Israel has a fairly good relationship with America, but America has a conflict of interests. America thinks of Israel only for its benefit, and sides with the arabs whenever it benefits. On October 31, 1956, during the Suez War with egypt, president Eisenhower told Ben Gurion, the prime minister of Israel, "Despite the present, temporary interests that Israel has in common with France and Britain, you ought not to forget that the strength of Israel and her future are bound up with the United States." What I have to say to America: Despite your temporary interests with the arabs, you ought not to forget that the strength and future of America are bound up with Israel.
The "American interests" are largely misguided. America was not built upon this sort of concept, nor was it founded upon the "ideals" of greed and deceit. I know what America is and I know where it came from, and if the Americans understand this then America will remain a great nation. Americans are a reasonable people, and their interests lie in the hands of Truth and Justice. But if Americans fool themselves and grasp hold of the gold of corruption, then they will end their voyage in the pages of history.
David Ben-Gurion on Silence During the Holocaust
What have you done to us, you freedom-loving peoples, guardians of justice, defenders of the high principles of democracy and of the brotherhood of man? What have you allowed to be perpetrated against a defenseless people while you stood aside and let it bleed to death, without offering help or succour, without calling on the fiends to stop, in the language of retribution which alone they would understand. Why do you profane our pain and wrath with empty expressions of sympathy which ring like a mockery in the ears of millions of the damned in the torture house of nazi europe? Why have you not even supplied arms to our ghetto rebels, as you have done for the partisans and underground fighters of other nations? Why did you not help us establish contacts with them, as you have done in the case of the partisans in Greece and Yugoslavia and the underground movements elsewhere? If, instead of Jews, thousands of English, American, or Russian women, children, and aged had been tortured every day, burnt to death, asphyxiated in gas chambers--would you have acted in the same way?
The Intolerable Acts
From the moment Israel declared Independence, America refused to provide the small and vulnerable nation with arms. Only in 1955 did one-third of the house of representatives petition the Eisenhower administration to break its arms embargo on Israel and sell defensive weapons to the Jewish State. Even with continuing congressional urging, the embargo did not end until 1962. The United States sold hundreds of millions of dollars in weaponry to arab states during these critical years.
In 1956, Israel responded to years of egyptian provocation with the Sinai Campaign, in which Israeli forces captured most of the Sinai. The American administration threatened un sanctions if Israel did not withdraw. But congressional leaders stood courageously with Israel against the one-sided pressure, as they have consistently done, although to no avail.
In 1962, Congress supported direct negotiations [which means Israel talks to the arabs on its own and makes its own decisions]. The American administration supported un condemnations of Israel's retaliation against syrian attacks on civilians. [Which is a way of telling Israel to surrender to the arab aggressor]. However, 232 members of Congress affirmed Israel's insistence on direct negotiations with her enemies. The state department did not adopt this policy until 1979 [and even then, it has been adopted only in theory].
...But at the same time, America has also done much good for Israel. This, however, does not interest me if America insists on treating Israel like a colony. I wonder what the American-Israeli relationship would be like if Israel refused to take orders from the American administration? And I wonder if the American administration would be friendly to Israel if Israel became a nation of G-d, following G-d's Laws and upholding His Commandments? This would cause America to lose its "godly" status over Israel. But Americans are a G-d fearing people, and they have accomplished so much walking in the Ways of G-d.
Steven Emerson: "hillary and hamas," Wall Street Journal, Nov. 3, 2000
Steven Emerson is a Washington based writer specializing in militant
islamic organizations. When he writes about hilary's affairs with the arabs, don't forget that he's writting about the first lady, and thus the presidential family. If these types of people exist on the top of the ladder, then you can understand what kind of scandals exist a few steps down.
In the spring of 1996, I had lunch with a senior adviser to the Clinton
administration and to hillary Clinton. I asked him if there was any concern
over the article I had published in The Wall Street Journal that revealed
that both the president and first lady had hosted militant islamic groups,
which had, at the White House, proclaimed their support for terrorism.
"This administration believes in a big tent," the adviser responded.
"Besides, we've gotten no flak, so why should we back off?"
Last week the first lady finally got some flak. As a result, mrs. clinton
announced at an Oct. 25 news conference that she was returning $50,000 in
campaign contributions raised by the American muslim alliance, an
anti-Israeli group whose leaders have sanctioned terrorism, published
anti-Semitic statements, and repeatedly hosted conferences that were forums
for denunciations of Jews and exhortations to wage jihad. The first lady
also revealed she was returning a $1,000 contribution from abdulrahman
alamoudi, an official of the American muslim council, who has openly
championed hamas and defended other terrorists, including those behind the
World Trade Center bombing.
The most telling moment of the first lady's news conference--which has yet
to be reported--came in response to a question as to why she has met
repeatedly over the years with other groups that had openly supported hamas,
hezbollah, and other foreign terrorist organizations. "What the
administration has tried to do to try to promote a framework for peace," she
said, and "it certainly included lines of communication to many different
groups and many different individuals."
Well, let's look at the results of that effort to produce a "framework for
peace," which, according to White House records, began in early 1996, when
mrs. clinton first began hosting and inviting the council on
American-islamic Relations (cair), the muslim public affairs council (mpac),
the American muslim council, (amc) and the American muslim alliance (ama).
What have these groups done since mrs. clinton began reaching out to them?
On Sept. 16, at a Washington rally sponsored by cair, amc, and mpac, the
head of cair, nihad awad, declared: "They have been saying 'next year to
Jerusalem', we say "next year to all of 'palestine'!"
At another Washington rally, on Oct. 28, the amc's mr. alamoudi led the
thousands in attendance to chant their support for hamas and hezbollah.
"Hear that, Bill Clinton, we are all supporters of hamas," he declared. "I
wish they argued that I am also a supporter of hezbollah." (When the New
York Daily News asked about these comments, mr. alamoudi
denied making them, telling the reporter: "You better check your arabic."
When the reporter noted that he had given the speech in English, mr.
alamoudi replied, "It was in English? Oh my God, I forgot!")
In 1998, amc, cair, and ama hosted a rally at Brooklyn College where islamic
militants exhorted the attendees to carry out "jihad" and described Jews as
"pigs and monkeys." In 1999 these same groups, together with mpac, sponsored
a rally in Santa Clara, Calif., where one speaker called for the death of
Jews.
Of course, mrs. clinton cannot be held responsible for the views of other
people. The issue is whether she has unwittingly enabled these groups to
gain legitimacy. Clearly she is aware of the danger of associating with
extremists. When Rick Lazio said he would be willing to accept an
endorsement from the New York branch of the Reform Party, whose presidential
candidate is pat buchanan, mrs. clinton blasted Mr. Lazio: "I think his
record--anti-Semitic comments, his record of intolerant and prejudicial
remarks--are ones that I don't want to be associated with."
These are noble sentiments. If mrs. clinton is willing to denounce mr.
buchanan, why has she associated with groups that have espoused
anti-Semitism and supported terrorism?
October 12, 2000
Dear President Clinton,
Madeline Albright has spoken of taking appropriate action against the "terrorists" responsible for the attack on the destroyer in yemen. I would like to take exception to the description of those responsible for this action as "terrorists." Please describe them, rather, as "demonstrators." In addition, I hope that you will take a moment to feel the anguish of the people who carried out the attack and, rather than retaliating in kind, declare an immediate end to violence on both sides. Peace with yemenite demonstrators cannot be brought about through violence, but only when America and the demonstrators meet at the negotiating table. You must be willing to show your flexibility and ability to make difficult, even painful, choices for the sake of peace. A good first step would be to hand over 93% of your fleet in the middle east to the yemenite demonstrators.
If you wish, I am available to act as a good faith broker to these peace talks.
Sincerely,
Yaacov David Shulman
US Presidents On Israel
John Adams
I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize man than any other nation. (Letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson).
John Quincy Adams
[I believe in the] rebuilding of Judea as an independent nation. (Letter to Major Mordechai Manuel Noah).
Abraham Lincoln
Not long after the Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln met a Canadian Christian Zionist, Henry Wentworth Monk, who expressed hope that Jews who were suffering oppression in russia and turkey be emancipated "by restoring them to their national Home in Israel." Lincoln said this was "a noble dream and one shared by many Americans." The President said his chiropodist was a Jew who "has so many times 'put me upon my feet' that I would have no objection to giving his countrymen 'a leg up.'"
Woodrow Wilson
The allied nations with the fullest concurrence of our government and people are agreed that in Israel shall be laid the foundations of a Jewish Commonwealth. (Reaction to the Balfour Declaration).
Recalling the previous experiences of the colonists in applying the Mosaic Code to the order of their internal life, it is not to be wondered at that the various passages in the Bible that serve to undermine royal authority, stripping the crown of its cloak of divinity, held up before the pioneer Americans the Hebrew Commonwealth as a model government. In the spirit and essence of our Constitution, the influence of the Hebrew Commonwealth was paramount in that it was not only the highest authority for the principle, 'that rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,' but also because it was in itself a divine precedent for a pure democracy, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy or any other form of government.
Warren Harding
It is impossible for one who has studied at all the services of the Hebrew people to avoid the faith that they will one day be restored to their historic national Home and there enter on a new and yet greater phase of their contribution to the advance of humanity.
Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge expressed his "sympathy, with the deep and intense longing, which finds such fine expression in the Jewish National Homeland in Israel."
"The Jews themselves, of whom a considerable number were already scattered throughout the colonies, were true to the teachings of their prophets. The Jewish faith is predominantly the faith of liberty."
Herbert Hoover
Israel which, desolate for centuries, is now renewing its youth and vitality through enthusiasm, hard work, and self-sacrifice of the Jewish pioneers who toil there in a spirit of peace and social justice.
Harry Truman
I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now. (Granting de facto recognition to the new Jewish State--11 minutes after Israel's Proclamation of Independence).
I believe it has a glorious future before it--not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization. (May 26, 1952).
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Our forces saved the remnant of the Jewish people of europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn Land of Israel. Along with all men of good will, I salute the young State and wish it well.
John F. Kennedy
This nation, from the time of President Woodrow Wilson, has established and continued a tradition of friendship with Israel because we are committed to all free societies that seek a path to peace and honor individual right. In the prophetic spirit of Zionism all free men today look to a better world and in the experience of Zionism we know that it takes courage and perseverance and dedication to achieve it.
Israel was not created in order to disappear--Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and the Home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.
Lyndon Johnson
"The United States and Israel share many common objectives...chief of which is the building of a better world, in which every nation can develop its resources and develop them in freedom and peace."
"Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life."
"Most if not all of you have very deep ties with the Land and with the people of Israel, as I do, for my Christian faith sprang from yours....the Bible stories are woven into my childhood memories as the gallant struggle of modern Jews; to be free of persecution is also woven into our souls. (Speech before B'nai B'rith)."
When soviet premier aleksei kosygin asked Johnson why the United States supports Israel when there are 80 million arabs and only three million Israelis, the President replied simply: "Because it is right."
Richard Nixon
Nixon asserted that the United States stands by its friends and that "Israel is one of its friends."
Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for freedom. I have seen it. I know. I believe that.
Gerald Ford
[The American] commitment to the security and future of Israel is based upon basic morality as well as enlightened self-interest. Our role in supporting Israel honors our own heritage.
Jimmy Carter
The United States...has a warm and a unique relationship of friendship with Israel that is morally right. It is compatible with our deepest religious convictions, and it is right in terms of America's own strategic interests. We are committed to Israel's security, prosperity, and future as a Land that has so much to offer the world.
The survival of Israel is not just a political issue, it is a moral imperative. That is my deeply held belief and it is the belief shared by the vast majority of the American people...A strong secure Israel is not just in Israel's interest. It's in the interest of the United States and in the interest of the entire free world.
Ronald Reagan
Only by full appreciation of the critical role the State of Israel plays in our strategic calculus can we build the foundation for thwarting moscow's designs on territories and resources vital to our security and our national well-being.
Since the rebirth of the State of Israel, there has been an ironclad bond between that democracy and this one.
In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that Israel is a Land of stability and democracy in a region of tyranny and unrest.
George Bush
The friendship, the alliance between the United States and Israel, is strong and solid, built upon a foundation of shared democratic values, of shared history and heritage, that sustains the life of our two countries. The emotional bond of our people transcends politics. Our strategic cooperation--and I renew today our determination that goes forward--is a source of mutual security. And [for] the United States, commitment to the security of Israel remains unshakeable. We may differ over some policies from time to time, individual policies, but never over the principle.
For more than 40 years, the United States and Israel have enjoyed a friendship built on mutual respect and commitment to democratic principles. Our continuing search for peace in the middle east begins with a recognition that the ties uniting our two countries can never be broken.
Bill Clinton
Our relationship would never vary from its allegiance to the shared values, the shared religious heritage, the shared democratic politics which have made the relationship between the United States and Israel a special--even on occasion a wonderful--relationship.
The United States admires Israel for all that it has overcome and for all that it has accomplished. We are proud of the strong bond we have forged with Israel, based on our shared values and ideals. That unique relationship will endure just as Israel has endured. (From a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on occasion of Israel's 50th birthday.)
America and Israel share a special bond. Our relations are unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, as a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty; a home to the oppressed and persecuted.
The relationship between our two countries is built on shared understandings and values. Our peoples continue to enjoy the fruits of our excellent economic and cultural cooperation as we prepare to enter the twenty-first century. (Clinton's reply after Israeli Ambassador Shoval presented his credentials, September 10, 1998).
(Zionist Review, 9/22/44)
Excerpts from United Jerusalem
Israeli Offers to Negotiate between US and yemenite Demonstrators to End Cycle of Violence
From AICE, JSOURCE, at (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/US-Israel/presquote.html)
But America has had a long history of friendship with Israel and the Jewish people. You can say America is like modern Israel's sister country, if such a thing exists. What's more, Israel has a lot of brothers in America; literally, about one-third of Israel lives in America. These people belong in Israel, but nonetheless, they are and have been a part of America, and America has, for the most part, treated them as friends and family. I should hope America will always remain a good friend of Israel, and that the many good words of its leaders affect many good actions between us.
[The presidents made many references to democracy, but the Bible is very clear about the failure of letting the people decide. It makes many references to walking on a straight path, and not veering right or left; walking solidly in the Ways of G-d, according to the Laws of the Torah. America can do what it wants, but Israel cannot be a nation of its people that lives according to the opinions of men. This can be worked upon, but all in all, I'm very pleased with the words of the American leaders. They've made very encouraging speeches, as they certainly have a way with words, but let us hope these words will indeed be the reality.]