Congressman Ben Quayle of Arizona’s third district said Wednesday that America’s relationship with Israel is especially important now with recent instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
Quayle, a Republican and son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, spoke to students on the Tempe campus Wednesday night.
The presentation was organized by the Sun Devils for Israel and the West campus' American-Israeli Alliance.
“After 9/11, Israel has risen even more as our staunch ally in [the Middle East], which is rapt with Islamic extremist organizations,” Quayle said. “We have to make sure that what is happening right now with this great uprising within North Africa, the Arabian peninsula and other areas in the Middle East … is beneficial to democracy, and that concerns how [Middle Eastern nations] will be treating Israel as a country. ”
Political science sophomore and president of the American-Israeli Alliance Boaz Witbeck was one of the main organizers of the event. Witbeck also worked for Quayle’s campaign last summer.
“What I would like to stress in regards to the American-Israeli Alliance is that we are a bipartisan group and we support candidates that support Israel, whether they’re Republican or Democrat,” Witbeck said.
Quayle said the U.S. and Israel have had an amicable relationship over the last several decades, noting that during the Cold War, the U.S. and Israel collaborated to set back Soviet efforts and influence in the Middle East.
Quayle said that while there are many major threats to Israel in the Middle East, he believes the “gravest threat” is the nuclear power situated in Iran.
The nuclear power capacity that Iran holds will influence other nations to engage in an arms race, Quayle said.
“[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad does not believe that Israel has a right to exist, and we can not stand idly by when Iran repeatedly promotes threats to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth,” Quayle said.
Kinesiology junior and vice president of Sun Devils for Israel Samantha Rush asked Quayle how students who support Israel should deal with “anti-Israel acts” on campus.
“Free speech must be combated with free speech,” Quayle responded. “That is the best way to combat that.”
Reach the reporter at amatro@asu.edu
