{"id":458682,"date":"2010-03-22T13:26:24","date_gmt":"2010-03-22T17:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/?p=79977"},"modified":"2010-03-22T13:26:24","modified_gmt":"2010-03-22T17:26:24","slug":"clinton-declares-u-s-bond-with-israel-%e2%80%98rock-solid%e2%80%99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/458682","title":{"rendered":"Clinton Declares U.S. Bond With Israel \u2018Rock Solid\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_79978\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 490px\"><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/clinton-aipac.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-79978\" title=\"Clinton AIPAC\" src=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/clinton-aipac-480x335.jpg\" alt=\"Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses AIPAC on Monday. (EPA\/ZUMApress.com)\" width=\"480\" height=\"335\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses AIPAC on Monday. (EPA\/ZUMApress.com)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Setting nearly two weeks&#8217; worth of diplomatic acrimony behind her,  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a passionate address  to the U.S.&#8217;s largest pro-Israel lobbying organization, declaring the  the U.S.&#8217; bond to Israel to be &#8220;rock solid,&#8221; and gently challenging the  Israeli government to commit wholeheartedly to a two-state solution for  the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_2848\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 140px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2848\" title=\"nationalsecurity\" src=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/nationalsecurity.jpg\" alt=\"Image by: Matt Mahurin\" width=\"130\" height=\"130\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Image by: Matt Mahurin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"floatButtons\">\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/digg.com\/tools\/diggthis.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-bottom: 10px;\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"\n\tsrc=\"http:\/\/d.yimg.com\/ds\/badge2.js\"\n\tbadgetype=\"square\">\n\t<?php the_permalink(); ?><\/script><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; margin-right: 10px;\">\n\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\ntweetmeme_source = \"TWI_news\";\ntweetmeme_service = \"bit.ly\";\n<\/script> <script src=\"http:\/\/tweetmeme.com\/i\/scripts\/button.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left;\"><a name=\"fb_share\" type=\"box_count\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php\">Share<\/a><script src=\"http:\/\/static.ak.fbcdn.net\/connect.php\/js\/FB.Share\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> In a rhetorical flourish to  play down the tension over Israel&#8217;s announcement of Jerusalem  settlement expansions during a visit by Vice President Biden, Clinton  said the settlement move &#8220;exposes daylight between Israel and the United  States that others in the region could hope to exploit.&#8221; That line  implicitly rebuked <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2010\/03\/18\/AR2010031802747.html\">Israel&#8217;s  more conservative American defenders o<\/a>ver the fracas, who have said  that Obama&#8217;s reaction &#8212; that the Israelis &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.gov\/secretary\/rm\/2010\/03\/138324.htm\">insulted<\/a>&#8221;  the U.S. &#8212; was the problem, not the settlement expansion itself.  Clinton, speaking to the America Israel Public Affairs Committee&#8217;s  annual policy conference at the Washington Convention Center,  effectively shifted the burden of the division onto Israeli Prime  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will address the conference early on  Monday evening.<\/p>\n<p>That set the tone for the message Clinton sought  to deliver on the need to reinvigorate Mideast peace talks, starting  with the new indirect talks the U.S. is brokering: she said the peace  process exists within the context of a strong U.S.-Israel bond, and  never suggested that the U.S. views Israeli cooperation on a two-state  solution as a diplomatic dealbreaker. By contrast, Clinton made a case  that intransigence on a two-state solution was against the Israeli  interest. &#8220;The inexorable mathematics of demography are hastening the  hour at which Israelis may have to choose between preserving their  democracy and staying true to the dream of a Jewish homeland,&#8221; Clinton  said, a statement for which she received no applause from the assembled  pro-Israel activists.<\/p>\n<p>The secretary received a more fervent  reception by forcefully denouncing Iran&#8217;s nuclear ambitions, the  fulfillment of which AIPAC executive director Howard Kohl called an  &#8220;overarching imperative&#8221; that &#8220;no other issue can be allowed to detract,  distract or derail.&#8221; She called on Hamas, the terrorist organization  that controls the Gaza Strip, to &#8220;renounce violence, recognize Israel,  and abide by previous signed agreements&#8221; and gave no indication that it  would be invited to peace talks. And she tied President Obama &#8212; about  whom AIPAC maintains a somewhat skeptical view, despite <a href=\"http:\/\/www.njdc.org\/site\/page\/jewish_vote_for_obama_exceeds_all_expectations\">78  percent of American Jews voting for him in 2008<\/a> &#8212; to Jewish  history, saying he and his family &#8220;have lived the Diaspora experience.&#8221;<br \/>\nWith  a deftness to what her audience wished to hear, Clinton said that  &#8220;reaching a two-state solution will not end all these threats&#8221; to  Israel&#8217;s security, an article of faith among the pro-Israel community,  but immediately added that &#8220;failure to do so gives our extremist foes a  pretext to spread violence, instability, and hatred.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the  same, Clinton did not use the speech to outline additional commitments  the U.S. expects Israel to fulfill, saying instead that both Israel and  the Palestinians ought not to issue &#8220;unilateral statements and actions  that undermine the process.&#8221; Nor did Clinton unveil any U.S. peace plan,  <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/79667\/will-clinton-issue-challenge-to-israel-on-settlements\">as  some advocates of a two-state solution had hoped she would<\/a>, let  alone chastise Israel for additional settlement activity that the  Israeli peace organization Peace Now has identified as being in the  planning stages. The closest she came was to urge Netanyahu to  &#8220;continue&#8221; building &#8220;trust and momentum toward comprehensive peace by  demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the  Palestinians, stopping settlement activity, and addressing the  humanitarian crisis in Gaza,&#8221; all of which fall short of new concrete  responsibilities for Israel.<\/p>\n<p>Hadar Susskind, the policy and  strategy director for J Street, AIPAC&#8217;s younger and more progressive  counterpart organization, <a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/79945\/j-street-reacts-to-clinton-aipac\">said<\/a> Clinton &#8220;obviously knows and understands intimately the room she\u2019s in,&#8221;  but praised the substance of the secretary&#8217;s message. &#8220;She did a good  job of saying we&#8217;re all coming at this from the same goals,&#8221; Susskind  said. &#8220;She said, look, we don&#8217;t think this [Jerusalem settlement  expansion] is in the best interest of Israel, and we&#8217;re going to  continue to do what we can to bring the parties to the table for direct  talks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Clinton did not disclose any details of any diplomatic  assurances Netanyahu conveyed to her before the weekend, a move that  cleared Mideast envoy George Mitchell to return to the region over the  weekend and for Netanyahu to receive a White House reception Tuesday.  Before Netanyahu addresses AIPAC, his chief political rival, Kadima  Party leader Tzipi Livni, will deliver a speech to AIPAC delegates at 2  p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses AIPAC on Monday. (EPA\/ZUMApress.com) Setting nearly two weeks&#8217; worth of diplomatic acrimony behind her, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a passionate address to the U.S.&#8217;s largest pro-Israel lobbying organization, declaring the the U.S.&#8217; bond to Israel to be &#8220;rock solid,&#8221; and gently challenging the Israeli government [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4314,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4314"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}