Gov. DeSantis delivers remarks on importance of US-Israel alliance
MIAMI - Governor Ron DeSantis spelled out his Middle East policy during a speech in Israel on Thursday.
In his remarks to a conference at Jerusalem's Museum of Tolerance, DeSantis said Israel was the only authority that could protect freedom of worship in combustible Jerusalem and that the U.S. embassy would always remain in the city after being moved there by the Trump administration to the chagrin of the Palestinians.
He slammed divestment movements and said the American people should stand by Israel and the Jewish people.
DeSantis did not mention the lawsuit filed by Disney over the Republican's takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" after the company opposed a law critics call "Don't Say Gay."
DeSantis was speaking from Israel on the third leg of an international trip meant to burnish his foreign policy credentials ahead of what's expected to be an announcement next month on his candidacy for the Republican 2024 presidential ticket, which would make him the main rival to former President Trump.
Leading up to his arrival in Israel, Florida lawmakers passed bipartisan legislation targeting a recent uptick in episodes of antisemitism in the state. Last year, hundreds of flyers falsely claiming the public health response to Covid-19 was orchestrated by Jewish people were distributed to homes in South Florida. And in October, antisemitic messages were projected on the outside of TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville during the Florida-Georgia college football game.
Meanwhile, reports of neo-Nazi activity have been on the rise, according to the Anti-Defamation League. A recent analysis from the organization found 269 recorded antisemitic incidents in Florida last year, an all-time high and double the total from 2020.
The legislation makes it a crime to dump litter with hate messages on private property, to harass and threaten people who are wearing or displaying items that would indicate their religious or ethnic heritage, and to display or to project hateful images on buildings and structures without the owner's permission.
On Wednesday, DeSantis' office notified the public that he had received the bill, which typically means he is likely to sign the legislation imminently. During a 2019 visit to Israel, DeSantis ceremonially signed a measure that prohibits antisemitic speech in public schools and universities. Given the timing, a similar symbolic gesture on foreign soil could be likely, though his office did not respond to a CNN inquiry.
Amid the rise in antisemitic attacks, DeSantis has faced criticism from Democrats and others in the state, who have accused the governor of not doing more to denounce these public demonstrations of hate.
Last year, DeSantis lashed out at people calling on him to condemn Nazi demonstrations near Orlando, accusing his political opponents of trying to "smear me as if I had something to do with it." The day before, a spokeswoman for DeSantis deleted a tweet that suggested the demonstrators might be Democrats in disguise.
"Signing pieces of legislation does not erase his silence on the rise of anti-semitism over the last few years," said Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Nikki Fried, herself a member of the Jewish faith. "He has an obligation to stand up and say hate speech is not welcome in the state of Florida and he continues to be silent every time"
Jeffrey Salkin, a columnist for Religious News Service and a rabbi of Temple Israel of West Palm Beach, said he was grateful to see DeSantis travel to Israel and hoped he would use the platform to address the rise in antisemitism worldwide and "speak up for Democratic values."
"The rise in antisemitism, of course, fills all American Jews and others with deep fear," Salkin said. "We need Gov. DeSantis to speak out loudly and clearly when antisemitic acts take place in Florida itself. Especially those that have been perpetrated by far-right, White-supremacist elements. It is not enough to nearly bemoan 'woke politics.' He must also bemoan the reactionary forces that have endangered Jewish life and lives for centuries."
DeSantis has long positioned himself as an ally of Israel, visiting the country several times as a member of Congress and during his first six months as governor. He has sided with Israel repeatedly in its ongoing conflict with Palestinians, suggesting in 2019 that the latter is not interested in peace.
"If you look at this whole conflict, to me, the biggest problem has been that Palestinian Arabs have not recognized Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state," he said. "That kind of denialism poisons really everything."
DeSantis has received past support from some of the Republican Party's staunchest pro-Israel donors, including $500,000 during his 2018 race for governor from Miriam Adelson and her husband, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The couple also donated $5 million to the state GOP after DeSantis won the party's gubernatorial nomination that year.
Last November, DeSantis was warmly received at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting, the first major Republican cattle call in the 2024 White House race.
Mel Sembler, a board member for the coalition, said he was encouraged to see DeSantis spend time in Israel ahead of his likely campaign for president. Sembler once accompanied George W. Bush to Israel before the Texas governor launched his campaign for the White House.
Sembler, though, said he was troubled that DeSantis and other Republicans were so far failing to make a strong case for GOP voters to look beyond former president Donald Trump in 2024. Unless he can secure the nomination, Sembler said, DeSantis' positions toward Israel would become moot.
"He's got to get elected president to accomplish anything over there," Sembler said.