Republicans 'troubled' by US policy on Israel

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"The Obama administration's policy on Israel is misguided, puts too much emphasis on the issue of settlements and ignores the bigger threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, a U.S. delegation of Republican congressmen visiting Israel said Thursday.

Led by minority whip Eric Cantor from Virginia, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, the delegation of 25 Republicans say their weeklong mission to Israel is designed to show solidarity with the Jewish state and promote Mideast peace. A group of Democratic congressmen are expected to visit next week.

Cantor said that instead of focusing on issues such as Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, Obama should concentrate on "the primary issue of import ... and that is the existential threat that Iran poses not only to the state of Israel but to the United States."

The congressman said he is "concerned about what the White House has been signaling of late."

Israel believes Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons that could one day be used against the Jewish state. Iran says its nuclear program is meant only for energy production.

Cantor and others supported Israel's handling of the eviction of two Arab families from a house in east Jerusalem earlier this week, a move criticized by the European Union and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."

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[azurnoir]

1. Why the concern for Israel is truly touching

and I am sure that we're 4 months away from an election year has not one little thing to do with it

[LeftishBrit]

2. Obviously they're angling for the Jewish vote; not that there's the slightest chance they'll get it

It says something, doesn't it, that there is only ONE Republican congressman who is Jewish. Same sort of thing seems to go for most minority groups.

[azurnoir]

3. That and campaign contributions from ProIsraeli groups n/t

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. I suspect Evangelical rather than Jewish, primarily. N.T.

[azurnoir]

4. US lawmakers visit settlement on lobbyists' dime

<snip>

Nevertheless, the Alfei Menashe event seemed to cement US minority whip Eric Cantor's view that settlements were not among the most pressing of issues. "I do not know what is driving the focus on settlements," the House's sole Jewish Republican said after speaking with residents there, according to Channel Seven, an Israeli news agency considered the voice of the religious settler movement.

"Eastern Jerusalem should not take precedence," the GOP leader added in regard to recent international outrage, including from the US State Department, which poured in after Israel evicted two Palestinian families from their homes to make room for settlers on Sunday.

"I don't think we, in America, would want another country telling us how to implement and execute our laws," Cantor added, saying that he was concerned about "what the White House has been signaling of late."

The last several American presidential administrations, including the past two Republican administrations, considered settlements on land stolen from Palestinians at best an impediment to peace in the region, and at worst illegal and illegitimate. President George Bush, Sr. threatened to cut off loan guarantees to Israel over the colonies, but was stopped by America's largely pro-Israel Congress.

Meanwhile, Congressman Cantor called a Ramallah meeting with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad a disappointment due to his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. "I had reservations before, and I do not see any demonstration today," he said before criticizing the US-backed prime minister on several other issues, including Fayyad's concerns about settlements and the economy.

But back across the Green Line on Thursday, relations between the US lawmakers and Israel's leadership seemed as good as new. "We are here to figure out how to strengthen the US – Israel relationship," Israeli President Shimon Peres said after meeting Cantor and others.

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