Jeb reportedly considers George W. Bush a top foreign policy adviser

AP/Mari Darr~Welch

Former President George W. Bush, left, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R).

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) reportedly said this week that his brother, former President George W. Bush, is his most influential adviser on matters related to Israel.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Bush, a likely 2016 presidential hopeful, made the comments at a Manhattan event hosted by billionaire hedge funder Paul Singer.

"If you want to know who I listen to for advice, it's him," Bush said Tuesday about Israel, according to The Post's sources.

As the paper's Robert Costa and Matea Gold noted, "Embracing his brother as a foreign policy confidant is a risky and unexpected move for the former Florida governor" because of President Bush's legacy leading the invasion of Iraq. That war became deeply unpopular after no weapons of mass destruction were found and conflict in the country has dragged on to this day.

The national Democratic Party quickly pounced on The Post's report and released a statement tying Jeb Bush to his brother minutes after the story was published. Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Kristin Sosanie used the report to scoff at Bush's claim in January that he's his "own man" and not an extension of his family's political dynasty.

"The Jeb Bush Doctrine is to put blinders on to the failures of the past, cheerlead go-it-alone diplomacy and embrace a shoot-first, talk-later foreign policy," Sosanie said in a statement." Sound familiar? That same foreign policy was the one that weakened us at home and abroad under George W Bush. So much for Jeb being his own man."

Click here to read the full report in The Washington Post.