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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Republicans pledge support for Israel

August 29, 2012 Leave a comment

By Lauren Appelbaum and Ashley Gold

Eric Cantor (R-Va.) addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition

Eric Cantor (R-Va.) addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition

Tampa, Fla., Aug. 29 – Republican members of Congress – who are primarily speaking about domestic issues – joined together to express their support for Israel Wednesday afternoon.

Speaking at an event sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition, the members of Congress stressed two themes – the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“This world would change dramatically if we ever allowed Iran to have nuclear weapons,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said.

Royce discussed attacks in Europe on Jews by Hezbollah. “Who would have thought we would see attacks in Europe?” Royce said.

Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) said the U.S. needs to support Israel precisely because of the threat from Iran. “Israel and U.S. share a common enemy,” West said. “So goes Israel, eventually so goes the U.S.”

“We’ll continue to stand side-by-side with Israel,” West continued, saying so not only the people in attendance but their children and grandchildren “can visit a safe and secure Israel for not 10 years but for 100 years.”

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Israel ties valued as part of Mormon-Jewish cooperation

August 28, 2012 1 Comment

AJC's Richard Foltin, St. Leo University's Dr. Abraham Peck, AIPAC's Gregory Smith

AJC’s Richard Foltin, St. Leo University’s Dr. Abraham Peck, AIPAC’s Gregory Smith

By Lauren Appelbaum and Ashley Gold

Tampa, Fla., Aug. 28 – “Why should Jews and Mormons sit and talk?” Dr. Abraham Peck asked during a panel organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Republican National Convention.

Peck, executive director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies at St. Leo University in Florida, said both Jews and Mormons need to be included in interfaith dialogue which is taking on greater importance in the United States.

The two groups have a strong basis for friendship, stemming from the fact that that Mormons see Jews as biblically-related cousins and that both religions place a high value on primacy of the family.

Fellow panelist Gregory Smith, who is Mormon and now works for the pro-Israel lobbying organization AIPAC, expressed the same sentiment when describing his journey to become an Israel advocate.

“It’s an American value to support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship,” Smith said – something Mormons and Jews both believe very strongly.

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Ros-Lehtinen: “Is one minute too much to spend remembering murdered Israeli Olympians?”

May 21, 2012 2 Comments

By Ashley Gold, Staff Writer

Washington, May 21 - U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement Friday in response to the International Olympic Committee’s failure to accede to Israel’s request for a moment of silence at the 2012 Olympic Games to pay tribute to the 11 Israeli athletes who were taken hostage and killed by Palestinian violent extremists at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich:

Is one minute too much for the IOC to spend in remembrance of 11 innocent lives brutally cut short at the 1972 Games?

At the service the IOC held after the murder of the Israeli Olympians in Munich in 1972, the IOC President failed to even mention them in his remarks.  In the four decades since, the IOC has repeatedly refused to allow a moment of silence in their memory.

All Israel asks for is ‘Just One Minute!’  The memory and families of those brave Olympians deserve much more than that.

I strongly encourage the IOC to reconsider and allow sixty seconds of tribute to be paid to these athletes, who were murdered by violent extremists in a horrific repudiation of the very values of honor, harmony, and fraternity that the Olympics represent.

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Duncan, Ros-Lehtinen, Sherman aim to limit funding to Egypt

May 16, 2012 1 Comment

By Ashley Gold, Staff Writer

Washington, May 16 - Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) have filed an amendment to limit U.S. funding for U.S. participation in military-to-military exercises with Egypt if Egypt terminates or withdraws from the 1979 treaty with Israel.

The amendment, No. 201, to HR 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY13, states, “None of the funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act may be made available for United States participation in joint military exercises with Egypt if the Government of Egypt terminates or withdraws from the 1979 Israeli-Egypt peace treaty.”

Between 1948 and 2011, the U.S. provided Egypt with $71.6 billion in bilateral foreign aid, including $1.3 billion in military aid annually from 1987 until now.

The Muslim Brotherhood/Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), now part of the Islamist majority, said it will honor Egypt’s international agreements, but made an exception for the Camp David Accords, made in 1981 to showcase the strength of the U.S./Egypt military relationship. FJP also vowed to never recognize the State of Israel.

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Obama: ‘Never again’ is a challenge to reject hatred in all of its forms

April 23, 2012 Leave a comment

President Obama Addressing AIPAC in March2012

President Obama Addressing AIPAC in March 2012

By Ashley Gold and Jennifer Packer

Washington, April 23 – “I said I will always be there for Israel,” President Obama said at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum today.

Honoring Holocaust Remembrance Day, he vowed Monday to use the power of the U.S. government to protect Israel and ensure Iran is stopped from harming the Jewish state through its nuclear program. “When faced with a regime that threatens global security and denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy Israel, the United States will do everything in our power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” the President said as he stood with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel at the museum.

Holocaust Remembrance Day was April 19, when the world mourned the slaughter of an estimated six million Jews and five million other people during World War II who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime. As the number of Holocaust survivors diminishes – 12,000 reportedly died in the last year - Israel strives to keep their memory alive and promote public education about the Holocaust

“’Never again’ is a challenge to reject hatred in all of its forms – including anti-Semitism, which has no place in a civilized world,” Obama said. “‘Never again’ is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security – and that includes the State of Israel.”

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Poll: 62% American Jews back Obama in 2012 Re-election

April 4, 2012 11 Comments

By Ashley Gold, Staff Writer

Washington, April 4 - A new poll of American Jews examines beliefs on social issues and priorities for the 2012 election. According to the survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, 62 percent of those surveyed said they would like to see Barack Obama re-elected in 2012 while 29 percent said they would prefer that a Republican candidate win the election.

The 2012 Jewish Values Survey was conducted by Public Religion Research Institute among a random sample of 1,004 self-identified Jewish adults (ages 18 and older) who are part of the Knowledge Networks’ KnowledgePanel. Interviews were conducted online between February 23 and March 5, 2012. The margin of sampling error for the entire sample is +/- 5.0 percentage points at the 95 percent level of confidence.

Read the Full Data: Jewish Values Survey 2012

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Obama addresses Middle East, Israel comments in first news conference of 2012

March 6, 2012 Leave a comment

By Jennifer Packer and Ashley Gold

Washington, March 6 – President Barack Obama today gave his first news conference of 2012. Following are excerpts highlighting Obama’s comments about the Middle East:

Question: …On Iran on Sunday Romney went so far as to say if you were re-elected Iran will get a bomb and the world will change. How do you respond?

What we’ve been able to do over the last few is years is mobilize unprecedented crippling sanctions on Iran. Iran is feeling the bite of these sanctions in a substantial way. The world is unified, Iran is politically isolated. What we have said is we won’t countenance Iran getting a nuclear weapon. My policy is not containment; my policy is not letting them get a nuclear weapon.

Because if they get one that could trigger an arms race in the region, it would undermine our non proliferation goals, it could potentially fall into the arms of terrorists. We’ve been in close consultation with all of our allies including Israel in moving this strategy forward. At this stage it is my belief that we have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically. That’s not just my view, it’s the view of our top intelligence officials, and it’s the view of top Israeli intelligence officials.

As a consequence we’re going to continue to apply the pressure even as we provide a door for the Iranian regime to walk through where they could rejoin the nations by giving assurances to the international community that they’re meeting their obligations and they are not pursuing a nuclear weapon.

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Panetta: Israel relationship strong and growing

March 6, 2012 Leave a comment

By Ashley Gold, Staff Writer

Washington, March 6 – The “security bonds” between the United States and Israel will continue to expand, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told 13,000 attendees at AIPAC Tuesday morning.

“I feel that America’s relationship with Israel is stronger than at any other time of my experience in government,” said Panetta, the first defense secretary to address AIPAC in more than 20 years. “Let me assure you that the security bonds will only grow as America goes through a historic turning point after a decade of war.”

“I come here as secretary of defense, but also as a lifelong friend to Israel,” Panetta said.

Sitting down with Howard Kohr and Lee Rosenberg of AIPAC a few weeks ago, Panetta was briefed on how they saw the future of Israel. Together, they discussed ways to strengthen and enhance the U.S.-Israel relationship.

“We must never rest easy. Too many lives have been lost. Too much blood has been spilled,” Panetta said.

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Pelosi reaffirms support for Israel, need to stop Iran

March 5, 2012 2 Comments

By Lauren Appelbaum and Ashley Gold

Nancy Pelosi Addressing AIPAC Conference

Nancy Pelosi Addressing AIPAC Conference

Washington, March 5 – Continuing a pattern at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said a nuclear-armed Iran is not only a threat to Israel but also to America and the world.

“It is time for Iran to abandon its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons.”

Pelosi praised the Obama administration for pushing sanctions through the United Nations, saying the administration has made it clear that it stands with Israel.

Her address to the more than 13,000 AIPAC attendees following Sen. Mitch McConnell. “Our presence tonight confirms our support for Israel is bipartisan.”

“We must continue to fight for the day that Israel’s existence is a fact recognized by every nation on the earth,” she added.

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