The government should cut federal funding to universities that boycott Israel, according to Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who spoke Thursday at a gala attended by GOP mega-donor casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Cruz's comments were aimed at the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for U.S. companies and universities to divest from Israel and is reportedly gaining traction on college campuses, prompting Adelson to organize anti-BDS countermovements, The Washington Post reported.
"In 2017, we need a president who will stand up directly and confront the BDS movement," Cruz said at the dinner for The World Values Network, according to BuzzFeed. "BDS is premised on a lie and it is anti-Semitism plain and simple. And we need a president of the United States who will stand up and say if a university in this country boycotts the nation of Israel than that university will forfeit federal taxpayer dollars."
While Cruz didn't mention his presidential candidacy, he did spend time talking about the need for the next president to continue to diplomatically isolate Iran and strengthen ties with Israel. He condemned the looming Iran nuclear deal, calling it "disastrous," and said the U.S. needs to transfer "bunker-buster bombs" to Israel if "Iran has not stopped marching toward nuclear weapons." The U.S. Embassy should also be moved to Jerusalem, Cruz said, and funding should be withdrawn from the Palestinian Authority, "as long as it engages in incitement" and has governmental ties to Hamas, according to the Post.
"If Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons that president in 2017 should stand up to the world and explain very simply either Iran will stop or the United States of America will stop it," Cruz said, reports the Post.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is expected to soon announce a White House bid, was also in attendance, as was former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Holocaust survivor and author Eli Wiesel.
Christie accused President Obama of drastically weakening America's global leadership role, saying Obama is "unwilling to stand up to anyone," except for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to CNN.
"The President only has the resolve to stand up to our friends and not to stand up to evil. As long as Iran believes that Israel doesn't have the right to exist and that America should die as well, they are not a part of the civilized world," Christie said.
"Our friends in Israel deserve better than what they've gotten in the last seven years from this White House," he added.
Christie and Cruz's comments were likely at least partially an attempt win Adelson's support, who is a staunch supporter of Israel and has not yet publicly voiced which Republican candidate he will back in the 2016 primary. Adelson spent $92 million on Republican candidates in 2012, according to the Post.
