Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum surged from obscurity to finish a close second in the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on Tuesday. When it comes to the Israel/Palestine question, Santorum joins other GOP figures in articulating views that mirror those of the extreme Israeli right wing, including endorsing Israeli annexation of the West Bank, which is regarded as occupied under international law. The former Pennsylvania senator even denied the existence of Palestinians as a people. "All of the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis. There is no Palestinian," he told a questioner at an Iowa campaign event in late November. "This is Israeli land," he said. Santorum did not say whether he believes the 2.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank should be afforded the rights of Israeli citizens, such as voting rights.