In a blow to Israel’s efforts to contain the controversy over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress, Vice President Joe Biden announced that he would not attend the address.
Americans\’ sympathies lean heavily toward Israel over the Palestinians in the highest level of support seen in 22 years.
Israeli ambassador Michael Oren told Jewish Democrats that Israel needs “all hands on deck” ahead of a Palestinian push for statehood.
When two-fifths of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate met this week in Washington with representatives of Jewish groups, the senators delivered a clear message: If you agree with us, it’s about time you spoke up.
For politicians today, making it to Washington often requires them to explain their views about what should happen to Jerusalem. That was the case at the Hermosa Beach Community Center on April 20 when four of the 16 Democratic candidates running in a May 17 special election for the open seat in California’s 36th Congressional District met in a debate on U.S.-Israel and Middle East policy organized by Democrats for Israel (DFI).
Senate Democrats urged Republicans to reject a colleague\’s call for an end to foreign aid, including aid to Israel. \”Both Republicans and Democrats are committed to reining in the federal deficit, but assistance to Israel is not a matter of \’pork barrel spending,\’ \” said the letter sent Tuesday to the GOP chairmen of the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations and Budget committees, respectively Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. \”Rather U.S. foreign aid to Israel demonstrates America\’s rock-solid commitment to ensuring Israel\’s right to exist.\”
U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor\’s promise that the new GOP majority will \”serve as a check\” on the Obama administration was \”not in relation to U.S.-Israel relations,\” his spokesman said.
As an American, I never thought I would say that I find a new French leader, the pro-opportunity, pro-defense Mr. Sarkozy, closer to the American ideal than our own president-elect. In giving President-elect Obama the benefit of the doubt, I hope sincerely that he can grow into the job, and I can revise that assessment.
For months, polls showed Obama languishing at about 60 percent of the Jewish vote, a critical chunk short of the 75 percent or so Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) garnered in 2004. But exit polls from the Tuesday election showed Obama matching those results, garnering about 78 percent of the Jewish vote against 22 percent for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), his Republican rival.
Speaker after speaker at the Democratic convention on Wednesday night in Denver argued that GOP recklessness had emboldened Israel\’s enemies
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