RJC expresses deep concern over Obama administration Israel policy
Monday, March 15, 2010 By: RJC Press Office
Washington,
D.C. (March 15, 2010) -- The Republican Jewish
Coalition said today that it was deeply upset by the tone and actions of the
Obama administration regarding Israel in recent days.
RJC Executive Director Matt
Brooks said:
The Obama administration has used
harsh and intentionally undiplomatic language to exacerbate tensions with our
ally Israel in the wake of Vice President Biden's visit there. The strident and
unwarranted escalation of tension, which has turned a minor diplomatic
embarrassment into a major international incident, has raised serious concerns
about the administration's Israel policy from a variety of mainstream voices.*
Now Israeli sources report
that the administration is pressuring Israel not only to halt construction in
Ramat Shlomo but to make a "confidence-building" concession such as releasing
hundreds of Palestinian prisoners (presumably terrorists) or turning over
additional West Bank areas to Palestinian control.
We believe the
administration's
actions are disproportionate and one-sided. It should be noted, there
has been no similar official U.S. condemnation of any Palestinian
action, including
recent rioting on the Temple Mount and official Palestinian plans to
name a
public square for a female terrorist responsible for the worst single
terror
attack on Israeli soil.
Moreover, the administration's
stance is dangerous to the best interests of the U.S. and Israel. By distancing
ourselves from our most important strategic ally in a troubled region, an ally
with which we have strong and necessary joint military, intelligence, security,
and trade agreements, we weaken the United States. By taking the role of the
Palestinians' negotiator in the guise of an "honest broker" and advancing
Palestinian demands that should be the subjects of direct Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations, not their preconditions, the administration is seriously weakening
the security of Israel.
A report in the Politico that Vice President Biden, speaking to Prime Minister Netanyahu behind closed
doors, explicitly linked Israeli housing policy with the safety of U.S. troops
in Iraq and Afghanistan is also of great concern. It demonstrates the false
linkage between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war on terrorism often
used by Israel's enemies to undermine Israel's legitimacy and efforts for
security and peace.
We call on the Obama administration
to halt immediately its unwarranted pressure against Israel, to take steps to
heal the dangerous rift it has created between the two countries, and to return
to the policy of its predecessors in supporting Israel's security and
well-being as an important strategic ally.
* Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren has called it "the worst
crisis in 35 years."
ADL National Director Abe Foxman said, "We cannot remember an
instance when such harsh language was directed at a friend and ally of the
United States. One can only wonder
how far the U.S. is prepared to go in distancing itself from Israel in order to
placate the Palestinians in the hope they see it is in their interest to return
to the negotiating table."
AIPAC called the "escalated
rhetoric of recent days" a "distraction from the substantive work that needs to
be done," and called on the administration "to
take immediate steps to defuse the tension with the Jewish State."
Democratic Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley (D-NV-01) called the
administration's moves "an irresponsible overreaction" and "overwrought
rhetoric designed to appease Palestinians politicians..."
The
Wall Street Journal editors wrote, "Our enemies get
courted; our friends get the squeeze. It has happened to Poland, the Czech
Republic, Honduras and Colombia. Now it's Israel's turn."
Even the
Washington Post reported, "Relations with Israel have
been strained almost since the start of the Obama administration. Now they have
plunged to their lowest ebb since the administration of George H.W. Bush."