Middle East experts focus on U.S.-Israel relationship during RNC

August 30, 2012 Leave a comment

By Lauren Appelbaum and Ashley Gold

AJC Panel on U.S. Values and Interests in a Changing Middle East with Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), AJC's Jason Isaacson, Amb. Mark Green, Amb. Barukh Binah

AJC Panel on U.S. Values and Interests in a Changing Middle East with Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), AJC’s Jason Isaacson, Amb. Mark Green, Amb. Barukh Binah

Tampa, Fla., Aug. 30 – While the Middle East is shifting, Israel needs to remain a stronghold, Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in Washington, Amb. Barukh Binah, said Thursday.

Speaking on the final day of the Republican National Convention during a panel titled “U.S. Values and Interests in a Changing Region,” Binah focused on two concerns to the security of both Israel and the U.S. – Iran and Syria.

“Iran is a huge obstacle, a huge hurdle,” Binah said. “It is not just a threat beyond the horizon; it is a day to day nuisance.”

Regarding the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Israeli Ambassador said, “Israel does not have a better ally than the United States, and the United States does not have a better ally than Israel.”

“There is no more important value for the U.S. in the Middle East than maintaining alliances,” Binah added.

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Obama: Chemical weapons in Syria a “Red Line” for U.S.

August 20, 2012 Leave a comment

By Jennifer Packer, Political Analyst

Washington, Aug. 20 – The United States has refrained from military engagement in the Syrian conflict, but that would change if there’s any sign that the Syrian regime is moving to or using chemical or biological weapons, President Obama said Monday.

“That’s an issue that doesn’t just concern Syria; it concerns our close allies in the region, including Israel; it concerns us. We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” the president said in an unscheduled appearance in the White House briefing room.

Syria’s stockpile reportedly includes mustard gas as well as nerve agents such as Sarin, Tabun and VX.

“We have been very clear (not just) to the Assad regime but also to other players on the ground (that) a red line for us is if we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus,” Obama said.

More than 20,000 people – most of them civilians, have been killed  in Syria’s year-and-a-half conflict.

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Iran training militia in Syria: Panetta

August 15, 2012 Leave a comment

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta

Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta

By Alan Elsner, Editor-in-Chief

Washington, Aug. 15 – Iran is training a militia in Syria to defend President Bashar al-Assad’s beleaguered regime against the majority of citizens fighting to overthrow it, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.

In a Pentagon briefing Tuesday, Panetta said: “There’s now indications that they’re trying to develop or trying to train a militia within Syria to be able to fight on behalf of the regime. So we are seeing a growing presence by Iran and that is of deep concern to us.”

Iran’s interference is adding to the killing in Syria, Panetta said, and “tries to bolster a regime that we think, ultimately, is going to come down.”

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the 18-month uprising that has led to the deaths of over 20,000 people, most of them civilians slaughtered by the regime, is beginning to wear down the Syrian army.

“I actually think that’s why Iran is stepping in to form this militia, to take some of the pressure off of the Syrian military,” Dempsey said.

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Romney’s meeting with Netanyahu spotlights regional issues

July 29, 2012 3 Comments

Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu meeting at the Prime Minister's office on July 29, 2012

Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu meeting at the Prime Minister’s office on July 29, 2012

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Washington, July 29 – Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was briefed Sunday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of a day of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

“You’ve been a personal friend of mine and a strong friend of the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said as he welcomed Romney to his office. The two leaders have known each other for decades since the two men worked at Boston Consulting Group together.

“In this great convulsion, there is one stable, democratic ally of the United States here in the Middle East, and that’s Israel,” Netanyahu said. “That’s why I think that strengthening the relationship between America and Israel is in the interest of peace, in the interest of both our countries, and I believe that your visit is an expression of that desire on both of our peoples.”

“We have a relationship between our nations which spans many years and, at the same time, is one based not just on mutual interest, but also on shared values,” Romney replied. “Like Israel, we share a commitment to democracy, to freedom of speech, to freedom of association, to the preservation of human rights;  and these common values and common principles have caused our nations to draw closer over the years.”

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Obama extends sanctions on Hezbollah supporters

July 26, 2012 Leave a comment

By Dena Weiss, TIP Fellow

President Obama addressing AIPAC in March2012

President Obama addressing AIPAC in March 2012

Washington, July 26 – President Obama extended existing sanctions for another year against groups considered threats to Lebanon’s fragile stability, for the first time including a direct reference to Hezbollah and its supporters.

The extension, announced Wednesday in an official notice from the White House, formally declares a state of emergency and calls for “measures blocking the property of certain persons undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic processes.”

The Executive Order was initially declared by President George W. Bush on Aug. 1, 2007, and has been renewed every year since its inception.

Though the original document released by President Bush outlines the actions and goods it wishes to block, no direct reference was made to a specific actor. President Obama’s renewal, however, specifically mentions the “continuing arms transfers to Hizballah (sic)” and the threats the group poses to Lebanese sovereignty, U.S. national security and foreign relations. Hezbollah receives training, weapons and money from Iran and Syria.

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Clinton praises Israeli President Peres for U.S.-Israel alliance

July 16, 2012 1 Comment

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres

By Jennifer Packer, Political Analyst

Washington, July 16 — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a day-long trip to Israel Monday, met with Israeli President Shimon Peres to discuss regional issues ranging from the importance of maintaining the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty and restarting peace talks with the Palestinians to the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran and the civil war in Syria.

“It is in moments like these that friends like us have to think together, act together,” Clinton told Peres when they met. “We are called to be smart, creative and courageous.” Clinton also praised Peres, saying “no individual has done so much over so many years to build our alliance between our two countries.” She added that “few people know better …the inextricable links between security and peace.”

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres

Clinton also said she was in Israel at a “moment of great change and transformation in the region. It is a time of uncertainty,” she said, “but also of opportunity. It is a chance to advance our shared goal of security, stability, peace, and democracy, along with prosperity for the millions of people in this region who have yet to see a better future.”

It was the secretary of state’s first visit to Israel since September 2010 and came on the heels of a meeting in Egypt with newly elected President Mohamed Morsi. In addition to Peres, Clinton’s schedule includes meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Secretary Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. She met recently in Paris with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

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Israeli Ambassador to U.S. Oren briefs Romney on Middle East issues

June 25, 2012 Leave a comment

Mitt Romney speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition June 16, 2012

Mitt Romney speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition, June 16, 2012

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Washington, June 25 – At a donor retreat in Utah, Mitt Romney said he is regularly briefed on the Middle East by Israeli government officials and recently met with Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren.

Ha’aretz reports that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he and Oren discussed “the situation in Syria, the elections in Egypt and the effort to isolate Iran.”

Briefings like these with candidates are not unusual. Natasha Mozgovaya of Ha’aretz reports that an Israeli official said Ambassador Oren’s half-hour chat with Romney is part of a bipartisan policy to keep U.S. public figures informed.

“The conversation was held as part of the embassy’s ongoing work, with the principle of bipartisanism serving as a guiding light,” an Israeli Embassy official said.

Romney made these comments after dropping in during a breakout session on the U.S.-Israel relationship Friday afternoon . Of the 700 donors who attended the retreat, about 50 were Jewish. Between half and three-quarters of the 100 donors attending this session were not Jewish.

The former governor of Massachusetts also told the donors he would be doing more to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

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Middle East pundits differ on approach but agree U.S.-Israel relationship is strong

June 19, 2012 3 Comments

Clarence Page, Eleanor Clift and William Kristol speak about “The Current State of U.S.-Israel Relations”

Clarence Page, Eleanor Clift and William Kristol speak about “The Current State of U.S.-Israel Relations”

By Robert Pines, TIP Fellow

Washington, June 19 – Three leading pundits – who differ in political views regarding the current administration’s approach to Israel – all agree the U.S.-Israel relationship is strong.

Speaking on Monday during a briefing hosted by The Israel Project, Chicago Tribune‘s Clarence Page said while President Obama has not visited Israel, he has maintained decent relations with the Jewish state while simultaneously balancing American interests in the region.

The Weekly Standard‘s William Kristol, representing a more conservative viewpoint, argued Obama “did not begin with the same instinctive history” in dealing with Israel. Characterizing Obama as hostile toward Israel early on in his administration, Kristol said there is no real policy in effect today. Kristol said this lull in U.S.-Israel relations has given way to uncertainty in U.S. foreign policy, not only regarding Israel but Iran and the greater Middle East region as well.

“We don’t know what a Romney administration foreign policy would look like, but we don’t know what second-term Obama administration foreign policy would be either,” Kristol said.

Eleanor Clift, of Newsweek/Daily Beast said, a “second-term Obama foreign policy would likely be just as reluctant on military action in Iran.”

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Campaigns debate relationship with Israel, Iran at TIP briefing

June 18, 2012 3 Comments

By Ari Bildner, Staff Writer

Former Rep. Robert Wexler, President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace; Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama 2012 Campaign

Former Rep. Robert Wexler, President of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace; Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama 2012 Campaign

Mary Beth Long, Co-chair of the Romney campaign’s Middle East/North Africa policy working group

Mary Beth Long, Co-chair of the Romney campaign’s Middle East/North Africa policy working group

Washington, June 18 – Advisers to the Romney and Obama campaigns sparred Monday about the American response to the Iranian threat and the U.S.-Israel relationship at a Capitol Hill briefing organized by The Israel Project.

“This administration has gone beyond the call of duty” in strengthening the bilateral relationship, said former Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler, who now heads the non-partisan S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

Wexler gave several instances he said highlighted the “unprecedented” cooperation between the U.S. and the Israeli government.

Mary Beth Long, a foreign policy adviser to Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, argued that defense department budget cuts could limit America’s ability to pursue its regional interests in the future.

“We need to increase our ability to project credible defensive capabilities into the Middle East,” she said. Long also said the administration was perceived by many of “being more concerned with Israel going to war than Iran than Iran building a nuclear weapon,” a line Romney used when speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition on Saturday.

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Romney: Israel and U.S. share same values

June 16, 2012 6 Comments

Mitt Romney speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition from a bus tour stop in Pennsylvania

Mitt Romney speaking to the Faith and Freedom Coalition from a bus tour stop in Pennsylvania

By Lauren Appelbaum, Political Director

Washington, June 16 – Israel is both an ally and a friend of America because the two countries share the same values, Mitt Romney said Saturday at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference.

“America is stronger if we are locked in with our friends and Israel is one of our friends, not just because of economic interest but because we share the same values,” Romney said while answering a prescreened question on U.S.-Israel relations.

The presumptive Republican nominee pledged as president he would “forge a strong working relationship with the leadership in Israel” and he would not “show a dime’s worth of distance between ourselves and our allies such as Israel.”

He said if he and the Israeli leadership have disagreements, they would discuss them behind closed doors. “But to the world, you know that we’re locked arm-in-arm. I would make sure Israel’s safety is important to the people of the world.”

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