Trump's Defense Secretary Pick Once Said Israel Could Become An "Apartheid" State

I know a lot of conservatives are cheering President-Elect Donald Trump's appointment of General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense.


I am not.

In July 2013, shortly after Mattis left his post as CENTCOM Commander, he blasted Israel at the Aspen Security Forum with regard to its settlement policy:


I paid a military security price every day as the commander of CentCom because the Americans were seen as biased in support of Israel, and that moderates all the moderate Arabs who want to be with us, because they can't come out publicly in support of people who don't show respect for the Arab Palestinians.


Mattis went on to invoke "Apartheid"


If I’m in Jerusalem and I put 500 Jewish settlers out here to the east and there’s 10,000 Arab settlers in here, if we draw the border to include them, either it ceases to be a Jewish state or you say the Arabs don’t get to vote — apartheid.


This raises a lot of questions.


Does Mattis believe we should have a less robust relationship with Israel?


Does honestly think the so-called moderate Arab nations would be fully on board with America if Israel were to dismantle all settlements?


How does Mattis explain the rocket attacks into Israel from Gaza where the last Jewish settlement was dismantled in 2005?


It will be curious to see how the Senate Republicans who opposed President Obama's appointment of Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense because of his anti-Israel posture will behave now. This means you Ted Cruz.


Can any Republican tell me how Mattis claiming Israel could become an Apartheid state is any different than when Secretary of State John Kerry made the same claim in April 2014?


After eight years of President Obama's hostility to Israel, President-Elect Trump had a very low bar to clear. With his appointment of Steve Bannon and now James Mattis, it would seem that Trump is keeping President Obama's hurdles in place.