Summary

Ted Cruz was born in 1970 and is currently serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. Senator Cruz was reelected in 2018 and his seat will be up for election again in 2024.

Cruz attended and graduated from Princeton University and the Harvard Law School. He served as Solicitor General of Texas from 2003 to 2008, having been appointed by Texas Attorney General, Greg Abbott. Cruz ran for and won the Senate seat in 2012. He was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election.

Senator Cruz is currently serving on the Foreign Relations Committee; the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Rules and Administration Committee; and the Joint Economic Committee.

Below is Senator Cruz’s voting record and public positions on issues important to the Jewish community. 

Senator Cruz opposed the Iran nuclear deal. He opposed UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which claimed that Israel’s settlements have no legal validity. Senator Cruz cosponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act and the Combating BDS Act of 2017, legislations that aimed to fight the boycott movement against Israel.

He has been vocal about the need to oppose the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and efforts to delegitimize Israel. He supported the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem. Senator Cruz cosponsored the Taylor Force Act, which stated that no American governmental funds shall be given to a Palestinian entity that financially rewards terrorists or their families.

In 2018, he cosponsored the United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act, a legislation that supported full funding of security assistance to Israel as outlined in the 2016 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he has said that it is up to Israel to decide and that the United States and the United Nations should not impose a solution – indirectly refraining from endorsing the two-state solution.

In 2019, he voted for the Strengthening America’s Middle East Security Act which, among other things, strengthened Israel’s security and allowed a state or local government to adopt measures to divest its assets from entities that boycott Israel.