Posted on 09/20/2011 8:10:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Rick Perry aligned himself with some of the most hawkish pro-Israel voices on the question of Israel and Palestine today, but offered a more moderate vision than some of his supporters'.
And the Texas governor laid out a far more articulated and current stand on the issues of Israel and a Palestinian state in a short speech to largely Orthodox Jewish supporters of Israel in a ballroom at the W Hotel on New York's Union Square.
Perry spoke surrounded by Jewish leaders, many of whom -- like Likud figure and settler tribune Danny Danon and National Council of Young Israel Vice President Rabbi Pesach Lerner -- oppose a two-state solution, and believe Israel should annex and keep the Palestinian lands of the West Bank and Gaza. Others, like an official of the Orthodox Union, belong to organizations that don't oppose a Palestinian state in principle, but are deeply suspicious of any move toward it. As Perry looked on, Danon -- the first speaker -- praised "the Jewish pioneers who live in the hills of Judea and Samaria."
Perry's prepared remarks seemed to offer a more centrist vision, though he promised a "new firmness and a new resolve" in contrast to an Obama policy in the Middle East he described as "appeasement."
Perry demanded that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas return to direct negotiations with his Israeli counterpart, but set out far stricter preconditions for peace than any American administration.
"Palestinian leaders must publicly affirm Israel's right to exist -- And to exist as a Jewish nation, a Jewish state," Perry said. Abbas, he said "must convince all factions, including Hamas" to renounce terrorism and to release the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
"The obama policy of moral equivalnecy which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians – including the orchestrators of terrorism – is a very dangerous insult," Perry said. "There is no middle ground between our allies and those who seek their destruction.
Perry seemed to cast Obama's pressure on Israel not as a rush to peace but as a barrier to peace. He "put them in a position of weakness taking away our flexibility to offer concessions," Perry said.
And Perry offered a muscular critique of the Obama Administration, which he said should have aligned itself more forcefully with the Iranian opposition, and was "slow to recognize the risk posed by the new regime in Egypt."
"Our muddle of a foreign policy has created greater uncertainty in the midst of this Arab Spring," he said. And he threatened the Palestinian Authority that the U.S. " will have to reconsider the $4 billion in assistance we have provided the Palestinians."
"We must close the PLO office in Washington," he said.
But if Perry's views were toughly-worded, they were nowhere near as radical as those of his supporters'. And he didn't offer a clear difference between his own opposition to the U.N. vote and that of the Obama Administration, which is scrambling to derail it.
It was, though, extremely well-received. I caught Joseph Frager, one of his hosts, telling Perry at the conclusion of his remarks that it had been "the best speech I ever heard on Israel."
After closing the PLO office, it will need to be disinfected and then razed to the ground.
The debris must be carted away in hazmat containers and incinerated at very high temperatures.
Hamas, Hezzbulah and Ron Paul most effected.
Well...after hearing Glenn Beck saying Obomba’s first call on becoming President was to Abbas......I’d say this is REFRESHING!
......"Mermel said more than 100 people crowded into an apartment on Central Park West, including some who traveled from hours away.
"I was swamped by Republican county chairs from all over the state who wanted to attend," Mermel said. "We had people from as far away as Cayuga County come down and they were thrilled he was running. Finding somebody who’s popular in Manhattan and upstate is not easy to do. He appeals to both." ....
Gov. Perry raises $50K for his campaign from Hispanic activists and New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers in Rangel's Harlem district!
WOW!
That little bit of Ben Smith editorializing sticks out like a hooker in a convent. The whole article details Perry's tough Israeli stance, but somehow Ben manages to discover moderating penumbras. Sheesh!
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Close their office, and cut off ALL future funding.
BUT he can't take away Gov. Perry's long history with Israel.
Perry to slam Obama on Israel ---Quotes and LINKS to Perry/Israel comments
bump.
“......In a 10-minute speech in New York, Perry pledged strong support for Israel and criticized President Barack Obama for demanding concessions from the Jewish state that Perry says emboldened the Palestinians to seek recognition by the U.N.
We would not be here today at this very precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn’t naive and arrogant, misguided and dangerous,” Perry said. “The Obama policy of moral equivalency which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a very dangerous insult.”
Perry also criticized the administration’s belief that any negotiations should be based on the borders Israel had before a 1967 war that expanded the Jewish state. Perry called that stance “insulting and naive.”.....
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/09/20/general-us-candidates-israel_8689837.html
We won't find a perfect candidate anywhere, but good enough beats Obama!
I do wish Perry would again start his word catching phrases...in the beginning...that is what drew people to him...I wish he had not toned it down.
....." Perry made his position on Israel crystal clear, leaving no room for doubt or misunderstanding.
“It must be said first that Israel is our oldest and strongest ally in the Middle East,” Perry said. “A democratic ally in the Middle East, and it has been for more than sixty years.” .....
It’s getting to the point where if I could vote twice, I would vote both times for Perry.
I didn’t even realize there was a PLO office in Washington.
Nothing like letting the fox into the hen house.
“The obama policy of moral equivalnecy which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians – including the orchestrators of terrorism – is a very dangerous insult,” Perry said. “There is no middle ground between our allies and those who seek their destruction.”
Sounds...Reaganesque.
Nice group picture.
"The W Hotel in Union Square looked more like a Forest Hills J.C.C. when Rick Perry strode up to the podium to deliver a speech on the Holy Land this morning. There were nearly a hundred Jewish people in the room, and, aside from the press corps, yarmulkes almost outnumbered bare heads. Also in attendance was Bob Turner, the freshly minted New York congressman apparently determined to make Israel a signature issue after his upset election victory. He watched as Perry, a day after dining at a Mexican restaurant in Inwood, began courting another traditionally Democrat-friendly demographic......
[snip]
During a question-and-answer session afterward, Perry reiterated that if the U.N. offered statehood to Palestine, the United States should think about revoking its financial support for the international body. (Bob Turner told me he would seriously consider backing such legislation in Congress.) But the real news was Perry's promise that, "as the President of the United States, if you want to work for the State Department, you will be working in Jerusalem" — a signal that the American embassy should be moved from its current location in Tel Aviv. It seems like a small thing, but when you're talking about American–Israeli relations, there is no such thing. For over fifteen years, American presidents, including George W. Bush, have blocked legislation to relocate the United States embassy to Jerusalem, concerned that it would jeopardize the peace process......"
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