A row has broken out between rival Republican presidential candidates after one suggested Israel should not get special treatment from the USA.

Former South Carolina governor and UN representative Nikki Haley has said that it was "completely wrong" for Vivek Ramaswamy to propose a reduction in the amount of aid sent to Israel by the USA.

In an interview with Russell Brand last week, Ramaswamy said that Israel's current aid funding should be renegotiated in the coming years.

He said: “Come 2028, that additional aid won’t be necessary in order to still have the kind of stability that we’d actually have in the Middle East by having Israel more integrated in with its partners,”

He also said that he would be seeking to build on President Trump's record of dealmaking in the middle east, adding: “I want to go even further than Trump on the Abraham Accords. As president, I want to achieve the Abraham Accords 2.0 and bring in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Indonesia,” he said. “It would be good for everyone.”

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Russell Brand and Vivek Ramaswamy (Photo: Rumble)

Ramaswamy's proposal centred around integrating Israel further into the regional economy of the Middle East to the point where, he believed, the country would no longer need any American support.

But Haley said that she would never "abandon" Israel, adding: “Support for Israel is both the morally right and strategically smart thing to do. Both countries are stronger and safer because of our ironclad friendship."

She also said that Ramaswamy's policies had a "common theme" adding: "they make America less safe."