US presidential candidate accused of wanting to 'defund Israel'

— The Recount (@therecount) August 24, 2023

During a foreign policy discussion between the two, Haley said of Ramaswamy: “He wants to hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends, what you do instead is you have the backs of your friends.”

In response, Ramaswamy reiterated his calls for the "Abraham Accords 2.0", saying: “Our relationship with Israel would never be stronger than by the end of my first term, but it’s not a client relationship, it’s a friendship and you know what friends do? Friends help each other stand on their own two feet.”

He also said that he'd enjoyed previous trips to Israel and said there were several things he appreciated about the Jewish state. “I love their border policies, I love their tough-on-crime policies, I love that they have a national identity and an Iron Dome to protect their homeland" said Ramaswamy.

Last week, the tech entrepreneur said in an interview that if elected, Israel wouldn't get any additional aid from his administration.

“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,”

Nikki Haley has been a long-term supporter of Israel and was especially noted for her efforts while serving as US ambassador to the UN. In a speech in 2018 to the General Assembly, Haley said: "America will put our embassy in Jerusalem.

"That is what the American people want us to do and it is the right thing to do. No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that."

The Republican debate in Milwaukee was the first in a series of public debates for the party seeking to beat Joe Biden in next year's US presidential election in November 2024.

According to the latest polling, Donald Trump leads the crowded field with 52 per cent of likely primary voters, with the next highest candidate Ron Desantis on 15 per cent. Ramaswamy is currently in third place with 10 per cent support.