WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama was on friendly turf Friday afternoon,
talking up his commitment to Israel and tough stance on Iran before thousands of
participants in the Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) biennial event near
Washington. “America’s commitment and my commitment to Israel’s security is
unshakable,” declared Obama in an address that seemed at times more like an
election rally. “We have been there, and we will continue to be
there. Those are the facts.”
“As president I have never waivered
in my pursuit of a just and lasting peace – two states for two peoples, an
independent Palestine along a secure Jewish state of Israel. I have not wavered
and will not waver, that is our vision,” he continued, greeted by ringing
applause.
RELATED:
US House-Senate panel approves Iran sanctions
Obama marks Hanukka early at White House party Addressing the historically left-leaning movement, Obama
delivered a report card of his administration’s performance on issues viewed to
be crucial to American Jewry. He emphasized his administration’s support for
“the most comprehensive, the hardest-hitting sanctions the Iranian regime has
ever faced,” telling the sold-out audience, “We haven’t just talked about it,
we’ve done it.”
Obama reiterated what is likely to be a major talking
point in his campaign for the American Jewish vote – that under his
administration, Israel has secured the most foreign aid funding in the history
of Israeli-US relations. Current aid for Israel is approximately $3
billion. He cited the Iron Dome missile defense program, as well as
strong US support defending Israel in the United Nations.
Republican
presidential candidates have recently made support for Israel a major issue both
in trying to differentiate themselves from their fellow primary contestants, and
in trying to pull in some of the over 70 percent of US Jews who voted for Obama
in the 2008 presidential elections.
During his speech, Obama made a
veiled reference to the GOP’s attempts, arguing that US support for Israel
“transcends partisan politics – or at least it should.”
“No US
administration has done more in support of Israel’s security than ours. None.
Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise. It is a fact,” he argued.
Earlier
this week, a group called the Emergency Committee for Israel, including major
Republican Jewish figures, took out an advertisement in five major American
newspapers accusing Obama of “treating Israel like a punching
bag.”
Support for Israel was also a major issue at last week’s Republican
presidential debate, with all candidates other than Ron Paul vying to assert
that their support for Israel and coordination with Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu ran deepest.
Prior to his address, Obama met with fellow URJ
biennial speaker Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the first meeting between the
two in two years. According to the Defense Ministry, the two discussed shared
challenges faced by the US and Israel in the Middle East.
The Defense
Ministry said Barak thanked Obama for “deepening and strengthening security ties
between the US and Israel during his term in office.”
On Thursday, Barak
addressed the URJ plenary, telling attendees that under the Obama
administration, ties between Israel and the United States have become
stronger.
The Reform Movement in Israel has taken a lead role in
combating a number of laws supported by the coalition in which Barak’s
Independence party is a member, and Barak told American Reform Jews that “as the
defense minister of the State of Israel, I can assure you that I will stand rock
solid against any attempt to curb freedoms or undermine our democracy. I will
not allow politicized, targeted legislation to undermine the value of the
supremacy of the law.”
In a possible nod to the movement’s efforts to
secure greater religious pluralism in Israel, Barak emphasized that “the only
Jewish democratic state in the world must remain exactly that: a Jewish and
democratic state.”
Barak also addressed Israel’s foreign policy concerns,
saying that, “we are preparing for an ‘Islamic Winter’, although in the long run
we hope to be part of a democratic neighborhood.”