Pence: Israel is America’s most cherished ally in the world

Donald Trump in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last month referred to Israel as “our greatest ally in the region.” But according to his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Israel is not only the greatest ally in the Middle East, it’s America’s “most cherished ally in the world.”

“I have a term for Israel: she is not our ally in the Middle East; she is our most cherished ally in the world,” Pence said during a town hall in Tucson, Arizona on Tuesday, in response to a question about how a Trump administration would make amends to the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Read a transcript of the full exchange below:

Question: “My grandmother and most of her family are Jewish, and I have a lot of friends in Israel, which is our only ally in the Middle East. But it seems like the current administration is showing a lot of disrespect for Israel, with Obama refusing to go see Netanyahu’s speech when he addressed us, and making deals with countries that want to destroy them. My question for you is: how will you and Mr. Trump make amends with our only ally in the Middle East?

Mike Pence: “During my years in Congress I served on the Foreign Affairs Committee – for a decade – and I was the senior Republican the Middle East subcommittee. I have a term for Israel: She is not our ally in the Middle East. She is our most cherished ally in the world. In these times when we see Libya imploding, Syria imploding, Iraq coming apart – because of the policies of this administration, I promise you [that] when Donald Trump becomes president there will be two things the world knows: number one is they will again know America stands with strength, and number two, if the world knows nothing else, it will know this: America stands with Israel.”