goldmonkey
16th May 2010, 08:12 AM
Exclusive: Officials deny US changing view on Israeli nuclear policy.
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=175654
The Obama administration has “screwed up the messaging†about its support for Israel over the past 14 months, and it will take “more than one month to make up for 14 months,†White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday to a group of rabbis called together for a meeting in the White House.
“During the elections there were doubts about President Obama’s support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced,†Emanuel said, according to one of those who participated in the meeting. “But concerning policy, we have done everything that we can that is in Israel’s security – and long-range interests. Watch what the administration does.â€
Dennis Ross, who runs the administration’s Iran policy, tried to allay fears during the meeting that by calling for a nuclear-free Middle East, US policy regarding Israel’s alleged nuclear capabilities was changing.
Since 1995, Ross explained, the administration’s policy, supported by Israel, was to push for a nuclear-free Middle East in conjunction with comprehensive peace. Emanuel, according to a participant in the meeting, said, “We understand Israel’s full layer of deterrence.â€
These comments came during the second of two White House meetings with a carefully selected slate of 15 rabbis from across the US representing the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative streams. The first meeting took place on April 20, shortly after Obama was widely perceived to have treated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shabbily during their last White House meeting.
In addition to Emanuel and Ross, the other administration officials in the meetings were Dan Shapiro, the deputy national security adviser who supervises policy for Israel and its neighbors; Susan Sher, the chief White House liaison to the Jewish community; and Danielle Borin, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and special assistant to Vice President Joe Biden.
Ross opened Thursday’s meeting, saying he hoped that the rabbis “had seen the manifestations of the change†of the administration’s tone since they met the first time a month ago.
He quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who last week in Washington declared that regarding defense and security, the relationship between Israel and the US had never been stronger.
Ross said the US was providing Israel with everything it needed “in a tough neighborhood,†integrating Israel into America’s “military architecture,†especially in the missile defense sphere. Both he and Shapiro were meeting Israeli officials on a weekly basis, either in Jerusalem or Washington, regarding defense issues, Ross added.
Continues ...
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=175654
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=175654
The Obama administration has “screwed up the messaging†about its support for Israel over the past 14 months, and it will take “more than one month to make up for 14 months,†White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on Thursday to a group of rabbis called together for a meeting in the White House.
“During the elections there were doubts about President Obama’s support for Israel, and now they have resurfaced,†Emanuel said, according to one of those who participated in the meeting. “But concerning policy, we have done everything that we can that is in Israel’s security – and long-range interests. Watch what the administration does.â€
Dennis Ross, who runs the administration’s Iran policy, tried to allay fears during the meeting that by calling for a nuclear-free Middle East, US policy regarding Israel’s alleged nuclear capabilities was changing.
Since 1995, Ross explained, the administration’s policy, supported by Israel, was to push for a nuclear-free Middle East in conjunction with comprehensive peace. Emanuel, according to a participant in the meeting, said, “We understand Israel’s full layer of deterrence.â€
These comments came during the second of two White House meetings with a carefully selected slate of 15 rabbis from across the US representing the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative streams. The first meeting took place on April 20, shortly after Obama was widely perceived to have treated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shabbily during their last White House meeting.
In addition to Emanuel and Ross, the other administration officials in the meetings were Dan Shapiro, the deputy national security adviser who supervises policy for Israel and its neighbors; Susan Sher, the chief White House liaison to the Jewish community; and Danielle Borin, associate director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and special assistant to Vice President Joe Biden.
Ross opened Thursday’s meeting, saying he hoped that the rabbis “had seen the manifestations of the change†of the administration’s tone since they met the first time a month ago.
He quoted Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who last week in Washington declared that regarding defense and security, the relationship between Israel and the US had never been stronger.
Ross said the US was providing Israel with everything it needed “in a tough neighborhood,†integrating Israel into America’s “military architecture,†especially in the missile defense sphere. Both he and Shapiro were meeting Israeli officials on a weekly basis, either in Jerusalem or Washington, regarding defense issues, Ross added.
Continues ...
http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=175654