The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised several Democratic Members of Congress for speaking out publicly in opposition to President Barack Obama and his Administration’s exerting relentless and inappropriate pressure on Israel.
Following the Obama’s Administration’s public repudiation by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs of criticism over its policy towards Israel from Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY) issued a statement saying, “Israel is our closest ally in the region, yet they continue to receive more criticism than deserved and less support than is required. Instead of continuing to lash out publically at our closest ally, the Obama Administration should be listening to what Senator Schumer says. Schumer is right, and the White House is wrong on Israel” (‘Weiner: “Schumer is Right, White House is Wrong on Israel,”’ Weiner News Release, April 23, 2010).
Cong. Weiner has also spoken out regarding the Obama Administration’s continuing (and increasing) aid to Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA), saying in a speech to the ZOA Congressional Luncheon in Washington, D.C. on April 21 before hundreds of ZOA activists in regard to this issue that, “until the Palestinians return to the negotiating table, we should not give them another dollar, another shekel…”
Other Democratic Members of Congress have also publicly expressed criticism over pressure being exerted on Israel and other aspects of the Administration’s policy towards Israel. In speeches to the ZOA Mission:
Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) said that it is “Wrong to try to put unreasonable pressure on Israel.” Cardin referred to Abbas’ Fatah party as the “so-called moderate Fatah.”
Cong. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), speaking of the Obama policy towards Israel and the Middle East that, “things started going south in the Cairo speech when he [Obama] adopted the Arab narrative. He forgot there were 3,000 years of history before the Holocaust … [Israel] is where we belong – this is our homeland … The state of Israel does not need the permission of the United States…where they need to build … [It is a] canard [that 1,600 apartments in Jerusalem impede peace-making] … [General Petraeus is wrong on Israel] there is no link [between Israeli policies and threats to U.S. troops] … How do you negotiate for peace with someone who doesn’t believe you have a right to exist? … US should not allow Palestinians to unilaterally declare a state – “it’s like having a terrorist state in Baltimore…You have to be crazy … …“The US should not rely on Israel to do its dirty work … Get off this settlement nonsense – it is not an impediment to peace.”
Cong. Eliot Engel (D-NY) said, “The relationship is of paramount importance. I resent and I object to Jerusalem being classified as some kind of settlement…I resent and object that the United States is putting pressure on Israel and not doing the same to the Palestinians…I resent and object [to the Biden blow-up] … that’s wrong …There’s no peace – not because Israel doesn’t want peace – but because the Arabs haven’t decided that [the Jewish state of Israel belongs in the Middle East] … Pressure Arabs to recognize a Jewish state … Pressure Palestinians not to name squares after terrorists … [Israel is the] best ally the United States has in the Middle East, but I would argue the best ally in the world … [If the U.S. pressures Israel further] you’re going to hear it from me.”
Cong. Edolphus Towns (D-NY) said that the “only true ally we have in the region is Israel – and we need to wake up and act like it.”
Cong. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) dismissed the notion that Jewish communities beyond the pre-1967 armistice lines are illegal, saying, “they’re not as far as I’m concerned…There’s no immediate prospect of a (peace) settlement that can be enforced … Iran is an existential threat to Israel and a terrible threat to the United States…What would stop them from giving a nuclear bomb to Al-Qaeda? …We must avoid that at all costs a nuclear Iran … We have to insist…that the moment the Palestinian refugees (compensation comes up) the American administration must insist that in the same way the 850,000 refugees…must also be compensated.”
Cong. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said, regarding any further pressure being exerted upon Israel by the Obama Administration that “everyone of good will stand up & say it has to make its own national security decisions.”