I'm not ashamed of my opinions, people--I'm a proud Republican.
(PS...I know this article means nothing now. The election is long. I'm just wondering what pissed people off so feel free to let me know.)
If You Love Israel…
Sarah Marshall
In June I completed my second trip to Israel. Anybody with a drop of knowledge about politics knows how important Israel is to the US (and for that matter, how important the US is to Israel). Israel is our only reliable ally in the Middle East, and arguments that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are our buddies can be quickly shot down with a review of the last few decades. Suffering from Election ’08 fever myself, I asked every Israeli I encountered for their opinions on who should be leading the free world this time next year. The vote was anonymous. Most people couldn’t believe I would ASK such a question. A more official poll given by the Washington Times puts the Israeli vote for Senator McCain around 70%.
I’m not going to explain the importance of supporting Israel and voting for someone who supports Israel. From a secular standpoint, a vote for Israel is a vote for the future of America. Without any influence in a region as huge and important as the Middle East, we won’t last too much longer. Now let’s figure out which candidate would most help to ensure the continuing success of the only democracy in a region otherwise almost completely lacking in freedom.
Senator Obama, a man of clarity and a consistent policy in general, summed up his view just a few weeks ago on a visit to Jordan. "Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under a McCain... administration. It will be a strong friend of Israel's under an Obama administration. So that policy is not going to change,” pledged Senator Obama.
Thank you for clarifying, Senator. Honestly, I can’t really find anything showing what Senator Obama really thinks about Israel. In his two and a half years as a Senator, his votes did indicate overall support for Israel. But from reading what he says and plans to do, it’s clear his opinion is the exactly equal to…whatever his audience wants to hear. In 2004 he voiced his opinion for the “wall” protecting the Israelis to come down. He has close personal and political ties with George Soros, one of his biggest donors, who says he wants to break America’s bonds with Israel and erode political support for Israel. Senator Obama has indicated that he wants to hire some of Carter’s foreign policy team for himself in ’09. I think we all know what Carter, who recently hugged a Hamas leader, did to the Middle East. To be fair, Senator Obama strongly condemned the meeting with Hamas, which he called a terrorist organization, even though they whole-heartedly endorsed him. Last week while in Israel Senator Obama met with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which named him “candidate likely to be least supportive of Israel.” In this meeting he pledged support for continuing the strong positive relationship between America and Israel. Officially, according to his website, Senator Obama says the same things he said to Haaretz. So, to sum it up, I don’t really know what the Democratic nominee for President thinks about Israel, but I don’t think he’d do anything too radical, either way.
McCain has a clearer stance, one that hasn’t changed at all since he began his career working with the house over thirty years ago. Every statement and vote that he has made has been 100% Pro-Israel. In March on a visit to Israel he said that there was no point in negotiating with Hamas. Last summer he recognized the importance of Israel to America, asking “If we fail in Israel, where will we succeed?” When Senator McCain was asked why he is so concerned about Iran, he answered, “The United States of America has committed itself to never allowing another Holocaust.” Senator Joe Lieberman urged supporters of Israel to vote for Senator McCain, saying, “If you love Israel, you’ll love McCain.” In an effort to be completely fair, I looked all over for something indicating that Senator McCain isn’t ideal for Israel, but I couldn’t find much. The closest thing I saw was his consideration to have James Baker, White House Chief of Staff for Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush, be a sort of advisor on Israel. Baker, in a conversation with a friend about Israel, reportedly made a disgusting statement about Jews, noting, “They don’t vote for us anyway.” The only other thing I can find, after sifting through a few hundred articles, is comparisons between Senator McCain and President Bush, saying that the later is bad for Israel. I can’t find any logic behind that, though.
All I ask is that you consider what I’ve said, or rather, what the candidates have said, before you cast your vote in November. Until elected, we can’t be sure what either candidate will do, but, in the words of Senator Obama himself, no matter what, “Israel will be a friend of Israel’s.”
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