Comments (0)Palin to Obama: Hit Reset Button with Israel
March 19, 2010Washington
JTA Wire Service
Sarah Palin called on the Obama administration to hit the reset button with Israel.
In a statement critical of the Obama administration’s outreach to countries with which the United States has strained relations, the former Republican vice presidential candidate and Alaska governor wrote, “In the midst of all this embracing of enemies, where does the Obama Administration choose to escalate a minor incident into a major diplomatic confrontation? With Iran, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea or Burma? No. With our treasured ally, Israel.”
Palin criticized Obama for making unilateral demands of Israel while not requiring Arab leaders to make equally demanding concessions for the sake of peace.
“Vice President Biden was actually right when he said last week, before the construction announcement, that ‘one necessary precondition for progress is that the rest of the world knows ... there is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to security,’ ” she said. “Right now, thanks to the Obama Administration, there is a chasm. It’s time for President Obama to push the reset button on our relations with our ally Israel.”
Palin is one of many Republican leaders critical of the Obama administration’s tough talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following last week’s gaffe in which new construction in eastern Jerusalem was announced during Biden’s visit.
CUFI Activists E-Blast White House on ‘Crisis’
Pro-Israel U.S. Christians are e-mailing the White House every several seconds urging President Obama to “end the crisis” with Israel.
Christians United for Israel sent an action alert Tuesday to its membership urging them to ask Obama to roll back criticism of Israel after last week’s controversy, when Israel announced approval of a plan to build 1,600 apartments in an ultra-Orthodox eastern Jerusalem neighborhood during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden. U.S. officials condemned the announcement as an “insult” and an “affront.”
The CUFI action alert asks the president to “end this unnecessary crisis, return to a more productive approach, and stand with our ally Israel.”
As of Tuesday evening, CUFI said more than 11,000 e-mails had been sent—a rate of one every one or two seconds.
“The strong response of the Christian Zionist community on this issue reflects their steadfast commitment to standing with Israel,” Ari Morgenstern, a CUFI spokesman, told JTA. “Christian friends of Israel are capable of distinguishing between temporary disputes between friends and the deeper ties that bind our two countries.”
More than 1,000 CUFI activists attended one of the group’s signature “Nights to Honor Israel” in Jerusalem last week that featured an address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The CUFI leadership also met with other Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Two Dems Blame Israel for Spat
Two Democrats with solidly pro-Israel records are blaming Israel for the heightened U.S.-Israeli tensions.
In an exclusive interview with JTA, the chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), said that Israel deserved much of the criticism it has been receiving over the announcement during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last week of plans to construct 1,600 housing units in a Jewish neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem.
“The administration had, I think, real justification for being upset because a process was supposed to be in place that would keep it from being blindsided, and that process failed and once again the U.S. was blindsided and the Israelis have to get this right,” said Berman, who has taken the lead in the push for new, tougher Iran sanctions. He is considered a staunch supporter of Israel and has strong ties to AIPAC. “They’ve got to put in place a system that keeps this from happening.”
Also Tuesday, another Democrat with a solidly pro-Israel record, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), issued a statement criticizing Jerusalem for the tensions with Washington while stressing that he felt Israel’s prime minister had taken an important step in expressing regret over the incident.
Meanwhile, as of Tuesday, Democratic congressional leaders appeared to be keeping silent.
For their part, Republican congressional leaders criticized the Obama administration for coming down hard on Israel. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Rep. Illeana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, all issued statements criticizing the Obama administration.
A handful of Jewish Democratic House members from New York—Reps. Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Steve Israel and Anthony Weiner—also have said that the Obama administration went too far with its criticism of Israel. They were joined by a fellow New York Democrat, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who is facing a tough re-election fight.
But as of early this week it was unclear to what degree they were reflecting their state’s political realities and constituencies rather than representing a growing unhappiness in the Democratic caucus with the White House’s handling of the issue.
Two other Democrats with substantial Jewish constituencies—Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) and Ron Klein (D-Fla.)—echoed their New York colleagues, saying it was time for the Obama administration to move past the incident.
“The security threats that the United States and Israel face are too great and too urgent to be overwhelmed by a disagreement among friends,” Klein said.
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.