Hillary Clinton’s election will improve relations between the U.S. and Israel, longtime supporter Susan Stern said on Sunday.
Speaking at a panel on women political leaders at Limmud FSU Conference in Parsippany, NJ, Stern predicted that Clinton will foster an “atmosphere of trust” between the two countries and between the White House and the Israeli government. “If Clinton becomes president, there may be disagreement about tactics, but there will be always a clear understanding that the United States will have Israel’s back,” she said.
The panel accompanied a special photo exhibition, “Where are all the women leaders? A tribute to Golda Meir,” celebrating Meir’s life and impact as history’s only woman Mideast leader.
Clinton was invited to the conference after she expressed her admiration of Meir during her address at AIPAC’s annual policy conference last month. During her speech at AIPAC, Clinton – aspiring to become the first female U.S. president – recalled, “Some of us remember a woman, Golda Meir, who led the Israeli government decades ago and wonder what’s taking us so long here in America.”
During the panel, Collette Avital, a former Knesset member and now chair of the Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel, said she believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “would like to mend fences” with the next U.S. administration and, “having followed Hillary’s career, I think she will do likewise.”
“There will be less an atmosphere of antagonism and competition. Relations will be much more relaxed than they are now,” she said.
The Limmud FSU summit, which took place at the Sheraton Parsippany, N.J. over the weekend, featured dozens of sessions on the arts, politics, Jewish culture and more. Over a thousand Russian-speaking young Jews attended the conference, according to event organizers.
