Kerry: Israel can't provide goods in talks with Palestinians

HAARETZ ^ | 01/26/04 | Nathan Guttman

[Pikamax]

Last Update: 26/01/2004 21:49

Kerry: Israel can't provide goods in talks with Palestinians

By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters

Leading Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry on Monday said the government in Israel currently lacks someone who can provide the goods in everything connected to negotiations with the Palestinians.

"It's very difficult for Israel to negotiate because in Israel there is nobody to negotiate to actually deliver," Kerry said at a political rally in New Hampshire ahead of Tuesday's primary.

Kerry also criticized the settlement policy of the Israeli government and said that it was a mistake to increase building there at this time. The Massachusetts senator called for strengthening the Palestinian Authority so that it will be stronger than Hamas.

"It's important for us to leverage the Palestinian Authority in order for them to be stronger than Hamas on the ground," he said.

Kerry promised that if elected president, he would ask former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to serve as special envoys to the region.

Kerry's main rival, former front-runner Howard Dean, said at a campaign event in Manchester that the U.S. should increase resources for the Palestinian Authority in order to persuade the Palestinians to relinquish the right of return. The former Vermont governor specified that Israel should demonstrate flexibility in regard to final borders in order to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls were scouring New Hampshire for last-minute converts on Monday, with Dean questioning Kerry's judgment on Iraq and Wesley Clark contrasting his modest roots to his rivals' privileged backgrounds.

On the day before the New Hampshire primary, the country's first and a key step on the road to finding a challenger to President George W. Bush, the Democratic White House contenders searched for votes in every cranny of the traditionally late-deciding and independent state.

Dean tried to mount a late rush to overcome Kerry's lead in public opinion polls, criticizing the Massachusetts senator for his vote in Congress to authorize last year's military invasion to remove Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

"Where was John Kerry when George Bush was handing out all this misinformation about Saddam had something to do with al Qaida?" Dean, the one-time front-runner who strongly opposed the Iraq war, asked at a town hall meeting in Nashua.

"He was voting in favor of the war and it turned out all the reasons the president gave us were not true," Dean said.

Clark, the retired general and former NATO commander who is facing a challenge for third place from North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, emphasized his newcomer status in politics and contrasted his background with Dean and Kerry, products of wealth who attended Yale University.

"I grew up poor," Clark, a native of Arkansas, said as he stood on a chair in a diner in Keene. "I didn't go to Yale, my parents couldn't have afforded it. I went to West Point."

Clark launched a marathon bus tour of all 10 counties in the state on Monday, beginning before dawn at a truck stop in Claremont and winding up after midnight in the northern village of Dixville Notch, which traditionally casts the state's first votes.

A new Reuters/MSNBC/Zogby poll showed Kerry, the surprise winner in the Iowa caucuses a week ago, holding a narrowing three-point lead over Dean on the eve of the primary. Edwards and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman were pushing Clark for third place.

Other media polls show a much wider lead for Kerry, who used buses and a helicopter to crisscross the state in search of undecided voters. New Hampshire has a long tradition of late momentum shifts and startling upsets, and Kerry said he was taking nothing for granted.

"We're down to the last hours here," he said in Portsmouth. "I'm here to persuade those who remain undecided."

Kerry shrugged off criticism from Republicans that he is a liberal who cannot compete in the South, saying "if what they want is to start calling me names, they've got a problem. If the worst thing they can say about me is I'm a liberal or something, I say 'let's go, bring it on.'"

With Kerry still on top, Edwards, Clark and Lieberman jockeyed for a strong finish down below, hoping a surprise New Hampshire showing will launch them to victories in some of the seven states with contests on Feb. 3, when the race goes national.

Lieberman said the polls in New Hampshire were "erratic" and he was the Democrats' best chance for a win in November.

"If folks want to defeat George Bush, I'm their choice," he said in Nashua, where he walked down the frigid Main Street to greet voters. "I'm the candidate who can win the election."

Edwards, trying to build on a strong second place showing in Iowa, stuck to his optimistic message of economic improvement for American workers.

"This election is ... about lifting up the American people and making them believe that everything is possible," he said at a school in Milford. "Together you and I are going to change this country, and we're going to start tomorrow in the New Hampshire primary."

[goldstategop]

Jean F. Cheri to Israel: "DROP DEAD!!!"

[malakhi]

Ping.

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Has Kerry ever denounced China's rape of Tibet?

[onedoug]

Kerry promised that if elected president, he would ask former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to serve as special envoys to the region.

Hmm-hmm. Marxist proponents of economics over values. Talk about miserable failures....

[cardinal4]

Kerry will eat those words. Im not going to let this one slide. I guess we know which side of that debate the frenchman is on. Maybe hes part Pali, too?

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

Arm the PA so they can can "confront" Hamas, which they say they won't. Not to worry, they'll find good use for the arms, maybe in Iraq.

[NativeNewYorker]

Didn't he say he'd found some Jews in his family tree, the way Hillary did?

This won't hurt him in his party, because core Dem Jews are part of the surrender chorus when it comes to Israel anyway.

They think a pogrom is a small vegetable.

[woodyinscc]

Clinton and Carter to be special envoys? The Palestinian Authority to be stronger then Hamas?

This pot head might as well have added, the unconditional surrender of Israel.

[SJackson]

Has Kerry ever denounced China's rape of Tibet?

Doubt it. The Vietnam Human Rights Act passed the House 410 to 1. It's bottled up in the Senate by Sen. you know who. He has tunnel vision when it comes to persecution or atrocities, they're committed by the US.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1064871/posts

[cwb]

"Kerry shrugged off criticism from Republicans that he is a liberal who cannot compete in the South, saying "if what they want is to start calling me names, they've got a problem."

It's sad enough that most Democrats can't even admit they're liberals...but now it's become the equivalent of a slur? If the good senator can't see that his own voting record is one of the most liberal in the US Congress, than he's got the problem.

[woodyinscc]

Dem Jews are part of the surrender chorus when it comes to Israel anyway.

How they can support Israel with private donations, and then turn around and vote dim, is beyond all comprehension. In fact it is outright oxymoronic.!!

[veronica]

I already called and voiced my disgust with the Kerry campaign on this. Contact numbers...

[NYC GOP Chick]

Arm the PA so they can can "confront" Hamas, which they say they won't.

What Lurch wants to do is akin to arming the Crips so that they'll be stronger than the Bloods.

Now I'm off to print this article and fax it to a family member who is "intrigued" by John F-ing Kerry...

[NativeNewYorker]

A lot of them DON'T support Israel financially...I recall reading about a dropoff in US cash to Israel during the, um, Klinton years.

[Cinnamon Girl]

The blatherings of an idiot.

[.cnI redruM]

I guess that means they aren't signing over enough of their territory. Made John Effing Kerry can sign over a few of his mortgaged properties as Yassir Arafat party chateaus.

[mewzilla]

Kerry promised that if elected president, he would ask former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter to serve as special envoys to the region.

Is that a threat, Ketchup Boy?

[Cubs Fan]

Leading Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry on Monday said the government in Israel currently lacks someone who can provide the goods in everything connected to negotiations with the Palestinians.

What a moron. Dems never fail to get it all backwards.

Wasn't Arafat supposed to end terrorism? Oh yeah he really friggin delivers doesn't he? /sarcasm

[yonif]

Exactly. So we should strengthen the terrorist regime called the PA, instead of Hamas.

[yonif]

This is on Haaretz now:

Israeli officials believe Kerry misspoke, meant that Israel has no partner for talks since Palestinians can`t provide goods

[ConservativeMan55]

Did you hear what he said about the South?

[backhoe]

-John Kerry- some selected, informative links...--

[Paulus Invictus]

Is Kerry trying to lose the safe Jewish vote? I read that the US jews will vote RAT no matter what. Is that an accurate assessment or was the article wrong? Anyone...?

[Cinnamon Girl]

No.

[ConservativeMan55]

He said that he wasn't even going to try to win any votes in the south, and that the south doesn't matter anymore.

[Cinnamon Girl]

When and where did he say that?

[ConservativeMan55]

He said that at a town hall meeting today. Saw it on Foxnews. I will see if I can find the story.

[Cautor]

After the French-looking candidate wrote off the south, he was then heard to say: "The Dumbocrats can win without the Jewish vote. Who needs NY and NJ anyway."

[ConservativeMan55]

Its kind of one of those things he says over and over again during his stump speeches. Look here for example.





Saturday, March 15, 2003 2:45 a.m. EST
John Kerry to South: Drop Dead

Democratic Party presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry is apparently ready to write off a huge chunk of flyover country in his quest for the White House, boasting to a California fund raiser this week that he can lose the entire South and still beat President Bush in 2004.

"Al Gore proved that you can win the election without a single Southern state, if he'd only won New Hampshire," Kerry told a group of San Francisco supporters. The comment left at least one longtime Democratic Party observer aghast.

"That may be true," Congressional Quarterly's Craig Crawford told nationally syndicated radio hosts John Batchelor and Paul Alexander late Friday. "But he should not be saying that."

Crawford, who attended the Commonwealth Club fund-raiser, chastised Kerry for the reckless remark, saying, "It really allows the interpretation, which I think would be very dangerous for him, that he's going to write off the South."

"I don't believe candidates should ever blow their cover," advised Crawford, a one-time Carter campaign aide. "You don't want to start off looking like a regional candidate," added the Hoover Institute's Bill Whelan, who also heard the Kerry gaffe. "That's just not smart."

In fact, Kerry's non-Southern strategy may soon be revealed for all the world to see. A laptop computer belonging to Kerry spokesman Chris Lehane was purloined during the California campaign swing.

"A middle-aged thief with thinning hair and quick hands snatched a laptop computer from a car belonging" to Lehane, the San Francisco Chronicle reported this week.

The laptop is said to be "chock-full of campaign information" that the presidential hopeful would certainly prefer to remain secret.

"Obviously it's troubling to us because it contained a lot of valuable information," Lehane told the Chronicle. "We just want to make sure no one attempts to use it in the wrong way."

Insider reports like Crawford's Kerry campaign update - along with regular guest appearances by Sen. Kerry himself, Sen. John McCain, Sen. John Edwards and Gov. Howard Dean - have helped catapult the "Batchelor & Alexander Show" to the No. 1 spot in its time slot.

Recent Batchelor & Alexander interviews have included breaking news Iraq war updates from Centcom Commander Gen. Tommy Franks and top Pentagon honcho Gen. Richard Myers.

Regular commentary from Fox News Channel's Monica Crowley and CQ's Crawford, plus the latest inside info from the Web's most dynamic news sites like Stratfor.com and NewsMax, have kept Batchelor & Alexander's audience on the cutting edge of news and opinion.

And now, late-night talk radio's most dynamic duo can be heard coast to coast.

Listen to the brand new, nationally syndicated "Batchelor & Alexander Show" on the WABC Radio network, 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET weeknights, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET on Saturdays.

[deannadurbin]

Kerry: One Dangerous Dude.

[KQQL]

Ferry @ Alert

[truthandjustice1]

"Is Kerry trying to lose the safe Jewish vote?"

Don't worry, the Jewish vote is safe with the Rats, it would appear. Secular ideology trumps religious convictions, sadly

[KQQL]

[mercy]

Oh yeah. This will get you elected Mr. Heinz. You Putz. Cut the Jews out of your coalition. That will work real good.

Maybe shortsheeting Dean was not such a bad idea afterall.

[KQQL]

Majority (Approx 67%) of Jewish Americans are liberals and democrats and will likley vote for Kerry ...

Also, his grand father being Jeiwsh will help him, so will his Jewish brother with the Jewish American vote.

W will lucky if he gets 25+% of the Jewish American vote.

[KQQL]

While Solomont is heading up the fund-raising effort in Massachusetts

Solomont is on the executive board of the Israel Policy Forum, which advocates strong US involvement in fostering a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. He attended the December 1 signing of the Geneva Accord in Switzerland, he notes, "on my own behalf, because I believe that whatever we're doing there ain't working."

Asked whether Kerry is a backer of Geneva, Solomont said, "No, I don't think John Kerry is looking to really get into that discussion, because I think, in a sense, his views and positions would have a broader perspective – that nothing positive is going to happen in that region without purposeful and consistent American involvement."

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1062341/posts

[adam_az]

welcome back!

[dennisw]

Kerry's paternal grandfather and grandmother were Jewish. Thus he is 50% Jewish.

[yonif]

Thanks.

[hershey]

Kerry is a fool, as is anyone who votes for him. God help the country if he ever became pres.

[truthandjustice1]

W will lucky if he gets 25+% of the Jewish American vote. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Begs the question, who cares?

[claudiustg]

---Asked whether Kerry is a backer of Geneva, Solomont said, "No, I don't think John Kerry is looking to really get into that discussion,---

Kerry still wants the Jewish vote , just not the Jewish problems.

[Light Speed]

If Gov Dean has hit his bottom/basemanet level...then Kerry has followed suit,
Except he willingly reached down to get it.
What is he pineing for..an Endorsement from the U.S. State Dept?...The CFR?...Colin Powell?

Kerry criticizes Bush for Foreign Policy gaffs....then slobbers all over the Jewish state with this illuminated insight of his.

Ariel Sharon has murderers in his midst...murder money crossing the face of the Earth from all points to destroy and undermine the Nation of Israel

In all of this..Arik has outwitted them..and put them to humiliation.

Kerry and his *Blame it on the Israeli people for electing Sharon...just comes off like the French.

John Kerry.....that French looking Democrat from Massachusetts.