that Israel and its neighbors should make peace through direct
negotiations... In refusing to deal with the recognition of Israel as
a Jewish state, and taking this destabilizing action in the UN, the
Palestinians are signaling that they have no interest in a two-state
solution...The United States – and the United Nations –
should do everything possible to discourage the Palestinian leadership
from pursuing its current course."
- The
Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2011.
U.S.
Aid to the Palestinians
"We should encourage Palestinians who are more
interested in building a prosperous future than in fueling the grievances
of the past. Our aid is, and must remain, predicated on the commitment
of the Palestinian leadership to engage honestly and directly with the
Israelis in negotiating a peace settlement...The United States must
not condone and legitimize through our assistance a regime whose actions
are in direct opposition to a peace agreement with our ally Israel,
and in direct opposition to our own vital interests."
- The
Jerusalem Post, September 15, 2011.
General
Foreign Policy
"Every country would start at zero. Obviously,
Israel is a special ally. And my bet is that we would be funding them--
at some substantial level. But it makes sense for everyone to come in
at zero and make your case. As a matter of fact, we oughta try that--
doin' that with some of those agencies that I was tryin' to think the
name of the other night.
"Starting at zero, zero-based budgeting, and Newt will share with
you, is we've gotta go there. And everyone has to come in and make your
case."
- Republican
Presidential Debate in South Carolina, November 13, 2011
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