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Promises, promises – the candidates on Israel
By MICHAEL D. EVANS
The White House is sending mixed messages in advance of President George Bush’s first presidential visit to Israel this week – stressing his steadfast support for Jerusalem, but also pushing for a settlement freeze.
Freezing settlements is one obligation Israel undertook under the 2002 Road Map formulated by the Quartet of the United States, United Nations, European Community, and Russia. But on the other side of the map, the Palestinians undertook to stop terrorism and dismantle their terrorist infrastructure. Israel has been meeting its obligation, while the Palestinians continue to terrorize the population of southern Israel with daily rocket attacks launched from the Gaza Strip.
It is anybody’s guess what this trip by a lame-duck president will contribute to the cause of Middle East peace. But Bush’s trip is taking place just as the campaign to elect his successor is getting under way. The views of the major candidates for their parties’ nomination on some of the major issues may prove instructive. For example, does any support the Road Map or a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital?
Sen. John McCain
Republican McCain’s offers a traditional approach to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recently explaining that a gradual solution in line with the incremental goals of the Road Map is preferable to trying to impose a settlement. He also links the conflict with an American victory in Iraq, which he says is a necessary precondition for a successful Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
While McCain supports establishing a Palestinian state at the end of the process, the Arizona senator believes America must give Israel whatever equipment and technology it needs for defense. With this in mind, he is wary of Iran’s nuclear intentions, saying, “They are still state sponsors of terrorism — Hamas, Hizbullah, still dedicated to the extinction of the State of Israel, still an oppressive and repressive government.”
Mitt Romney
At Israel’s Herzliya Conference in Jan. 2007, Romney expressed a keen understanding of the jihadist enemy: “Contrary to the Baker-Hamilton Commission,” he said, “resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict will not magically mollify the jihadists.
“No, what we should have realized since 9/11 is that what the world regarded as an Israeli-Arab conflict over borders represented something much larger. It was the oldest, most active front of the radical Islamist jihad against the entire West. It therefore was not really about borders. It was about the refusal of many parts of the Muslim world to accept Israel’s right to exist – within any borders…Israel stands on the front lines of the struggle against radical Islam’s jihad, whose goals are not confined to the Middle East.”
Mike Huckabee
An ordained Southern Baptist minister who has made his Christian faith a prominent feature of his campaign, Huckabee has been outspoken about Iran’s threat to Israel. “I condemn Iran’s irrational call for the destruction of Israel and its reckless defiance of the international community by its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and other hostile actions,” he said before the recent Iowa caucus. “I urge Iran to stop enriching uranium and accept monitoring by the IAEA, to recognize the right of Israel to exist, and to end its support of all terror groups, such as Hamas, Hizbullah, and Islamic Jihad.”
Huckabee’s position on Israel, as stated on his Web site, is uncompromising:
“I am a steadfast supporter of Israel, our staunch ally in the War on Terror, the only fully-functioning democracy in the Middle East, and our greatest friend in that region. The United States must remain true to its long-standing commitment to the Israeli people. As president, I will always ensure that Israel has access to the state-of-the-art weapons and technology she needs to defend herself from those who seek her annihilation.”
Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani is not at all certain that a Palestinian state is in America’s of Israel’s best interest, as he recently explained in an article for Foreign Affairs.
The former New York mayor is famous for two symbolic gestures that endeared him to Jewish voters: in 1995, he had the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat ejected from a Lincoln Center concert and he returned a $10 million donation from a Saudi prince after 9/11 for badmouthing Israel.
He has received the heartfelt endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: “I have found no better friend of Jerusalem in America than Rudy Giuliani.” (AP)
Some Giuliani remarks on Israel: “Israel is an oasis of freedom in a desert of authoritarianism and worse. It is an outpost of democracy where democracy is unique…There is no moral equivalent between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.There is a difference between a nation based on law and democracy and one that harbors terrorism.” (Rally In Support Of Israel, Washington, DC, 4/15/02)
Sen. Barack Obama
Obama chose a meeting of the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in March 2007 to deliver his presidential candidacy’s first foreign policy speech.
“Nobody has suffered more than the Palestinian people from the failure of the Palestinian leadership to recognize Israel, to renounce violence, and to get serious about negotiating peace and security for the region,” he said during an MSNBC debate.
After making his first visit to Israel in January 2006, where he toured the security fence, Obama stated: “Our starting point must always be a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel.” Obama’s top Middle East adviser is Dennis Ross, who served in the same position during the Clinton administration.
Obama was the only candidate to refer to the Road Map by name, in a speech in August 2007: “Our job is to never forget that the threat of violence is real. Our job is to renew the United States’ efforts to help Israel achieve peace with its neighbors while remaining vigilant against those who do not share this vision. Our job is to do more than lay out another road map; our job is to rebuild the road to real peace and lasting security throughout the region.”
While Obama has expressed a commitment “to ensure Israel’s qualitative military edge,” this has so far not been enough for him to supplant Sen. Hilary Clinton among Jewish voters. In a recent American Jewish Committee poll, his favorable rating was 38 percent, while hers was 53 percent.
Sen. Hilary Clinton
The senator for New York and former first lady is the only candidate to express support for moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem.
She is strong on Israel’s security: “It is important that we help Israel keep its qualitative and technological military edge in an increasingly dangerous region…The United States must continue to support our ally, Israel, as it defends itself against these attacks and insist that Hamas cannot be recognized until it renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel’s right to exist.”
Clinton champions Israel as “a beacon of what democracy can and should mean.” As she told an AIPAC conference in 2005: “Israel is an important ally and strategic partner of the United States. Our nations are united by shared values, a commitment to democracy, and a belief in the dignity of men and women. We are also united by a common strategic interest in fighting back against the forces of terrorism and nihilism.”
John Edwards
The former senator for North Carolina has said that Iran poses an enormous threat to Israel and to the Israeli people. He has also expressed the campaign-issued statement of support to “maintain Israel’s qualitative edge and keep Israel strong and safe in a dangerous region.”
“Israel can take more steps to advance peace like bolstering Abbas against Hamas,” Edwards told the 2007 Herzliya Conference. “While Israel is willing to go back to negotiating table, little has been seen on the Palestinian side. We instead have seen chaos and violence on the street, and no revocation of violence against Israel.
However, Edwards is still trying to spin out of the effects of a remark he made at a Hollywood fundraiser in February 2007. “Perhaps the greatest short-term threat to world peace,” Edwards was quoted as saying, “was the possibility that Israel would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities.” Edwards’s spokesman denied the quote, saying Edwards had actually said that one of the greatest short-term threats to world peace is Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon. Variety stood by the accuracy of its report.
Dr. Mike Evans is the New York Times #1 Bestselling author of , The FinalMove Beyond Iraq, and the publisher of the Jerusalem World News.
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(Washington, D.C., January 10, 2007) -- A comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty by the end of 2008? Is President Bush dreaming? Is this merely wishful thinking? Or are the parties actually that close? While skeptics abound -- and many an American president has believed he could finally bring security and stability to a troubled region -- we should not write off this possibility too quickly. 
