Ohio Gov. John Kasich won repeated cheers from the audience of the influential American-Israeli PAC during a speech tonight in Washington that underscored his experience with Israel – including his 18 years in Congress.
He began with his first visit to Israel in1983 and he committed to an air and ground campaign with a regional and NATO coalition in the Middle East to defeat ISIS.
“I will also support and relief to our common ally, Jordan, that has shared the brunt of refugee flows and I will bring our troops home as soon as we together with our allies have created a realistic prospect that regional powers can conclude a settlement guaranteeing long-term security there.
Kasich also criticized the nuclear deal among the U.S., its allies and Iran -- calling for its suspension after a ballistic missile test by Iran earlier this month.
“These tests were both a violation of the spirit of the nuclear deal and provocations that that can no longer be ignored. One of the missiles tested had printed on it in Hebrew – can you believe this? – ‘Israel must be exterminated.’ And I will instantly gather the world and lead us to reapply sanctions if Iran violates one crossed T or one dot of that nuclear deal. We must put the sanctions back on them as the world community, together.”
Kasich spoke after the two other Republicans running for president – Donald Trump and Ted Cruz -- and after Democrat Hillary Clinton. The only major presidential candidate to skip the gathering was Bernie Sanders.
Here is Kasich's full speech to AIPAC:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxCPu8d6nuA
