Florida Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the Israeli-American Council (IAC) Summit in Washington, DC, where he strongly criticized the Democratic Party for its stance on Israel.

“It is pathetic that our nation’s oldest and largest political party feels the need to cater to its very own pro-Hamas pockets. If they were in my party, I’d want them to be kicked out of our Republican Party,” DeSantis declared.

Speaking about the wave of anti-Israel demonstrations on college campuses, DeSantis commented, “What you’re seeing on these college campuses, no question, is a lot of virulent antisemitism, a lot of hate. When you say ‘from the river to the sea,’ you are chanting in favor of a second Holocaust. That’s what that means.”

He added that some of the students involved may not even understand the implications of their statements. “I do think some of these students are just ignorant. I don’t think they understand even what they’re talking about. You hear some of them talking about ‘end the occupation of Palestine’. And I just think they need a little history lesson: There has never been a Palestinian Arab state!”

DeSantis then provided a brief historical overview to support his point. “Prior to the first World War, you had hundreds of years of occupation under the Ottoman Empire. It was not a Palestinian Arab state. Then you had the British Mandate for Palestine. Then you had a Partition Plan from the UN – Jewish state and Arab state. The Jews accepted the state and founded Israel. The Arabs rejected the state and they went to war to try to eradicate Israel, and they lost. And they went to war again and they lost in 1967 and 1973 and throughout the intifadas, and so no! That land historically has no stronger connection than any group of people except the Jewish people. It goes about thousands of years. Read your Bible!”

He also underscored the significance of America’s support for Israel. “It’s important for us in the United States to be very clear-eyed about what it means to be a strong ally of the State of Israel, and that means we should not embrace the canard of a two-state solution. That is not seeking to have peace. They are seeking that as a stepping stone to the destruction of the Jewish state and that is not acceptable!”

DeSantis referenced former U.S. President Harry Truman, saying, “The US President that recognized the modern Jewish state, Harry Truman, once remarked that he had faith in Israel before it was established. He knew it was based on the love of freedom, which has been the guiding star of the Jewish people since the days of Moses. He went on to note that Israel had a glorious future before it, not just as a sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization, and you can’t find a sharper contrast in any region of the world than you do between the lightness the light that’s reflected by Israeli democracy and the darkness that’s reflected by so many of the pathologies that run rampant throughout the Middle East.”

Finally, DeSantis reflected on the events of October 7th, asserting, “October 7th revealed that evil exists in this world, but I’ll tell you this: Ultimately the truth will prevail, ultimately good will triumph over evil.”

{Matzav.com}