Here is some news that may give John Kerry’s standing amongst US Jews a boost:
US Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee, criticized the UN General Assembly’s resolution passed last week urging Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice’s ruling that it should dismantle the security fence.
He said as president he would “stand up for Israel’s security in the UN or any international organization.”
“I want to express my deep disappointment at the resolution passed Tuesday by the UN General Assembly. Let us remember: Israel’s fence is a legitimate response to terror that only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel. The fence has proven to be an important tool in Israel’s fight against terrorism,” Kerry said in a statement.
Kerry, like the Bush administration, said he did not believe the ICJ had the jurisdiction to consider the issue of the fence’s legality.
Kerry’s statement came days before the start of the Democratic Convention, which opens Monday in Boston. There, Kerry will secure the Democratic presidential nomination and the convention will approve the Democratic National Platform, which outlines general principles for a future Kerry presidency.
The platform pledges, “Under a Democratic Administration, the United States will demonstrate the kind of resolve to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that President Clinton showed. We will work to transform the Palestinian Authority by promoting new and responsible leadership, committed to fighting terror and promoting democracy.” Echoing President George W. Bush’s pledges to Prime Minister Sharon in April, it says “the creation of a Palestinian state should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.”
It also says “Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city.”
And here is some news that may have the opposite effect:
IDF Military Intelligence chief Major General Aharon Ze’evi said Sunday that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is biding his time until November, in hopes that U.S. President George W. Bush will lose his bid for re-election and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government will fall by then, Army Radio reported.
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“Arafat is now waiting for the month of November in the hope that President Bush will be defeated in the presidential elections and turned out of his office,” Ze’evi told the cabinet. Arafat also expects that Sharon will be toppled from the premiership, he said.
I may be ignorant when it comes to US politics, but if Afatrat is endorsing one candidate over the other, I know for whom I would vote.
