Obama to speak at AIPAC
Those of you who follow me on Twitter saw earlier that President Obama will be speaking at the AIPAC conference next week. He will be speaking at the opening session on Sunday. President Obama spoke at AIPAC in 2007 and 2008, but has not spoken there since. In 2008, memorably, he told AIPAC that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel, and retracted the next day.But the noise coming out of Washington this time indicates no cause for concern. The administration says the major speech of the week will be Thursday night's foreign policy speech, and we've already been assured that speech will not be about Israel. And White House Press Secretary James Carney went out of his way on Monday to lambaste Syria for Sunday's events on the Golan Heights.
He said the address would “stress the importance of the US-Israeli relationship,” but would not be “a major policy speech.” Instead, he said the speech Obama would be giving this Thursday would be “the major speech of the week.”Laura Rozen speculates that a trip to Israel might even be in the works.
Carney added, “I think he looks forward to talking about the unshakeable bond between the Israelis and the Americans and the importance of that relationship.”
During the Monday press gaggle, Carney also expressed regret for those who were killed in Sunday’s border clashes in Israel but defended the country’s right to take measure to protect its perimeter.
“We regret the loss of life, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those killed and wounded,” he said. “Israel, like all countries, has the right to prevent unauthorized crossings at its borders. Its neighbors have a responsibility to prevent such activity.”
He continued, “We urge maximum restraint on all sides.”
Carney additionally condemned Syria’s role in spurring the clashes.
"We are also strongly opposed to the Syrian government’s involvement in inciting yesterday’s protests in the Golan Heights,” he said. “Such behavior is unacceptable.”
He charged that Syria was trying to deflect attention from ongoing protests within his own country.
“It seems apparent to us that that is an effort to distract attention from the legitimate expressions of protests by the Syrian people and from the harsh crackdown that the Syrian government has perpetrated against its own people,” he said.
Obama also told Israeli President Shimon Peres last month that he would seriously consider accepting his invitation to attend Peres' "Presidents' Conference" in Jerusalem in June, several Jewish community leaders and Middle East experts who have consulted with the administration on the matter told The Envoy. However, a decision has not yet been made, other policy hands said, and suggested a trip is unlikely to materialize in June, although Obama has promised to visit Israel sometime this year.So is this an opening salvo to the Jewish community in Obama's re-election campaign, or has he finally understood in light of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, the 'Palestinian' insistence on pursuing unilateral 'statehood' at the UN and the Naqba events that this isn't about territory and that there is no peace in the offing? I'd bet on the campaign ploy.
If Obama decides to accept the invitation, however, it would surely be the kind of crowd-pleasing announcement he would want to share at the influential pro-Israel group gathering.
Obama will also probably tell the gathering of his upcoming trip to Europe next week, which will include a stop in Poland, where he's likely to visit the former concentration camp at Auschwitz.
...
Some pro-Israel groups and Israelis have resented Obama's failure to visit Israel over his first two years in office, especially in view of his administration's outreach efforts in the Arab world. But with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a complete impasse, and some tense past encounters between Obama and Netanyahu, Obama has been stymied until now in finding a suitable moment when he could go to Israel without highlighting tensions in the relationship. Peres' conference, convened by the elder statesman who has more of a figurehead role in Israel, might allow Obama to talk to Israelis while avoiding some of the thornier bits in the relationship, especially at a moment when the administration has eased up on its uphill push to get the parties back to the negotiating table, some Mideast experts have been arguing to the Obama White House.
Labels: AIPAC, Barack Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Naqba day, President's Conference, Shimon Peres, Syrian uprising
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:25 PM
7 Comments:
May he stay then in cynical campaign mode firmly from now through election day. After that Bibi is going to have to learn how to teach the king's horse to speak...
Hussein is purely in campaign mode. He "understands" nothing. He also "changed his tune" on oil drilling. It's all campaign posturing. He's a liar - pure and simple.
If you have contacts, will you please ask your Israeli consulate people to NOT give this man any positive reviews, no matter what he SAYS at this event? It's only words and last time, they were suckers when Obama withdrew what he said at AIPAC within days of saying it. But the Israeli consulate had already gone fluttering around the U.S., raving about Obama. And never withdrew their "endorsement" after Obama withdrew the good stuff. Please, get smart, dudes. And if you, in fact, want the marxist caliphate as the planet's future, let us know now, so we can re-focus and make some other arrangements for Jewish life.
I will be at AIPAC
I was at AIPAC in 07 and 08
A member of our group was very excited about Obama speaking. I responded I would skip his speech. His reaction was amazing, he was besides himself, "you should be there applauding as loud as possible" he exclaimed.
I responded that we did applaud the last time he spoke to us and then a day later reversed himself. I told him rather than boo, or not stand or to turn my back? I would skip his speech. Why should I listen to him read from a teleprompter lies that he doesnt mean anyway..
The sad thing, here in the states a good 55-65% of the jews still support Obama.
Maybe when he starts talking about how Jews in New York should not build in certain areas, that it upsets the arabs, then they will understand.
My guess?
They never will
Useful idiots...
Amazing how the USA Jewish community cannot see one who truly hates them.
Wi"O" - You are optimistic to think 55-65%. I think it is way higher and almost makes it so you can't breathe to think of it. But it isn't just U.S. Jews... except for a very few, the Israelis I've known have been even more leftist than the U.S. Jews. Hopefully, they will someday figure out that, while a communal marxist type set up can be used as an interim method of getting through a bad patch, it is not a life-giving system.
What is "Occupation"...
Why would you not attend? That's exactly like not voting. You will not be counted. You will allow those stupid Jews who have been duped into supporting him to win. Why not be proactive instead? Produce an email outlining with links why this dangerous anti-Israel miscreant needs to be confronted on his record, his actions and his associates. Better would be to get AIPAC to reject him altogether, but I don't believe this would happen.
I wouldn't believe him if he said the Sun will rise tomorrow,nice words the coming days and weeks and a knife in the back come September.
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