Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), upon announcing that he will run for president, said he would support Israel “unapologetically.”

“Instead of a president who boycotts Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, imagine a president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel,” Cruz told an audience at Virginia’s Liberty University on Monday.

Earlier this month, Cruz—now the first official candidate in the 2016 presidential race—told Israel Hayom that the Obama administration is not doing enough to defeat Islamic terrorism and is implementing an Iran policy that will lead to the Islamic Republic acquiring nuclear weapons.

“You need to understand that the American people and the American Congress stand beside Israel,” Cruz told the Israeli newspaper. “I’m very sorry the current administration in Washington is exhibiting unprecedented antagonism toward Israel, and by doing so is harming the relationship and even jeopardizing the security of Israel and the national security of the United States.”