The US must maintain its close relationship with Israel, Republican presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley said, after fellow GOP hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy spoke about rolling back military aid to the Jewish state.
Ramaswamy was "completely wrong to call for ending America's special bond with Israel," Haley said.
"Support for Israel is both the morally right and strategically smart thing to do," she added. "Both countries are stronger and safer because of our iron-clad friendship."
Haley promised that "as president, I will never abandon Israel."
The candidate also accused Ramaswamy of having a "concerning pattern" of "foreign policy proposals [that]...make America less safe."
'Israel should not receive more aid than neighbors,' Ramaswamy says
Earlier this week, Ramaswamy gave an interview to British comedian and Internet personality Russell Brand on the social media platform Rumble, in which he said Israel should not be getting more aid than its neighbors in the Middle East.
Ramaswamy outlined a plan by which he would expand the Abraham Accords such that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Indonesia would normalize relations with Israel.
After that happens, "that additional aid won’t be necessary in order to still have the kind of stability that we’d actually have in the Middle East by having Israel more integrated in with its partners,” he said.
Ramaswamy said Israel should not get preferential treatment even if the "relationship with Israel has advanced American interests."
"There's no North Star commitment to any one country, other than the United States of America," he added.
Ramaswamy came in third place among GOP candidates in a Fox News poll published last week, with 11% support, following former president Donald Trump with 53% and 16% for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, both of whom stauncly support Israel and military aid.
His remarks on aid to Israel come amid debate among American Jewish writers as to whether US aid is good for Israel, with some on the Right, like Tablet Magazine's Liel Liebowitz and Jacob Seigal taking on what was long a left-wing position.
In addition, progressives in Congress have repeatedly proposed in recent years to make military aid to Israel conditional on its policies towards the Palestinians.