In a move which can only be described as an attempt to gain the Jewish vote in the upcoming presidential elections, Newt Gingrich claimed on The Jewish Channel that the Palestinians are an “invented people.”
“I believe that the Jewish people have the right to have a state, and I believe that the commitments that were made at a time. Remember there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire. And I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people, who are in fact Arabs, and were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places. And for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940′s, and I think it’s tragic.”
And just for good measure, Gingrich went one step further and condoned the foreign policy of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I see myself as in many ways being pretty close to Bibi Netanyahu in thinking about the dangers of the world. I believe in a tough-minded realism. I believe that if somebody is firing rockets at you, they are probably not engaged in the peace process. I believe if somebody goes around and says you don’t have a right to exist, they’re probably not prepared to negotiate for peace,” he said. “I think if someone says they wanna wipe you out, you should believe them. So I see a much more tougher-minded, and much more honest approach to the Middle East in a Gingrich administration.”
