Democratic Presidential Candidates in Heated Competition Over Who Serves Israeli Interests Best
Obama Will Seek To Convince Aipac That He Is a True Friend of Israel
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
March 2, 2007
Senator Obama of Illinois plans to use a speech Friday to convince skeptical Jewish voters that he is as reliable a supporter of Israel as any of the better-known contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination.
"He recognizes that he is fairly new to the national scene and fairly new to the issues the Jewish community is concerned about," an adviser to Mr. Obama, who asked not to be named, said. "People are curious and wondering where he stands on Israel. … This is an opportunity to just lay it all out."
Mr. Obama is to speak in Chicago at a forum arranged by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The venue was chosen so that the Illinois senator could be surrounded by Jewish Democrats who have backed him for years and say he is sensitive to the issues facing Israel.
One such supporter, Alan Solow, said he expects Mr. Obama to demonstrate that the first-term senator is as positive toward Israel as other presidential contenders. "I can't tell you if it will be different or the same as others. I certainly don't think it's going to be any weaker than what anybody else is saying," Mr. Solow, an attorney and chairman of the local Jewish Community Relations Council, said.
One area where Mr. Obama may show some individuality is on Iran, an issue that has tripped up several other Democratic hopefuls in recent weeks. "The kinds of communications that he would engage in and the pressure he envisions on Iran may differ in some respect from the other candidates," the adviser to Mr. Obama said.
At an Aipac dinner in Manhattan last month, Senator Clinton encountered some negativity when she mentioned her support for a direct dialogue between America and Iran, a position Mr. Obama shares. In recent days, the Democrats' vice presidential nominee in 2004, John Edwards, got into hot water for talking about the possibility of a nonaggression pact with Iran. In a less-noticed comment, another hopeful, Governor Richardson of New Mexico, told MSNBC that a nonaggression treaty is "an option" for resolving the dispute over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
nysun.com
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Hillary tells cheering Jewish groups she will bomb Iran for them
Hillary Clinton calls Iran a threat to U.S., Israel
The Associated Press
February 2, 2007
iht.com
NEW YORK:
Calling Iran a danger to the U.S. and one of Israel's greatest threats, U.S. senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with that nation.
"U.S. policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," the Democrat told a crowd of Israel supporters. "In dealing with this threat ... no option can be taken off the table."
Clinton spoke at a Manhattan dinner held by the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the U.S., the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Some 1,700 supporters applauded as she cited her efforts on behalf of the Jewish state and spoke scathingly of Iran's decision to hold a conference last month that questioned whether the Holocaust took place.
"To deny the Holocaust places Iran's leadership in company with the most despicable bigots and historical revisionists," Clinton said, criticizing what she called the Iranian administration's "pro-terrorist, anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and its Jews returned to Europe.
Iran insists its nuclear program is designed to produce energy, not weapons. Ahmadinejad said Thursday his government is determined to continue with its nuclear program, despite U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel to generate electricity or for the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
Clinton, the front-runner for her party's presidential nomination, called for dialogue with foes of the United States, saying Iran "uses its influence and its revenues in the region to support terrorist elements."
"We need to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat and use of military force," she said. |
