Choose Wisely, Choose Cruz

We stand just prior to the all-important April 19 New York primaries, and our votes were never more crucial. Baruch Hashem we survived the Obama-Clinton-Kerry years, but now we must act to bring a Republican into the White House. From Boro Park and the Five Towns to Spring Valley, and from Midwood and Washington Heights to Crown Heights, this time we simply can’t stay home; we must choose wisely.

Many see Donald Trump as the antithesis of President Obama, so if President Obama was bad, Donald Trump would necessarily be good. But despite portraying himself as something different and new, Donald Trump is more like President Obama than many would imagine.

To be sure, Donald Trump doesn’t hate Israel, but neither does President Obama. Donald Trump has a Jewish daughter, President Obama has Jewish friends, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into sound foreign policy. President George W. Bush loved the state of Israel and the Jewish nation, but he still had his share of foreign policy missteps and blunders. So, we must stay focused on the candidate’s foreign policy, and not familial or business ties.

Many don’t think Donald Trump even has a foreign policy; somehow they consider that to be a positive. They think Donald Trump will be easily swayed in whichever direction they support; that may be true. But, they should remember, Donald Trump has supporters who are on the opposite end of the spectrum on foreign policy, and they too are banking on that calculus.

I too believe Donald Trump to be a foreign policy novice, but not being an expert doesn’t make him opinionless. Trump is actually very opinionated on foreign policy — dangerously so, considering his aloofness on the subject.

Whether it is his desire to make Japan and South Korea “pay for their protection”, or his insistent conspiratorial suggestions that Saudi Arabia was behind the 9/11/2001 attacks (when there’s so much evidence to the contrary), Trump clearly thinks he’s a foreign policy expert.

While on domestic policies Trump would likely preserve the Washington cronyism he’s enjoyed his entire career, on foreign policy we should expect drastic negative change.

Whether it’s Syria or Ukraine, Trump sees Russia’s actions as legitimate and even commendable. Trump is Ron Paul on foreign policy, an isolationist that doesn’t see any American interests abroad. Trump is openly suggesting we depart and defund NATO. No wonder Putin is hoping for a President Trump.

Russia and China can continue to expand their influence; to Trump that’s totally fine. No international involvements are worth our resources unless there’s money to be made. Essentially, Trump sees foreign policy as a business venture. Where there’s financial gain there’s national interest; where there isn’t, there is none.

Donald Trump bemoans that Iran buys its missiles from Russia. “Why don’t they buy from us?” he asks repeatedly. Iran is buying its airplanes from Europe. “Why don’t they buy from us?” Trump asks. To Trump, money is everything. We have no enemies so long as they’re ready to do business with us.

When the Iran Deal was completed, Trump’s immediate response was that he wouldn’t end it, rather, he’d “police it.” After Senators Cruz and Rubio attacked him for it, he reluctantly changed his tone. But as recently as his AIPAC address, Trump is still advocating to enforce, not kill, the Iran Deal.

But can Trump be trusted on killing the Iran Deal when he’s effectively advocating for arms sales and ICBM transfers to Iran, which is prohibited even under the pathetic Obama and Kerry Iran Deal? Of course not!

In 2004 Donald Trump boasted that then-Democratic nominee and current secretary of state John Kerry offered him the position of Middle East envoy. Trump responded to the offer by proclaiming that he’d resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “in two weeks.”

How does one resolve the conflict in two weeks? Well, in December of 2015 Trump suggested that it is Israel who stands in the way of peace. “A lot will have to do with Israel and whether or not Israel wants to make the deal — whether or not Israel’s willing to sacrifice certain things,” Trump said. Just hours before Trump’s AIPAC speech, he suggested that he’d cut Israel’s military foreign aid.

Favored by John Kerry, and with such fringe viewpoints, I don’t see why anyone who is pro-Israel would gamble on Trump. We don’t need a president who is “neutral” in the face of good and evil, but someone with moral clarity and resolve who will stand with the forces of good and confront, not comfort, evil. I believe Ted Cruz is the one and only candidate who will do just that.

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