Senators Urge President Obama To Underscore Strong Support For Israel During UN General Assembly

Today, 14 U.S. Senators called on President Obama to issue a strongly worded defense of Israel during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.  In a letter, the Senators highlighted a number of recent, troubling developments in the Middle East, including the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, anti-Israeli rhetoric from Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey, and efforts to isolate Israel by unilaterally advancing a resolution on Palestinian statehood at the UN. The Senators ask that President Obama “utilize the opportunity offered by your address at the United Nations to reaffirm and explain America’s determination to stand by Israel at this difficult hour.”

The letter was signed by the following Senators: Menendez, Lieberman, Kyl, Casey, Collins, Gillibrand, Kirk, Blumenthal, Hatch, Cardin, Rubio, Schumer, Isakson, Coons

FULL TEXT OF LETTER:

Dear Mr. President:

 As you prepare to address the United Nations General Assembly this week, we write to express our concern about a number of troubling developments in the Middle East that pose difficult challenges for our ally Israel as well as our own regional security interests.

We are deeply disappointed that President Mahmoud Abbas appears determined to scorn your persistent efforts to persuade him to return to the negotiating table with Israel and instead seek unilateral diplomatic action in New York that will only set back the prospects for peace. We are also troubled by the anti-Israeli rhetoric that Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has displayed in recent weeks in the wake of the Palmer Report, which is harmful to Turkey’s reputation in the United States, especially when coupled with its reluctance to take any meaningful actions in response to the brutal crackdown in Syria. Lastly, the attack on the Israeli Embassy in Cairo earlier this month by a mob was profoundly unsettling. We commend your immediate and direct engagement with Egyptian authorities to save the lives of the six trapped Embassy personnel.  

 We believe it is imperative for you to speak strongly, forthrightly and publicly about U.S. concerns over these developments. We need to make it clear that we will not tolerate continued threats to Israel by governments or individuals in the region or attempts to delegitimize Israel at the UN or other international forums. Violence and unilateralism against Israel will be met with the strongest U.S. opposition.  

Political and physical attacks on Israel pose real dangers to the prospects for building Mideast peace and present the possibility of a region-wide deterioration into violence.  Israel’s real sense of growing isolation will make it much more difficult to move the Mideast in a positive direction. We therefore urge you to utilize the opportunity offered by your address at the United Nations later this month to reaffirm and explain America’s determination to stand by Israel at this difficult hour.

The whole world will be watching and listening when you speak next week at the UN. The world needs to hear unequivocally from you that Israel – our friend, ally, and strategic partner -- is not alone in facing these threats.

We look forward to your response. 

Senators urge pro-Israel stance from Obama in speech

WASHINGTON — US senators urged President Barack Obama on Monday to use his speech to the United Nations to restate strong US support for Israel amid tensions with Turkey and a Palestinian push for statehood.

"The world needs to hear unequivocally from you that Israel -- our friend, ally, and strategic partner -- is not alone in facing these threats," 14 lawmakers said in a letter released a Obama arrived in New York.

The senators accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of "anti-Israeli rhetoric," the attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and the Palestinians' push to raise their status at the world body.

"We believe it is imperative for you to speak strongly, forthrightly and publicly about US concerns over these developments," they wrote to the president, who was to address the UN General Assembly.

"We need to make it clear that we will not tolerate continued threats to Israel by governments or individuals in the region or attempts to delegitimize Israel at the UN or other international forums. Violence and unilateralism against Israel will be met with the strongest US opposition," they said.

Democratic Senators Robert Menendez, Bob Casey, Kirsten Gillibrand, Dick Blumenthal, Ben Cardin, Chuck Schumer, and Chris Coons, Republican Senators Jon Kyl, Susan Collins, Mark Kirk, Orrin Hatch, Marco Rubio, and Johnny Isakson, as well as Independent Senator Joe Lieberman signed the letter.

The lawmakers warned "political and physical attacks on Israel" raised "the possibility of a region-wide deterioration into violence" and that "Israel's real sense of growing isolation will make it much more difficult to move the Mideast in a positive direction."

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved

US Congress Opposes PA Statehood Bid

The US House of Representatives voted 407-6 to pass a non-binding resolution backing the suspension of funds to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority should it pursue its bid for a unilateral declaration of statehood by the United Nations in September.

The resolution comes a week after the US Senate unanimously approved a similar resolution.

The House resolution also calls for the Obama administration to consider suspending aid the the PA in light of its unity deal with Hamas terror organization. The resolution is non-binding because, constitutionally, foreign policy is the purview of the President of the United States.

The House initially debated the resolution on Wednesday, but postponed the vote to ensure lawmakers had a chance to vote. Republicans and Democrats signaled their strong support for Israel and a resumption of direct negotiations that collapsed last fall.

"We stand by Israel as our most valued ally. It is time for the Palestinian Authority to accept a peaceful solution to this conflict," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said he strongly believed that to ensure "the long-term viability of the Jewish democratic state, peace must be negotiated. It cannot and will not be imposed from outside."

The administration has said the PA push for a UN vote on its statehood this fall has not helped the peace process, a point echoed by lawmakers. The US has signaled to the PA it will exercise its security council veto at the UN should the matter be brought to a vote.

That renders the PA move in the General Assembly largely symbolic and led Israeli officials to seek a "moral minority" of sixty key states to oppose the move as a means of negating the propaganda effect of the PA receiving the support of its traditional 'automatic majority' in the General Assembly.

"What, exactly, would UN General Assembly recognition of a Palestinian state do for the Palestinians? Absolutely nothing," said Rep. Howard Berman of California, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee. "It would be seen by Israel and many others as an act of bad faith, creating yet another obstacle to successful talks."

The House resolution says the goal is two states "a democratic, Jewish state of Israel and a viable, democratic Palestinian state, living side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition."

But many question the viability of a PA state when the organization, riddled with corruption, cannot make ends meet and survives solely at the charitable largesse of donor nations.