Haaretz: "Unlike Kerry, Rand Paul won't flinch on Israel"

I wish we could be as certain about Rand Paul's libertarian positions.

New York Sun editior Seth Lipsky writes for Haaretz:

The big winner in the collapse of Governor Chris Christie’s political prospects looks, at least for the moment, to be Rand Paul, the rising right-winger from Kentucky[...]

My own sense of the story starts with the senator’s father, Ron Paul, whom I’ve covered for more than 30 years. He was the leading libertarian in the Congress until he stood down in the last election. Ron Paul’s libertarian principles are so opposed to foreign aid and to foreign entanglements that he emerged as a bitter critic of neo-conservative partisans of Israel.[...]

Rand Paul seems to have learned well from his father’s principles — and mistakes. He is charting a more open course. He signaled this with his trip to Israel a year ago. At the time I wrote of the contrast with Vice President Biden, who on a visit to Jerusalem precipitated a diplomatic crisis by erupting at some detail of policy on the West Bank. Rand Paul’s visit to Jerusalem, the West Bank, and other places, was all sweetness and light[...]

Paul’s Israel visit displayed his ability to express differences without seeming haughty, bigoted or hostile — though where his libertarianism would take him hasn’t been thoroughly tested in the American debate. He did emerge as the first Republican to side with President Obama and the Iranian mullahs in the Iran sanctions debate, saying of the mullahs: “If we can see that they’re negotiating in good faith, I don’t think it’s a good idea to pass sanctions while we’re in the midst of negotiations.”