Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power discussed foreign policy, including the issue of Israel, in a recent interview with The Floridian, saying, "People respect us again."
"I think if you look at peace through strength, it obviously works," Power began, calling the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of January "the right move" and demonstrating how "we've shown that we're willing to take that daring risk and go out and grab you if you're that kind of person, regardless of what kind of leader you are."
Additionally, he suggested that the collapse of the Venezuelan regime could play a significant role in the fall of the communist Cuban government, a view Representative Greg Steube (R-FL) previously expressed.
"It's already starting to happen," Power commented. "We have to support the idea of the people who want freedom; we have to support them. If you look at what happened in Venezuela, they released the hostages and the political prisoners, and they backed down. We need to be able to do that in Cuba."
On the apparent rise of antisemitism among right-wingers, driven partly by resentment toward the United States' relationship with Israel, Power replied that support for Israel and antisemitism are two different issues, emphasizing that "there's no place in the Republican Party for anti-Semitism." He added, "I think that's a line that we cannot accept. In history, that's not been an acceptable place to be. We know the end of anti-Semitism, and that's a bad, bad place. So we need to make sure that we stand up and protect the rights of all people, including our Jewish friends."
Regarding Israel as an institution, Power said that the United States's relationship with the Jewish State should be approached like any other foreign relationship: how does it benefit the United States?
"We have had a great ally in Israel, whether it's weapons training, whether it's our ability to develop weapons because of them for the military, or strengthen our military technology because of the things that the particular warfare that they're engaged in," Power said.
Still, he emphasized that "we should be funding the entire world," adding, "I think foreign aid should be used in a limited manner, and we have to know what we're getting out of it. So I think the two are separate. It's that we can have a discussion on whether Israel is an ally -- I think they are -- and what kind of aid we give and what we get back in response. It's a business deal, but antisemitism itself has no place in our culture."
