Candidates' positions are categorized as Pro (Yes), Con (No), Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found. Candidates who have changed their positions are listed as Now their most recent position. Candidates are listed by party and in alphabetical order by last name. Black & white photos indicate candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria for inclusion.
Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico, stated the following during a May 20, 2011 interview on Fox Business Network, posted on www.youtube.com:
"I think it's a mistake that we [the US] know what's in Israel's best interest - they do and they need to be left to decide that and determine that." May 20, 2011 Gary Johnson
Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, stated the following in his Sep. 21, 2011 "Remarks by President Obama in Address to the United Nations General Assembly," available at www.whitehouse.gov:
"One year ago, I stood at this podium and I called for an independent Palestine. I believed then, and I believe now, that the Palestinian people deserve a state of their own. But what I also said is that a genuine peace can only be realized between the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves... Israelis must know that any agreement provides assurances for their security. Palestinians deserve to know the territorial basis of their state.
We seek a future where Palestinians live in a sovereign state of their own, with no limit to what they can achieve. There's no question that the Palestinians have seen that vision delayed for too long. It is precisely because we believe so strongly in the aspirations of the Palestinian people that America has invested so much time and so much effort in the building of a Palestinian state, and the negotiations that can deliver a Palestinian state." Sep. 21, 2011 Barack Obama
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following in an Oct. 8, 2012 speech "Transcript: Mitt Romney Remarks at Virginia Military Institute," available at www.nytimes.com:
"The relationship between the president of the United States and the prime minister of Israel, for example, our closest ally in the region, has suffered great strains. The president explicitly stated that his goal was to put daylight between the United States and Israel, and he’s succeeded. This is a dangerous situation that has set back the hope of peace in the Middle East and emboldened our mutual adversaries, especially Iran...
I’ll recommit America to the goal of a democratic, prosperous Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with the Jewish state of Israel. On this vital issue, the president has failed, and what should be a negotiation process has devolved into a series of heated disputes at the United Nations. In this old conflict, as in every challenge we face in the Middle East, only a new president will bring the chance to begin anew." Oct. 8, 2012 Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, stated the following druing a May 17, 2012 private fundraiser, "SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution," available at motherjones.com:
"...[T]he Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish.
Now why do I say that? Some might say, well, let's let the Palestinians have the West Bank, and have security, and set up a separate nation for the Palestinians… what the border would be? Maybe seven miles from Tel Aviv to what would be the West Bank... And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did near Gaza. Which is that the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel. So Israel of course would have to say, 'That can't happen. We've got to keep the Iranians from bringing weaponry into the West Bank.' Well, that means that—who? The Israelis are going to patrol the border between Jordan, Syria, and this new Palestinian nation? Well, the Palestinians would say, 'Uh, no way! We're an independent country. You can't, you know, guard our border with other Arab nations.' And now how about the airport? How about flying into this Palestinian nation? Are we gonna allow military aircraft to come in and weaponry to come in? And if not, who's going to keep it from coming in? Well, the Israelis. Well, the Palestinians are gonna say, 'We're not an independent nation if Israel is able to come in and tell us what can land in our airport.' These are problems—these are very hard to solve, all right?
And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, 'There's just no way.' And so what you do is you say, 'You move things along the best way you can.' You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem." May 17, 2012 Mitt Romney
Jill Stein, MD, former Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, was quoted in a May 15, 2012 article "US Policy to Israel, Palestine Must Change, Says Stein," available at www.jillstein.org:
"[T]he United States has encouraged the worst tendencies of the Israeli government as it pursues policies of occupation, apartheid, assassination, illegal settlements, blockades, building of nuclear bombs, indefinite detention, collective punishment, and defiance of international law. Instead of allying with the courageous proponents of peace within Israel and Palestine, our government has rewarded consistent abusers of human rights. There is no peace or justice or democracy at the end of such a path. We must reset US policy regarding Israel and Palestine, as part of a broader revision of US policy towards the Middle East...
...[A] dedicated commitment to justice will further American interests in the region much better than the current policies of supporting abuses and violence by one side against the other. And I believe that this is in the best interests of all people living in Israel and Palestine." May 15, 2012 Jill Stein
Michele Bachmann, US Representative (R-MN), stated the following in her Sep. 22, 2011 article, "The Case Against Palestinian Statehood," available at bachmann.house.gov:
"The Palestinians are not in a position to become a sovereign nation. They have failed to commit to serious negotiations with Israel that are necessary before statehood and full UN membership can even be discussed. They have failed to demonstrate any commitment to eradicating terrorism; the Palestinian Authority does not even control its own 'territory' as the Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. Furthermore, they have failed to demonstrate, through their negotiations with Hamas that they are seriously interested in peace in any way." Sep. 22, 2011 Michele Bachmann
Herman Cain, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and Chairman of Godfather's Pizza, stated the following in a Sep. 20, 2011 article, "If You Mess with Israel, You're Messing with the USA," available at www.hermancainpac.com:
"First, UN recognition of a Palestinian state simply throws away years of peace talks with Israel and sets both peoples on a collision course for violent conflict...
UN recognition of a Palestinian state would in all probability lead to a third Intifadah, meaning the deaths of thousands and cycle of violence playing itself out on television sets and newspapers every day throughout the world...
The Obama administration's insistence that Israel return to pre-1967 borders, which are militarily indefensible – shows its enemies that the United States may not stand with Israel in times of crisis...
My message for the UN, Iran, Palestinians and anyone else is this: 'If you mess with Israel, you're messing with the USA.'" Sep. 20, 2011 Herman Cain
Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives (R-GA), stated the following in a Summer 2005 article, "Defeat of Terror, Not Roadmap Diplomany, Will Bring Peace," available on the Middle East Quarterly website:
"[T]he US government should actively support a democratic Palestinian state... The US government can play a constructive role by stating the circumstances under which it would recognize a Palestinian state and establish an embassy. President George W. Bush has already taken key steps in this direction, outlining the conditions for recognizing a Palestinian state in a June 24, 2002 speech... [T]he United States should begin to take clear steps to bring a better life for the Palestinian people and should propose better systems and solutions to ease the daily depravations of the Palestinian people." 2005 Newt Gingrich
Ron Paul, US Representative (R-TX), wrote the following in his Sep. 26, 2011 article, "A Palestinian State?," available at paul.house.gov:
"The Palestinian Authority's recent announcement that it would seek UN recognition as an independent state dominated the news and the political debate in the United States last week, though in truth it should mean very little to us. Only a political class harboring the illusion it can run the world obsesses over the aspirations of a tiny population on a tiny piece of land thousands of miles away...
I believe that we can no longer police the world. We can no longer bribe the Israelis and Palestinians to continue an endless 'peace process' that goes nowhere. It is not in our interest to hector the Palestinians or the Israelis, or to 'export' democracy to the region but reject it when people vote the 'wrong' way...
While I do not see UN membership as a particularly productive move for the Palestinian leadership, I do not believe the US should use its position in the UN Security Council to block their membership. I believe in self-determination of peoples and I recognize that peoples may wish to pursue statehood by different means. As we saw after the Cold War, numerous new states were born out of the ruins of the USSR as the various old Soviet Republics decided that smaller states were preferable to an enormous and oppressive multi-national conglomerate.
The real, pro-US solution to the problems in the Middle East is for us to end all foreign aid, stop arming foreign countries, encourage peaceful diplomatic resolutions to conflicts, and disengage militarily." Sep. 26, 2011 Ron Paul
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, stated the following in a Sep. 20, 2011 press conference on CNN:
"Israel is our oldest and strongest ally in the Middle East...
Palestinian leaders must publicly affirm Israel's right to exist, and to exist as a Jewish nation, a Jewish state...
Palestinian statehood must be established only through direct negotiations between Palestinian leadership and the nation of Israel.
...[E]very nation within the UN must know America stands with Israel, and that we stand with the Oslo principle of direct negotiations without equivocation." Sep. 20, 2011 Rick Perry
Buddy Roemer, former Governor of Louisiana, was quoted as stating the following in a May 31, 2011 article by Jennifer Keefe titled "Roemer: Teamwork is Key to Presidency," available at www.fosters.com:
"I've seen president after president hold their breath in the Middle East. Flat-footed in the Middle East, doing business with chieftains because of oil. Addiction affects you in many ways and our addiction to oil from the Middle East affects our foreign policy and could hurt our most steadfast friends, Israel." May 31, 2011 Buddy Roemer
Rick Santorum, former Senator (R-PA), cosponsored S. 2370(135 KB), Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. The bill stated in part:
"It shall be the policy of the United States -
(1) to support a peaceful, two-state solution to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in accordance with the Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (commonly referred to as the 'Roadmap')." June 23, 2006 Rick Santorum
Historic Photographs - View historic pictures dating back to the 1850's of the Temple Mount / Haram al-Sharif, the Dome of the Rock, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Western Wall