The Most Important Factor in Choosing Our Next President - STEVE STRANG, STRANG REPORT CHARISMA MAGAZINE

A group of Christian leaders prayed for presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this year. (YouTube)

The Most Important Factor in Choosing Our Next President

11/20/2015 STEVE STRANG  charisma magazine

Our nation is in a spiritual crisis and I believe we need a leader who can hear from God to turn things around. The secular world ignores this spiritual dimension, so you won't read this in the mainstream press. 

In 2016, we will elect a new president in what many are calling the most important election in our nation's history.

In the Republican presidential race there are several candidates who are strong believers and whose Christian values guide their worldview with how they would govern. One well-connected Christian leader told me there are so many good ones that it's hard to know which one to support. He said, in a way, he wished they had been spread out over the past few presidential races, when most Christians considered the Republican nominees to be the lesser of two evils. 

I believe the nation's problems cannot be solved only by politicians. We need a major revival. But I do believe we need a godly leader—a person who can hear from God—who will set the nation on a new course. With several good ones to choose from, which one should we support? Many citizens, like me, are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

We can't wait long, however. While the so-called values voters may shift a close election, there are not enough of us to elect a president who will not receive support from other segments of voters. Where we can make a real difference, however, is in the early primaries. Often it's the candidate who wins the early primaries who goes on to win the nomination. It's something called momentum.

The early candidates who have gained momentum based on the polls are outsiders—Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson—neither of whom have held political office. (Carly Fiorina, who is lower in the polls, has also never held political office). 

The next two, Sen. Marco Rubio from my state of Florida and Sen. Ted Cruz from Texas, are not favored by the party establishment. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush seemed to be the party favorite but is lagging in the polls, and I don't see how his candidacy will ever gain traction.

So far, three candidates have dropped out—all of them governors—Rick Perry of Texas, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who made his announcement earlier this week.

Last January I attended a prayer rally in Baton Rouge hosted by Jindal. It was not a political rally, but a solemn assembly: a prayer meeting asking for God's mercy on America. Gov. Jindal did not appear timid about praying publicly with boldness, even though there were those strongly critical of his participation. Later, I attended a private meeting with him and came away impressed by him as a person and a man of deep Christian conviction. 

Even though Jindal gained traction in Iowa, nationally his poll numbers were low and his fundraising less fruitful than he had hoped. When he dropped out, he declared this is not his time. At 44, I believe we will see more of him in the future.

Rubio, Cruz and Carson are each well-known for their Christian faith. This endears them to many and makes them despised by others. All three would be godly leaders, I believe.  

As for the rest of the Republican group, others articulating strong Christian faith include former Gov. Mike Huckabee, whom I strongly supported in 2008. Others such as Fiorina, Gov. Chris Christie and Gov. John Kasich are on the right side of the social issues and seem concerned that Christians are losing their religious liberties. They all articulate Christian faith, so who am I to judge the extent of it? Frankly, I would support any of them over Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

And then there is Donald Trump. Well-known for his casinos and reality television show, he is loud, combative and articulates frustrations felt by many Americans, especially over the threat of Islamic terrorism and unsecured borders allowing massive illegal immigration.

There are good things to say about Trump. I enjoy listening to his speeches, and I'm glad to see him refusing to be politically correct—and seeming to get away with it! Each time he's politically incorrect, his poll numbers go up. He has helped shake up the Republican establishment in a way no one else has in recent memory.

One evangelical leader who has been bloodied by his dealings with the Republican Party told me Trump has done more to disrupt business as usual with the party elite than anyone else. He said that even though he doesn't like the fact Trump owns casinos, has been married three times and lives a lifestyle that in many ways doesn't line up with the Bible.

Nevertheless, Trump articulates Christian values and said the Bible was his favorite book, even though he didn't seem to know much about what was in the Bible. Similar to other Republican candidates, he has reached out to evangelicals.

We ran a commentary by Don Nori Sr. of Destiny Image telling about a meeting where some charismatic leaders including Kenneth Copeland prayed over Trump. Another writer speculated on our Charisma News site that God may have lifted up Trump like a type of Nebuchadnezzar, a view that drew a lot of fire from our readers.

So far, not many Christian leaders have spoken up to support specific candidates. As I travel around, I get the sense people are watching the race, but I don't hear Christians being passionate for any candidate. When there is discussion, some of it is about who can win or who can beat Hillary Clinton.

The fact is that we need a godly leader. While we believe God raises up leaders, if we are discerning, shouldn't we know who that person is? And we need to understand that we can make a difference, especially in the early primary states. So my advice is to pay attention to the races and resolve to get involved closer to the primaries.

And meanwhile, don't go along with trends you hear in the media from the political pundits. Let's believe that God is raising up a leader for America at this very important time.

Steve Strang is the founder of Charisma and CEO of Charisma Media. Follow him onTwitter or Facebook.

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Pat Buchanan Calls President Obama's 'Mindset' Into Question - TROY ANDERSON CHARISMA NEWS

Pat Buchanan says President Obama should be outraged over Paris attacks. (Reuters )

Pat Buchanan Calls President Obama's 'Mindset' Into Question

11/19/2015 TROY ANDERSON  charisma news

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan called into question the "mindset" of President Obama following his remarks chiding anti-refugee politicians as being "scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans."

In an interview on Newsmax TV, Buchanan criticized the president for his remarks lashing out at Republicans who called for barring Syrian refugees in the United States.

"He didn't really show what he should have shown, which was American leadership in the time of a real crisis for our ally in France," Buchanan told The Steve Malzberg Show."He really seems to be letting Republican criticism get to him.

"The president has not handled this at all well, there's no question about it. This was a massacre, a perpetrated massacre, the largest hit on France militarily, lost more casualties than any single incident since World War II. He's focusing on the Republican Party—and he's calling it a setback in the war on terror. You have to ask yourself about the mindset of the president right now."

Buchanan's remarks followed comments Obama made in the Philippines on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. At the summit, Obama make veiled references to GOP candidates who have called for closing the nation's borders to refugees.

"These are the same folks oftentimes that say they're so tough that just talking to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or staring down ISIL (ISIS) or using some additional rhetoric will solve the problem—and they're scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans," Obama said.

Meanwhile, a growing number of mostly Republican governors have called for shutting down their states to Syrian refugees.

Obama said intelligence agencies vet the refugees coming to the U.S. for up to two years prior to their entrance into the U.S.

"We are not well-served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic," Obama said. "We don't make good decisions if they're based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks."

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Why Hillary And Obama Prefer Islam To Christianity - Nov. 18, 2015 II&ET

THE left prefers Islam to Christianity. They’ll fight against anyone drawing pictures of Mohammed, but they’ll lose their minds if Christians complain about an “artist” soaking a statue of Jesus in urine

On Tuesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the American woman most responsible for the current refugee crisis in the Middle East, blasted Republicans for not wanting to accept unvetted Syrian Muslim refugees in the aftermath of last week’s Paris terror attacks

She tweeted:

Hillary Clinton
✔@HillaryClinton

We've seen a lot of hateful rhetoric from the GOP. But the idea that we'd turn away refugees because of religion is a new low. -H  1:33 PM - 17 Nov 2015

This, to be sure, is odd. Hillary decrying hateful rhetoric smacks of irony – she despises Republicans so much that she labeled them her enemies during the first Demoratic debate. Furthermore, Hillary is no fighter for religious freedom. In April, she told the Women in the World Summit that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed” to allow for abortion. And in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s egregious same-sex marriage decision in June, Hillary explicitly called for the government to force churches to sanction homosexuality, explaining, “Our work won’t be finished until every American can not only marry, but live, work, pray, learn and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice.” Pray – as in attend church “free from discrimination and prejudice.”

But she’s sure hot and bothered about what she terms discrimination against Muslim refugees. This isn’t particularly surprising – the entire left has a peculiar soft spot for Islam.

That seems weird, given Islamic countries’ fundamental rejection of leftist values ranging from same-sex marriage to abortion to women driving. But it isn’t so weird when considered in the context of Marxist philosophy, which sees Islam not as a religious philosophy of its own, but as a sort of bizarre cultural outgrowth of poverty. Impoverished people believe weird things, say the Marxists; if we just gave ISIS jobs, they’d stop all this nonsense and start behaving like members of the ACLU. Leftists see Islam not as an ideological force converting millions, but as a knee-jerk response to lack of basic living standards.

In fact, leftists see all religion this way: as the refuge of the weakminded underclass. As Marx wrote, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” Barack Obama agrees: as he said back in 2008, poor people “get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren’t like them.”

The view that all religious practice is essentially the domain of the exploited would cut in favor of seeing all religious practices as equally worthy of dismissal.

But the left prefers Islam to Christianity. They’ll fight against anyone drawing pictures of Mohammed, but they’ll lose their minds if Christians complain about an “artist” soaking a statue of Jesus in urine.

Why do leftists treat Christianity and Islam differently, if both are merely chimerical responses to the vicissitudes of life? Because leftists see Christianity as the creator of Islam’s rise, and Christians as the victimizers of Muslims. The Obama State Department won’t recognize Christians as victims of incipient Muslim genocide in the Middle East, but President Obama will equate ISIS violence in 2015 with the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. President Obama believes, like many on the left, that Western civilization was founded in racism, sexism, homophobia, and other bigotry – and that Christianity, as its wellspring, provided that impetus.

Furthermore, Obama believes that Western civilization has exploited the rest of the world, and that it therefore bears culpability for the poverty that gave rise to the Islamic wave. Muslims are benighted victims of poverty; Christianity made them victims of poverty in the first place. Christianity thus bears blood guilt for the sins of Islam, but Islam bears none of its own. As Dinesh D’Souza puts it, Obama is an anti-colonialist and believes “that the rich countries got rich by looting the poor countries, and that within the rich countries, plutocratic and corporate elites continue to exploit ordinary citizens.” Taken one step further, those rich countries – Christian countries – exploited non-Christian countries, impoverishing them and opening them to the opium of Islam.

How else to explain the left’s romance with Islam and simultaneous dismissal of Christianity? How else to explain the left’s preoccupation with allowing Muslim refugees into the Christianity-founded West while demanding nothing of Islamic countries which are murdering Christians en masse?

Hillary Clinton says it’s hateful for Western countries to discriminate in choosing refugees based on religious philosophy. It’s far more hateful to suggest that Christianity must bow and scrape before Islam, particularly when Islamic terrorists target non-Muslims the world over.

The GOP and Israel By David Rubin November 15, 2015 BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

The GOP and Israel

By David Rubin November 15, 2015 BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

Growing up in “progressive” New York City, I always believed that the Democrats were the only party in town. Republicans (otherwise known as the GOP, or Grand Old Party) were stereotyped as those “rednecks and hicks who live in the sticks” and no Jew in his right mind could ever dream of voting for them.

My views have evolved since then, not only on the liberal knee-jerk social issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and school prayer, but especially on what is rapidly becoming a major issue in the GOP – Israel.

While most politicians in Congress would claim to be pro-Israel, the overwhelming majority of Congressional Democrats voted for the Iran nuclear deal, which will enable the staunchly anti-Israel Islamic nation to acquire the nuclear bomb within ten years. That agreement was bitterly opposed by most Israelis across the political spectrum.  Furthermore, the leading Democratic candidates for president are on record as supporting an independent Palestinian state. They also oppose Israel’s right to build homes in its ancient and reestablished capital Jerusalem, as well as in its biblical heartland – the regions of Judea and Samaria – mistakenly known to most of the world by the fictional term, the West Bank. 

This po‎sition is taken by leading candidate Hillary Clinton, who infamously phoned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during her term as Secretary of State to sternly lecture him for 45 minutes about the illegality of Israel granting a building permit to Jews in Israel’s capital city. Her views have not changed.

Perhaps it’s time for Jews and other supporters of Israel to take a closer look at the Republicans? Most of the GOP candidates were vehemently opposed to the Iran nuclear deal, and they also tend to support giving Israel a free hand in crushing the terrorism, although some are vague on specifics when it comes to the Palestinian state issue. Let’s examine those who are leading in the polls:

Donald Trump – Trump’s statements about how he loves Israel, and how bad a deal the Iran nuclear deal is, as well as his calls for a very strong American policy against ISIS – all of these are certainly positive, although Mr. Trump has so far been very short on specifics about the Palestinian state issue. His daughter Ivanka is a convert to Judaism and she and her Jewish husband and children are reported to be Sabbath-observant members of an Orthodox synagogue. While that may have a positive influence on Trump’s Land of Israel views, the jury is out until we hear specifics.

Ben Carson – Dr. Carson is on record as opposing the “land for peace” formula of Israel surrendering land in exchange for a peace treaty. In March of 2015, he responded to a questioner, saying, “We need to look at fresh ideas. I don’t have any problem with the Palestinians having a state, but does it need to be within the confines of Israeli territory?” His views tend to be historically/biblically based, which emphasizes that they are genuine and not just produced for political consumption. Carson has also expressed deep concern and has been very vocal about the Islamic Jihadist threat to Western civilization. Such an understanding inherently makes him sympathetic to Israel’s challenges as the one bastion of freedom in the hostile Islamic Middle East.

Ted Cruz – Senator Cruz has spoken out consistently about the importance of letting Israel decide for itself on issues of war and peace and on the Palestinian state issue. He has stated clearly that settlement is an internal Israeli issue that the United States administration should not be involved in. Says Cruz, “I don’t believe an American president should be dictating to the nation of Israel where Israelis can choose to live. And the fact that Israelis choose to live in Judea and Samaria is not justification for terrorism or murder.” It’s also relevant to note that Cruz used the correct historical, biblical terms for the so-called West Bank, making him unique among most of the leading candidates.

Marco Rubio – Rubio has said that if elected, he would not honor the Iran nuclear deal and has also called for the United States to stand with Israel “unconditionally” in its battle against its enemies. While strongly blaming the Palestinian Authority (PA) for the current terrorism and the tensions between Israel and the PA, Sen Rubio has referred to the two state solution, which generally means the land for “peace” formula as the desired goal. He has qualified that by emphasizing that it’s not a realistic goal at this time. According to Rubio, “That’s the ideal outcome, but the conditions for a two-state solution at this moment do not exist.” This places him firmly in the camp of Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has repeatedly expressed support for a demilitarized Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, as long as it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state.

————————————————————————————–

Even though it’s accurate to say that the GOP candidates cited above are sympathetic towards Israel, I agree that it requires great courage for the candidates to be more Jewish than Israel’s political “Pope”, otherwise known as Binyamin Netanyahu. Nonetheless, the difficult question should be asked of the GOP candidates, “If the PA publicly recognizes Israel as a Jewish state and agrees not to have heavy weapons, would he support the establishment of such an Islamic terrorist nation in Israel’s biblical heartland, in the strategically-vital hills overlooking Ben Gurion International Airport?

Shouldn’t that question be asked of Netanyahu, as well?

Reprinted with author’s permission from Israel National News

WATCH: Presidential Candidate Asks the Left for 'A List of Jobs That Christians Aren't Allowed to Have'

Gov. Bobby Jindal

WATCH: Presidential Candidate Asks the Left for 'A List of Jobs That Christians Aren't Allowed to Have'

BEN JOHNSON  charisma news Sept. 17, 2015

Bobby Jindal has had enough with the prevailing double standard that punishes Bible-believing Christians but gives Islamic fundamentalists anything they ask.

The governor of Louisiana was asked about the case of Achmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested when the homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a bomb.

While he thought the error was regrettable, Jindal was less concerned with a school district's understandable concern than with another kind of blatant viewpoint discrimination.

"The biggest discrimination is going on against Christian business owners and individuals who believe in traditional forms of marriage," he said.

He referred to the case of Kim Davis, who was sent to jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to lesbian and homosexual couples.

"Let's talk about that," the excited governor said. "Let's talk about the Christian florist, the caterer, the musician, who simply want to say, don't arrest us, don't discriminate against us, don't shut down our businesses, don't fine us thousands of dollars for believing marriage is between a man and a woman."

"Lets talk about not discriminating against Christians," he said.

Later, when former New York Gov. George Pataki said he would have fired Kim Davis for allegedly not doing her job, Jindal fired back.

"I've got a practical question. I'd like the left to give us a list of jobs that Christians aren't allowed to have," he said.

"If we're not allowed to be clerks, bakers, musicians, caterers, are we allowed to be pastors?" he asked. "We're not allowed to be elected officials."

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Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina speaks during the second official Republican presidential candidates debate of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, United States, September 16, 2015. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

Republican presidential candidates debate defunding Planned Parenthood

CHRISTINE D. JOHNSON  charisma news  Sept. 17, 2015

Pro-life issues were prominent in a 3-hour Republican presidential debate Wednesday evening. The Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, played host to the debate aired live on CNN. FORMER HEWLETT-PACKARD CEO CARLY FIORINA CHALLENGED DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HILLARY CLINTON ON CLINTON'S SUPPORT OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD.

"I dare Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to watch these tapes, to watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart is beating, its legs are kicking, then someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain," Fiorina said, referring to a video released last month by the anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress, in which a former worker for StemExpress says she saw a fully formed fetus's heart beating.

"This is about the character of our nation," she added. "And if we will not stand up and force President Obama to veto this bill, shame on us."

Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rand Paul (Ky.), both presidential candidates, have called for a government shutdown in hopes of defunding Planned Parenthood.

Ohio Governor and candidate John Kasich indicated he was not for a government shut to end funding for Planned Parenthood.

"I would not be for shutting the government down, because I don't think it's going to work out," Kasich said.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush defended his earlier statement that the federal government should spend less on women's health care. Although he has been attacked by Hillary Clinton for the statement, Bush said he was referring to Planned Parenthood.

Candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee looked to a future where "abortion would be no more."

"I just come down on the side that life is precious; every life has worth and value," Huckabee said. "I don't think we discount the intrinsic worth of any human being, and I don't know where else to go with it than just to be consistent and say, if life matters, and that's a person, then every life matters."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared himself "the brand new first ever pro-life governor of New Jersey." He has repeatedly defunded Planned Parenthood.

Earlier in the evening at the pre-debate debate, Governor Bobby Jindal (La.) also called for defunding Planned Parenthood.

"Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts across this country, and the Senate Republicans have already given up, even without a fight," Jindal said.

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

NEW - Life in the Spirit is your Spirit-filled teaching guide. Encounter the Holy Spirit, hear God speak to you, and enjoy timeless teachings on love, mercy and forgiveness.LEARN MORE!

Yes, Hillary Clinton Really Compared Pro-Life Candidates to Terrorists

8/28/2015 CHARLENE AARON/CBN  charisma news

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is going on the attack, comparing Republican presidential candidates to terrorists because of some of their pro-life views. (Reuters)

Challenge your beliefs each week with topics on domestic and international politics, missions, Christian movements, persecution and global outreach with Steve Strang. Listen to the Strang Report at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

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Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is going on the attack, comparing Republican presidential candidates to terrorists because of some of their pro-life views.

The news comes after the release of eight videos by the Center for Medical Progress showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing selling the organs and tissue from aborted fetuses.

The abortion provider denies the accusations and says the footage has been heavily edited. Even so, the videos have prompted congressional investigations, and several states are seeking to block federal funding to the group.

But speaking before a small Ohio audience Thursday about what she calls "women's issues," Clinton called such reactions "extreme."

"Extreme views about women, we expect them from some of the terrorist groups," she said. "We expect that from people who don't want to live in the modern world, but it's a little hard to take coming from Republicans who want to be the president of the United States."

Republicans fired back.

"Hillary Clinton compares pro-life Americans to terrorists, but defends despicable Planned Parenthood treatment of unborn? Her priorities are totally wrong," Jeb Bush tweeted.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also blasted Clinton on Twitter.

"The only thing extreme is taking a position that doesn't protect these lives," Walker said.

"Not one more cent from taxpayers should go to Planned Parenthood," Cruz said.

During a recent interview with Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump panned Planned Parenthood as an "abortion factory."

"Well, you should defund anyway because they are doing the abortions," he said. "It is like an abortion factory, which is terrible... it's like you are selling parts to an automobile or something."

Clinton also blasted former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, telling supporters he banned state funding for some rape crisis centers because they referred women to other health facilities that provide abortions.

Kasich's camp responded, saying, "Ohio and our country deserves better than what Clinton is offering. Hillary Clinton's trail of scandal is decades long, and only continues to worsen."

Some political analysts say Clinton is talking about this issue in an effort to shift attention away from her email scandal which has hurt her in the polls.

According to a new Quinnipiac survey, when asked the first word that comes to mind about Clinton, people said "liar," "dishonest," and "untrustworthy."

Israel Eyes US Presidential Frontrunners

Wednesday, August 26, 2015 |  Israel Today Staff

RELATED STORIES

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• America: No Jews in Judea and Samaria

Topics:

America

It’s still early to say who will be the Republican candidate to become American’s next president come next year’s election, but already the topic of Israel is getting major play in the nomination process, and Israelis are taking notice.

Frontrunner Donald Trump and crowd favorite Dr. Ben Carson have been particularly vocal in their support of Israel, and in their harsh criticism of current President Barack Obama over his handling of relations with the Jewish state.

Carson in an interview with Fox News charged that Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran was evidence of his disdain for the Jews and the survival of their national homeland.

“All you have to do,” said Carson, “is, like I have, go to Israel, and talk to average people, on all ends of that spectrum. And I couldn’t find a single person there who didn’t feel that this administration had turned their back on Israel.”

When challenged over whether or not that made Obama anti-Semitic, as Carson suggested, he replied: “I think anything is anti-Semitic that is against the survival of a state that is surrounded by enemies, and by people who want to destroy them. And to sort of ignore that, and to act like everything is normal there, and that these people are paranoid, I think that’s anti-Semitic.”

Carson spoke out strongly against the Iran nuclear deal in July, warning that it puts the “whole country in jeopardy” and represents “a complete lack of common sense.”

In a separate interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Trump warned that “Israel is in big trouble. Obama has really let Israel down.”

Implementation of the Obama-brokered nuclear deal, according to Trump, means that Iran is “going to be such a wealthy, such a powerful nation. They are going to have nuclear weapons. They are going to take over parts of the world that you wouldn’t believe. And I think it’s going to lead to nuclear holocaust.”

Unfortunately, Trump explained, it will be almost impossible for the next president to just “rip up” the nuclear deal signed by Obama.

Still, if elected, the real estate mogul vowed he would “police that contract so tough that they [the Iranians] don’t have a chance. As bad as the contract is, I will be so tough on that contract.”

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Huckabee at CUFI: Kerry Needs to “Get Off His Crutches” and “Hug Bibi” in Jerusalem

By Lea Speyer July 14, 2015  BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS

“Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.” (Proverbs 16:13)

GOP presidential candidate and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee at the 2015 annual CUFI summit in Washington, DC. (Photo: Christians United for Israel Facebook)

Republican presidential hopefuls touted their pro-Israel credentials Monday at the annual summit of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) in Washington, DC.

With some 1.6 million members, Republican candidates are using the CUFI summit to highlight their positions on the Iran nuclear deal, a possible two-state solution and Israel’s right to self-defense and woo Christian Zionists as potential supporters.

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee called on US Secretary of State John Kerry to “get off his crutches” and leave Iran talks to “go to Jerusalem” and “hug Bibi,” resulting in loud applause.

Senator Lindsey Graham at the annual CUFI summit in Washington, DC. (Photo: Christians United for Israel Facebook)

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-NC) laid out possible congressional action to counter the Iran deal. He argued that the agreement could only be blocked if Senate Democrats were willing to resist pressure from the Obama administration to accept the deal.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), in a pre-recorded interview, slammed the Obama administration and said that “negotiations have gone from bad to worse to catastrophic.” He labeled Iran’s nuclear program as “the single greatest security threat facing the US today.”

“This deal has become a research and development program for the Iranian nuclear program. Under the terms we know, the Obama administration has already given up the entire store, and they are pushing it as a partisan political issue,” he stated. “The president’s approach from day one on Iran is that he wants a political legacy and doesn’t particularly care about the terms of the deal.”

Former New York governor George Pataki at the annual CUFI summit in Washington, DC. (Photo: Christians United for Israel Facebook)

Focusing on US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy decisions and those of Democratic candidate and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, Cruz added that “President Obama and John Kerry and Hillary Clinton are perfectly fine with Iran having a nuclear weapon.”

“They should really be conducting these negotiations in Munich and coming back with an announcement about peace within our time,” Cruz added, referencing talks between Germany and England in 1938 that led to the ultimate seizure of Europe by the Nazis.

Former New York governor George Pataki called possible Iranian sanctions relief “an incredibly stupid policy that I hope doesn’t come to pass.” He urged the US to “do everything we can to destabilize the Iranian administration.”

Speaking directly about Israel, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, one of the more centrist Republican candidates, told the audience in a pre-recorded interview that he does not give up hope on a two-state solution but does so cautiously.

image: http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/useful_banner_manager_banners/167-US%20states%20stand%20with%20israel%20bumper%20stickers.jpg

Bush stated that it was “in the interest of the United States for a Palestinian state to come into existence,” adding that any agreement “has to be under the right conditions.”

The former governor agreed that Israel should be allowed to build in Judea and Samaria but only “in areas that are developed” and not in “green field” areas.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum at the annual CUFI summit in Washington, DC. (Photo: Christians United for Israel Facebook)

Both Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum renounced current US foreign policy of supporting a two-state solution as the means to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. “I am not for a two-state solution,” Santorum told the crowd. “I don’t think it’s the role of the United States of America to be dictating solutions any more than if there is an internal territorial dispute in the United States.”

Pataki stated that he would “work with the Israeli government toward an intelligent approach toward Judea and Samaria.”

“I’m not going to demonize them when they believe it is in the national strategic interest to establish a community somewhere,” he said. The former New York governor said the US couldn’t “expect the Israelis to sit down with [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas and the PLO government when their strategic partner has been Hamas.”

Texas senator Ted Cruz being interviewed by WSJ Bret Stephens at the annual CUFI summit in Washington, DC. (Photo: Christians United for Israel Facebook)

When asked whether he supports a two-state solution, Cruz did not directly answer the question, saying that he doesn’t “think it is the role of the US or any other for nation to try to impose a specific solution on the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.”

“Israel is a sovereign nation,” Cruz added. “Whatever the ultimate solution that is arrived upon by those two parties — whether it is a two-state solution or a one-state solution is a decision for Israel to make.”

The Texas senator made clear that “Israel is not the obstacle to peace…sadly, President Obama, and Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have trouble understanding the idea that the impediment to peace is not Israel, but the Palestinians who refuse to lay down their arms.”

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