Israel Matzav

Giuliani isn't Bush on Israel

In his blog column yesterday, which also appears in today's Jerusalem Post, Dan Pipes takes issue with the leftist mainstream media who are smearing Rudy Giuliani's approach to Israel as more of the same policies espoused by President Bush.

"Used Hawks Flock to Giuliani's Team" runs the title of a Oct. 15 Newsweek smear of presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, suggesting that the mayor's advisors, "some of the Bush era's most assertive neoconservatives," represent George W. Bush retreads. The article even quotes a foreign policy analyst accusing Giuliani of "out-Bushing Bush."

How odd. Actually, the opposite should be apparent about Newsweek's six featured advisors – Norman Podhoretz, Martin Kramer, Peter Berkowitz, Nile Gardiner, Robert Kasten, and myself. First, we collectively had many disagreements with Bush administration policies and, second, we lacked impact on them. In other words, the real story is Giuliani's fresh start in foreign policy, joined by a cast unconnected to the current president's successes and failures.

Consider my own divergence from Bush administration policy. My writings and spoken statements over the past seven years have criticized the handling of Iraq, the war on terror, democratization, and (especially) the Arab-Israeli conflict.

...

Arab-Israeli conflict: I have objected to nearly every aspect of the current administration's policy in this theater, condemning Bush's landmark June 2002 speech for rewarding terrorism, rejecting his embrace of a Palestinian state, and warning after his reelection in 2004 of "potentially the most severe crisis ever in U.S.-Israel relations." I have predicted the forthcoming Annapolis round of negotiations will fail and worry about the damage they will inflict.

Despite these differences, I twice voted enthusiastically for George W. Bush, am proud to have been his nominee in 2003, and predict historians will rate his presidency a success. But presenting Rudy Giuliani and his advisors as Bush administration clones is nonsense. News magazines might consider doing some research before spouting off.

The more I read about this, the more I believe that Giuliani is the right choice for those who love Israel. The other likely nominee - Hillary Clinton - is definitely the wrong choice:



For those who don't recognize the picture, that's Hillary kissing Suha Arafat right after Arafat accused Israel of poisoning 'Palestinian' children.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:10 PM