Rep. Eric Cantor Climbs GOP Ladder; The sole Jewish member of the House Republican Caucus, Rep. Eric Cantor impresses observers with his solid conservative values and strong leadership

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 10, 2003

I look forward to working with this White House and this president to try to grow the Republican vote within the Jewish community of our country.

Q: Will we see a greater number of Jews vote for Bush and Republican candidates in general in 2004?

A: Absolutely. George W. Bush has been a loyal friend on Israel. He is, I think, better than any president has been on the U.S.-Israel relationship, and he is more committed to Israel as a Jewish state than any other president.

He's the only president who stood up to Yasser Arafat. That guy's been around for quite a long time.

[Bush] stood up to him and said, "You have no place at the peacemaking table because you're not interested in peace, and how in the world can we expect our friend Israel to negotiate with you, Mr. Arafat, when all you really want to do is to destroy Israel?"

Q: Are Republicans in general better than Democrats on Israel?

A: I don't think there's any question about it. If you look at the votes last year on resolutions condemning the Palestinian Authority for its support of terrorism and condemning Yasser Arafat, you will see that overwhelming numbers of Republicans voted for that, and on one in particular there were probably 67 Democrats who voted against it. There's no way anyone can tell me that the actions of a terrorist are the moral equivalent of action striking against that terrorist and his commanders. I've always believed that, if the Palestinians would put down their arms, there would be peace in Israel. But if Israel put down its arms right now, there would be no more Israel. I think we have to live within that reality.

Q: Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policy has complained about militant groups such as the American Muslim Council and the Council on American Islamic Relations, whose leaders have praised

the terrorist group Hamas, going to the White House and meeting with the president and his officials. What do you think of that?

A: If it were my decision, I wouldn't allow them to do that. Because people who deal with terrorists should be made to understand that America doesn't deal with terrorists, we don't negotiate with terrorists and we will not be friendly with those who do.

At the same time, I think the Muslim community as a whole has been pegged with extremism of the kind that has influenced the terrorist groups in the Middle East and Central Asia. I think that the community as a whole needs to step up to the plate and differentiate the peaceful religion of Islam from the strand of Wahhabism that is being promoted by Saudi Arabia.

Q: Any other issues of special concern to Jews where you see a difference between the two parties?

A: Missile defense. There's a stark contrast. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) is openly against national missile defense. When Jews in this country think of missile defense, I think what they picture is incoming Scuds over Tel Aviv during Gulf War I. If you're against national missile defense, then you must be against promoting the technology that protected Israel during Gulf War I, a matter of concern to Jews everywhere.