Senators stress value of US-Israel ties

Bipartisan letter to Obama administration signed by 3/4 of Senate.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Three-quarters of the United States Senate have signed over the past three days a bipartisan letter to the Obama Administration stressing the importance of US-Israel relations, published on Tuesday.
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) were the leading signatories. The letter, on which they were joined by 76 of their colleagues, is similar to the US House of Representatives letter sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the weekend. The House letter was signed by 333 members, more than three-quarters of that body.
The letter tells Clinton that “from the moment of Israel’s creation, successive US administrations have appreciated the special relationship between [the] two nations. Israel continues to be the one true democracy in the Middle East that brings stability to a region where it is in short supply.”
“By helping keep Israel strong,” the letter continues, “the United States has helped to reduce threats to Israel’s security and advance the peace which successive Israeli governments have so avidly sought.”
The letter quotes a speech from Vice President Joe Biden’s recent visitto Israel: “Progress occurs in the Middle East when everyone knowsthere is simply no space between the US and Israel.”
The Senators conclude the letter by writing that the US “must neverforget the depth and breadth of our alliance and always do our utmostto reinforce a relationship that has benefited both nations for morethan six decades.”