NEW YORK – Congressman Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for New York governor, said on Monday he was very concerned about the possibility that the US would reenter the Iran nuclear deal.
“The sunset clause is now seven years closer to expiring and the administration isn’t talking about changing that,” he said at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York. He said there were issues with the verification system that also weren’t going to be addressed.
“They’re also talking about taking the IRGC off the terror watch list,” said Zeldin, referring to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “So, I have concerns with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA. This is actually worse than the original agreement and a bad deal is worse than no deal at all. I’d rather have them walk away from the table rather than enter a fatally flawed nuclear deal.”
Speaking about the Taylor Force Act, Zeldin said he was honored to be one of the sponsors of the legislation. “I don’t believe that a dollar of US tax dollars should go to the Palestinian Authority if they continue to go to rewarding terrorism,” he said. “The stream should be cut off.
“The US’ strongest ally in the world is Israel”
“The US’ strongest ally in the world is Israel,” Zeldin said, “a beacon of hope and freedom in the darkest region in the world. We should be doing everything to strengthen that bond. One of that is calling out the Palestinian Authority at every opportunity. We cannot be silent. We as a nation must be proudly and unapologetically defending the strongest and most powerful alliance we have on the planet.”
Zeldin also addressed the rise of antisemitism in New York, saying, “We have to combat antisemitism on our streets, in our schools, wherever you find it. It has to be found, confronted and crushed.
“We see videos of all the antisemitic attacks on our streets and people live in fear,” he continued. “If you have to be afraid of being pushed in front of a subway car... people are afraid of being Jewish. If you want to represent people, you have a duty to stand up and defend religious freedom. We need district attorneys to do their jobs and if they don’t they should be fired. We need to be combating crime and we are seeing it manifest with antisemitism.”
Zeldin concluded, “Too many people are numb, and if you are not disturbed by it, then get the heck out of the government and let someone else sit in that seat.”