On Saturday in Iowa, Mike Pence called on his competitors in the Republican presidential field to unambiguously stand with Israel, America’s strongest ally. Read Pence’s full comments below:
“I call on this administration to make it clear, not just to Hamas, but also to Tehran, that America will go to any extent necessary that Israel is able to defend itself.
“I also believe it’s absolutely essential that we call out leaders in the Republican Party.
“This is not a territorial dispute in Israel today — this is an unprovoked act of war by Hamas and their sponsors in Tehran. Voices of appeasement like Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis, I believe have run contrary to the tradition in our party where America is the leader of the free world.
“If I’m President of the United States, we’re going to send a strong and unambiguous message that America will be leading with strength once again on the world stage. Appeasement will only continue to embolden the forces of Hamas, their terrorist sponsors in Iran and elsewhere around the world. I think this is testament to the fact that we need new leadership in the White House, but we also need leadership in the Republican Party that understands the stakes, that understands we achieve peace through strength. And as President of the United States, I’ll stand strong. If the world knows nothing else, the world will know this: America stands with Israel and and America will stand without apology as the leader of the free world.
“Israel is our most cherished ally so I call on every one of my competitors in this race to make it clear that America stands with Israel.
“But I also want to call on Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis to stop the language of appeasement as war rages in Eastern Europe.
“Last night we saw an unprovoked attack by Hamas on Israel. A year and a half ago we saw an unprovoked attack by Russia on Ukraine. And I believe we are in the midst of a time in history where the enemies of freedom are on the move because they sense weakness. Appeasement and isolationism are weakness.
“And I call on Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Ron DeSantis to abandon the language of appeasement — to say that we will stand strong with Israel, we will stand strong with Ukraine, we will stand as the leader of the free world. And as President of the United States, I will.”
