Giuliani: US should've backed Iranian, not Egyptian revolt

"America's mayor" says Palestinians need to control terror, corruption before statehood; slams Obama's handling of Mideast unrest.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Giuliani 311 Reuters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Giuliani 311 Reuters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Former New York mayor and potential Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani called on the Obama Administration "to be more supportive of Israel" and more realistic about what the Jewish state is facing. Giuliani made the comments in an interview with Channel 10 aired on Saturday.
"America's mayor" said that he took issue with the Obama administration's policy of attempting to "have a conversation with [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad," saying that the US president's diplomatic attempts have been a mistake.
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Regarding the recent unrest in Egypt, Giuliani expressed his disappointment that Obama was "supporting those who wanted to overthrow [former Egyptian president Hosni] Mubarak and not those trying to overthrow the regime in Iran."
Although he didn't directly criticize the current US administration's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Giuliani did note that his "attitude is that to settle the problem, the ball is in the Palestinian domain." He added that the Palestinians "have to demonstrate changes that can make it possible to have a solution."
"If I were the prime minister of Israel," the former presidential candidate ventured, "I'd want to see that the [Palestinian] terrorism is under control. I'd want to see recognition that Israel will remain a Jewish country. I'd want to see the development of some [Palestinian] institutions that can show they can take care of their own problems," like corruption, he said of the problems faced by the Palestinian Authority.
"You don't want to establish a Palestinian country that is a terrorist enclave," Giuliani warned.


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