We are living in a time when absolute moral clarity is necessary. We didn’t ask for these challenges but the United States cannot shirk its responsibilities as the world’s greatest superpower now.

With our power comes an obligation to help our allies. There is no stronger ally than Israel, a country that now finds itself in an epic battle for survival after Hamas began its war against Israel 10 days ago. It seems longer than that because of the horrific nature of war, especially this war. Israel is a small country in a very dangerous neighborhood. If we blink now, what would likely happen to Israel is unthinkable.

That’s not hyperbole. Hamas is on a mission to destroy Israel and murder all the Jews. Iran is its sponsor and financial backer. This is a proxy war with Iran. It is truly as simple as that. Gazans voted Hamas as their leaders. We keep hearing from American leaders that not all Gazans are Hamas, which may be technically true but in reality, Gazans support Hamas and chose to be led by the terrorist organization.

Gaza is a densely populated area. Gazans have been warned to leave because a ground war is imminent with Israel. Israeli officials spread the word for them to leave and seek safe harbor somewhere else. Hamas is reported to be keeping Gazans from leaving. Hamas are animals. Hamas uses their own people as human shields. They want the deaths of their own people to show collateral damage when the war goes full-blown. Their deaths will be used for propaganda purposes. As it is, civilian humanitarian aid is piling up at the border. Hamas is refusing to allow the aid in.

So, the question is where do Gazans go as refugees? The truth is no other country wants them. Other countries don’t want to import terrorism into their countries. I think they should be sent to Iran. If not Iran, then another sympathetic country in the Middle East. The last place they should go is to a Western country, especially the United States. They cannot be vetted properly.

Some Republican presidential candidates have weighed in on this subject. What would they do as president? Ron DeSantis was out early and strong in his opinion. He said no to Gazan refugees and rightly labeled them as anti-Semitic. He criticized Nikki Haley for her statements about Gazans and Hamas during her interview with Jake Tapper on CNN last Sunday. DeSantis said Haley would allow Gazans into the United States as refugees.

This is what Haley said on CNN Sunday:

“Half of them, at the time that I was there, didn’t want to be under Hamas’ rule. They didn’t want to have terrorists overseeing them. They knew that they were living a terrible life under Hamas. You have the other half that supported Hamas and wanted to be a part of that,” Haley said. “We see that with Iran, too. The Iranian people don’t want to be under that Iranian regime. They don’t- we saw what happened to Mahsa Amini. We saw how they treat them. There are so many of these people who want to be free from this terrorist rule. They want to be free from all of that. And America’s always been sympathetic to the fact that you can separate civilians from terrorists. And that’s what we have to do.”

DeSantis responded. He was at the Tampa airport welcoming Floridians back to their state. As governor, he signed an executive order and brought them back home.

DeSantis reacts to Nikki Haley wanting to import Gazan refugees to the U.S.

“She’s trying to be politically correct. She’s trying to please the media and people on the Left. I don’t care about that. I’m going to speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may.” pic.twitter.com/SVvFitjFQA

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) October 16, 2023

Crystal clear. Spot on. DeSantis spoke the truth. They are anti-Semitic because that is the culture in Gaza. Children are taught to be so in school. Israel is not on maps of the Middle East.

Since that happened, Haley has been in a defensive mode. She is tamping down her position that about half of the Gazan population doesn’t want to be under Hamas control. She said the United States can separate terrorists from civilians but that’s not really so. In order to be refugees accepted by the United States, they would have to be vetted and we know that the Biden border crisis has so stretched our resources that the vetting process right now is almost non-existent. We have no idea who is in our own country.

The Haley campaign objects to the criticism from DeSantis. She has a history as Ambassador to the U.N. of speaking out against terrorist organizations, including Hamas.

FLASHBACK: @NikkiHaley warned United Nations of Hamas threat to Israel, sought to label terror group https://t.co/UvDs7YEnUu

— Team Haley (@TeamHaley) October 16, 2023

Haley was rock solid at the U.N. at all times as a pro-America, pro-democracy representative. She suffered no fools there and she was surrounded by them. It was odd that she was so willing to make a distinction between those Gazans who do and don’t want Hamas leadership in charge. On FNC this morning, Haley stressed her position. “I’ve always said we shouldn’t take Gazans as refugees in the U.S.” She said her position was the same at the U.N. about taking in Syrian refugees. Foreign policy is a strong suit for Haley.

A later entry into the discussion came from Donald Trump. He was campaigning in Iowa and said he would not accept Gazan refugees. He also said he would expand the travel ban to include Gaza. He created a kerfuffle when he adopted Obama’s travel ban on mostly Muslim-majority countries. Not a peep came from the left when Obama did it but suddenly when Trump did it, there were protests at airports and lawyers rushing to help those who were refused entry into the United States. Leftists and their partners in the media incorrectly labeled it a “Muslim travel ban.” Just as when Obama did it, it was a national security move in the midst of potential terror threats.

Speaking to supporters in Iowa, Trump said that if he returns to the Oval Office, he will immediately begin “ideological screening” for all immigrants and bar those who sympathize with Hamas and Muslim extremists. The war between Israel and Hamas has sparked what is now the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead.

His proposals would mark a dramatic expansion of the controversial — and legally dubious — policies that drew alarm from immigrant rights and civil liberties activists, but helped him win the GOP primary in 2016. Trump has long railed against the U.S. taking immigrants from countries he has dubbed inferior, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, and told the crowd Monday that while he was president the U.S. stood up for Israel and “Judeo-Christian civilization and values.”

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