Iran and Israel

Our Multipolar World

Nations that are forward-thinking in their foreign policy will be successful. Those that cling to outdated assumptions will end up with suboptimal outcomes and will pay for it in blood and treasure. The reality is that we live in a multipolar world now. The average American understands this intuitively, even as too many in Washington’s foreign policy establishment remain resistant to updating their assumptions. The decisions we make in this decade will significantly shape our national trajectory for generations. Mistakes have been made by both parties, across multiple administrations. But if those mistakes are not repeated, the future is bright.

If elected, I would advocate for policies and vote on legislation that:

• Strategically scales down our global military footprint while securing vital national interests
• Encourages cooperation and healthy competition among the world’s dominant powers
• Avoids the mistake so many overextended powers have made of leaving dangerous vacuums behind when they withdraw
• Maintains firm respect for international law and internationally agreed customs as the foundation of everything we do
• Prevents the spread and proliferation of nuclear weapons

Iran

The war with Iran that began on February 28, 2026 was a serious strategic mistake, and I said so publicly, not after the fact, but nearly six years in advance.

In October 2020, I published an article titled “Political Hedging — The Libertarian Conservative Case for Joe Biden” arguing that a vote for Donald Trump was effectively a vote for war with Iran. Not because Trump personally wanted war — I was careful to note that he likely did not — but because his personality traits, his choice of advisors, and the cumulative trend of his actions made it nearly inevitable that he would be pushed into one. I take no satisfaction in having been right. I urged voters in the anti-interventionist wing of Trump’s coalition not to vote for him on this basis. I believe voters deserve a representative who calls these things honestly, in advance, in public — not someone who discovers their foreign policy convictions after the fact.

The situation currently remains extremely fragile. A memorandum of understanding was signed on June 17, but whether it will lead to a lasting peace is questionable given recent events. I am cautiously optimistic while on guard given that Trump is who is he is, and there are those that would like to sabotage the deal. We must remain vigilant to avoid the worst-case scenario of all-out war, which would be mutually assured destruction.

The Israeli / Palestinian Conflict

American public opinion on this conflict has shifted dramatically and measurably. For the first time in Gallup’s tracking since 2001, Americans’ sympathies no longer lie predominantly with Israelis over the Palestinians. Support for reducing or ending military aid to Israel is growing across party lines. Concern about AIPAC’s influence in American politics has reached levels that would have been politically unthinkable a decade ago.

I support a just and equitable shared sovereignty solution that guarantees Jews the right to live in their ancestral homeland while preserving the rights of indigenous Palestinians to live there as well, with human dignity and freedom for all inhabitants. While a two-state solution somewhere in the range of the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative and 2008 Olmert proposal might have been ideal, the practical reality is that Israel’s settlement policies over the past two decades have made it virtually impossible to implement. It is no understatement that the blame for the collapse of the two-state solution lies almost exclusively with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his successive right-wing governments from 2009 till this day. Hence, the most practical solution is likely a binational state, or a state with a defined national identity that nonetheless guarantees equal rights for all who live there and an explicitly negotiated and just power-sharing arrangement.

I strongly oppose and unequivocally condemn the Israeli government’s plan to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians into other countries. Palestinians have every right to live on their land with equal rights. The idea that people whose ancestors lived in a land 2000 years ago have a right to it today, while people whose ancestors lived there 100 years ago don’t, is ludicrous. I also oppose and condemn the rise of antisemitism in our country and unequivocally affirm that criticizing the actions of the Israeli government and demanding freedom and dignity for the Palestinians is not antisemitism. Hating people because they are Jewish is wrong while hating the actions of the Israeli government is necessary for any person with a moral compass.

To those who are genuinely committed to Israel’s long-term security and survival: I urge you to use whatever influence you have to push the Israeli government toward a just and equitable outcome, as American support and protection cannot be guaranteed indefinitely.