Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, the neocon favorite, says he will kibosh the Iran Deal if he makes it to the White House. “If I’m elected president of the U.S., we are going to cancel the deal on our first day in office.” And here’s some other news that underscores the senator’s support for Israel.

The New York Times has an excellent story on a battle between hedge funds and the people of Puerto Rico: “the power of an ascendant class of ultrarich Americans to steer the fate of a territory that is home to more than three million fellow citizens.”

Last year, several hedge funds staked $3.5 billion to keep the Puerto Rican government afloat, anticipating the recovery of the island’s economy. But the recovery stalled; and now some Puerto Rican cities and its power company owe more money than ever and want to declare bankruptcy. Rubio had backed legislation to allow the bankruptcy protection, sponsored by Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. But then Rubio backed out, just after one of those hedgefunders held a fundraiser for him.

[T]his summer, three weeks after a fund-raiser hosted by a hedge-fund founder, Mr. Rubio broke with those backing the measure. Bankruptcy, he said, should be considered only as a “last resort.” Mr. Rubio’s move was welcome news for bondholders, some of whom have supported his presidential campaign. Monarch’s founder, Andrew Herenstein, co-hosted two fund-raisers for Mr. Rubio’s presidential bid, one over the summer in the Hamptons, the other in Manhattan in October. A spokesman for Mr. Herenstein declined to comment. A spokesman for Mr. Rubio said his views on the legislation were unrelated to campaign donations.

Andrew Herenstein is the founder of Monarch Alternative Capital; and he is a big supporter of Israel. His evident allegiance to Rubio, and vice versa, underpins the trend that establishment neoconservatives are flocking to the Florida senator who loves Israel.

It was reported that Herenstein was a Jew4Cruz back in the spring, joining men from the Republican Jewish Coalition crowd. But he now regularly promotes Rubio on his twitter feed, including a tweet the other day saying that Rubio is the establishment’s fire wall against Cruz and Trump, but he’s got to kick his campaign into high gear. Herenstein’s support for Rubio evidently goes back to the spring, followed by a fundraiser for the candidate on Long Island, then another in Manhattan in October:

One hedge fund in that group is Monarch Alternative Capital. Its founder and principal, Andrew Herenstein, gave Rubio’s campaign the maximum legal contribution of $2,700 in May. He attended a fundraiser for Rubio in June and co-hosted one himself in August, just a few weeks before Rubio announced his position on bankruptcy. After Rubio made his announcement, Herenstein co-hosted another fundraiser earlier this month.

Most of Herenstein’s tweets in the last few months are about Israel and Jews and the Middle East. Like the video, “Boo Hoo Palestine,” stating that two states are a fantasy, his claim that Israel has never initiated violence against its neighbors, and “Arabs are jealous of Jews” because the Arab contribution to civilization is “virtually nil.”

He has promoted Israel’s war on Gaza of 2014. He has seemed to express concern about all boycotts, including of wines produced in settlements. He promotes Israeli products at every turn:

World’s first fruit-flavored cup makes water exciting

He noted America’s Top 20 Richest Pro-Israel “Zionaires” – a list of American Israel supporters that does not include him (though he surely is in the class). He retweets the assertion that “John Kerry Spins a Fantasy About the Palestinians” and the assertion that Palestinians have a “sick society.”

This from Israel supporter Daniel Gordis:

Princeton to consider removing Woodrow Wilson’s name from some places? The rapidity of America’s decline incredible.

Another recent retweet is propaganda:

Hebrew tablet discovered by Sea of Galilee at what was a #Jewish settlement 1,500 years ago.

As is this:

And this:

No question Herenstein cares about Puerto Rico; he talks up Puerto Rican debt in the financial press. But Israel is obviously close to his heart.