There was a discrepancy over guns, ammo, drones, and supplies sent from Governor DeSantis overseas to help Israel.
The Governor’s Office stated that it collaborated with the Israeli Consul General’s Office in Miami to obtain clearance for flights to send those supplies. However, Reuters reported that the counsel general denied working with the governor.
“When you start getting into classified or lethal, then you’re pretty much in the prerogative of the federal government. And it gets pretty tricky for anybody else to do that,” said Porter Goss, a former CIA Director and U.S. Congressman from Southwest Florida.
The DeSantis for President campaign has various ways to raise money, and one of its items for sale is a t-shirt that says DeSantis Airlines.
In the past weeks, the governor has emphasized his intention to send planes to Israel to evacuate Floridians and other Americans. He also disclosed that he arranged to send supplies, including weapons and ammo.
“I think the most important thing is to stand with Israel both publicly and privately and support their ability to eliminate Hamas,” said DeSantis.
The governor’s office stated that it coordinated with private parties to secure cargo planes for transporting weapons, drones, body armor, and helmets to Israel.
However, Reuters reported that the consul general indicated the governor’s involvement was limited to “paperwork.” WINK News sought clarification from the governor’s office, and a spokesman affirmed that the State of Florida indeed assisted in obtaining “clearance” to transport the military equipment to Israel.
WINK News also asked retired congressman Francis Rooney for his opinion. “I really applaud his effort. I applaud his thinking out of the box,” Rooney responded.
Rooney explained that DeSantis is delivering the right message. “We need to be aggressive about Hamas. They want to take us and Israel out, and we can’t tolerate that,” he added.
Goss, who served under President George W. Bush before retiring to Southwest Florida, told WINK News that the United States should do everything possible to assist Israel. “What I think the governor is trying to do is to provide more support to the Israelis,” Goss stated.
Nevertheless, Goss mentioned that weapons should come from the United States, not Florida. “Does the governor of Florida have the authority to send lethal weapons to an allied country? The answer is, I simply do not know if there’s a way to do that,” said Goss. “My history has always been no, that should have the US flag on it and be controlled, monitored, and accounted for through Washington. But that may be old-fashioned thinking.”
However, the governor’s office clarified that Florida did not independently send weapons to Israel. The state only assisted in transporting military equipment purchased by private parties to that country.
On Friday, in a speech to the Heritage Foundation, the governor accused President Biden of contributing to the aggression of Hamas, Russia, and China. He characterized the President’s foreign policy as rudderless, weak, and misguided.
The Democratic National Committee responded by stating that DeSantis’ remarks demonstrate that “he’s out of his depth.”
