House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) is in Israel with 25 Republican members of Congress this week, and he’s criticizing President Obama’s Middle East policy. From the Associated Press:
Cantor said that instead of focusing on issues such as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, Obama should concentrate on "the primary issue of import … and that is the existential threat that Iran poses not only to the state of Israel but to the United States."
The congressman said he is "concerned about what the White House has been signaling of late."
Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons that could one day be used against the Jewish state. Iran says its nuclear program is meant only for energy production.
Cantor and others supported Israel’s handling of the eviction of two Arab families from a house in east Jerusalem earlier this week, a move criticized by the European Union and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"I don’t think we, in America, would want another country telling us how to implement and execute our laws," Cantor said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.