From Justin Elliott at Salon, more at the link:
Josh Rogin… digs up an interview Perry gave to the Weekly Standard in 2009 in which the Texas governor explicitly said his views on the Middle East are informed by his evangelical Christianity:
“My faith requires me to support Israel.”
That’s a remarkable statement for a man who could be president — beingrequired by one’s faith to support a foreign country. Of course, what “support” means is open to interpretation; I’ve asked Perry’s office for elaboration.
It’s only in the context of his Christian Zionism that Perry’s emotional new comments to Time about Israel and its West Bank settlement project make any sense:
“The idea that the President would make this statement about going back to the ’67 borders sent a chill down all of my friends’ back and certainly mine. Israel is our friend. Israel is a democracy in the middle of a part of the world where having a democracy is really important.”
I suspect we’ll be hearing a lot more of this rhetoric from Perry as he tries to attract pro-Israel evangelical voters in the GOP primary.
