Israel-Palestine peace, however, is a pipedream in the mind of Rubio. Based on speeches he has given on the floor of the Senate, op-eds he has written, and statements he has uttered on the campaign trail, any Mideast peace for Rubio is an illusion until and unless the Palestinian Authority stops inciting terrorist attacks against Israel and formally recognizes Israel as the one and only Jewish state.

His work in this regard is instructive, and it boils down to one conclusion: the Palestinians for all intents and purposes are rejectionists who are not willing to compromise and still can’t come to the realization that Israel is here to stay.

On March 19, 2015: “The people [Palestinians] are victims of this government, the Palestinian Authority, and not to mention Hamas, who teach people that killing Jews is a glorious thing, and there is no such thing as a Jewish people, and any methods of destroying them is valid, that pay them salaries and benefits.”

On October 8, 2015: “It’s time for the United States to make clear that we stand with Israel and reject President Abbas’s ugly tactics, which are leaving Israel without a partner for peace and only leaving his people with a future that is more uncertain, less peaceful, and less prosperous.”

On February 25, 2016: “The bottom line is, a deal between Israel and the Palestinians, given the current makeup of the Palestinians, is not possible.”

Rubio is the sorcerer’s apprentice of the neocon movement. The notion that Rubio is a moderate standing up to the extremist Trump is risible. On issue after issue, including his opposition to abortion in cases of rape and incest, Rubio is himself an extremist.

Rubio’s desperate attempt to derail Trump, including engaging in vulgarisms such as suggesting that Trump had wet himself during the Houston debate, is an index of neocon fears that the party they hijacked for decades is about to turn its back on them. When the election season began, the neocons looked like they might have a strong hand with candidates like Bush and Chris Christie. No longer. Trump openly defies their doctrines. Now their only chance of redemption is to hug Rubio close. The remaining presidential candidates shunned them a long time ago.

Daniel R. DePetris is an analyst at Wikistrat, Inc., a geostrategic consulting firm and a freelance researcher. He has also written for CNN.com, Small Wars Journal and the Diplomat.

Image: Flickr/Marc Nozell.