Ron Paul, the Jews and Israel

Paul’s views on Israel have been controversial to say the least.

A former aide of Paul, Eric Dondero, wrote in his blog on the RightWing News website: “[Paul] wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer.”

However, another former aide to Paul, Leon Hadar, told the Haaretz newspaper of Israel that the congressman is being unfairly characterized as being against the Jewish state.

“He is just against foreign aid, and does not see any reason to grant an aid to the country that is a member of OECD," Hadar said.

"We should remember it's the primaries, and the Republican party establishment is not happy about his popularity, because on many issues his positions run contrary to the traditional party's agenda.”

Hadar added that Paul is in favor of "economic cooperation with Israel, he was interested in the economic reforms in Israel."
Regarding Iran’s nuclear threat to Israel, Hadar said: "[Paul] will be glad to see the conflict resolved and he said it's the right of Israel to attack Iran if it thinks that is necessary - but it shouldn't expect the U.S. to clean the mess.”

Moreover, Hadar noted that Paul is "very familiar with Israel's history. I didn't hear his conversations with his former aide, but I personally have never heard him say anything against Israel or the Jews."

Hadar also declared that it is "absurd to say [Paul] is more supportive of Arabs or Iran than Israel -- he just thinks the U.S. shouldn't meddle in other countries issues. I think it's quite pro-Israeli, because the U.S. won't stay in the Middle East forever, and Israel should figure out how to deal with its challenges. [There] "is little doubt the current campaign against [Paul] and the attempts to paint him as anti-Israeli might cause him harm among the Evangelicals, whose support is more significant during the primaries than the Republican Jewish support."

Hadar is himself Jewish and a citizen of Israel.