UPDATE 2:30 p.m.: Gov.
Rick Perry of Texas on Tuesday came down firmly on the side of the more conservative supporters of Israel, denouncing what he called an Obama administration policy of “appeasement” that had gravely weakened Israel and declaring unambiguously that Jerusalem should be fully under the control of the Israeli government.
Mr. Perry, who is leading in the polls for the Republican presidential nomination, strongly suggested that if he were elected president, he would move the American embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. He told a news conference in New York that “if you want to work for the State Department, you will be working in Jerusalem.”
He described Mr. Obama’s Middle East policy as “naive, arrogant, misguided and dangerous,” and he asserted that White House efforts to extract concessions from Israel had weakened Israel’s negotiating clout and emboldened the
Palestinian leadership into refusing to directly negotiate and instead take their bid for statehood directly to the
United Nations. Mr. Perry also appeared to back the continued expansion of Israeli settlements.
President Obama is
lobbying the United Nations this week against approving Palestinian statehood, which the administration fears would make it more difficult for the Israelis and Palestinians to jointly negotiate a lasting and mutually acceptable agreement. Palestinian officials say they are seeking the move only after two decades of failed negotiations.
Mr. Perry’s appearance with Jewish leaders at a New York hotel on Tuesday morning sought to overshadow Mr. Obama and bolster Mr. Perry’s standing with some Jewish voters and political donors who have grown
increasingly disenchanted with the administration’s Middle East policy.
While he said he supported a two-state solution if it came from direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, Mr. Perry offered little nuance in his comments, pledging “unwavering” support for Israel” and adding: “Tell the people of Israel — help is on the way.”
His positions appeared to put him further to the right than some of his rivals for the nomination, even though
Mitt Romney and
Michele Bachmann have been similarly criticizing Mr. Obama’s handling of Israel.
Mr. Perry strongly suggested that if the Palestinians obtained statehood recognition at the United Nations, as president he would end or sharply curtail what has amounted to $4 billion in aid to the Palestinians over the last 17 years.
And while Mr. Perry emphatically called for direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinian leaders, he also seemed to simultaneously foreclose discussion on one core issue — future control of Jerusalem.
“I am for Jerusalem being united under Israeli rule,” he said in response to a question at a news conference. Jewish leaders who had been invited to the event by his campaign and were standing behind him loudly applauded the comment.
In response to another question about settlements, Mr. Perry called for direct negotiations, but added that “at the end of the day, those are about the sovereign nation of Israel making the decisions about those lands.”
Then, asked specifically whether Israel should be allowed to continue building on them, he said, “I think so.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called the settlements illegitimate, and Palestinian leaders have demanded a freeze on settlement construction.
