Kerry jumps on Sharon bandwagon in favoring Gaza..

[POA]

Kerry jumps on Sharon bandwagon in favoring Gaza disengagement plan
By Nathan Guttman

WASHINGTON - Some two weeks before President Bush warmly received Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House, and declared a shift in U.S. policy toward fundamental issues in the Israel-Palestinian dispute, the Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry held consultations of his own about the Middle East. The discussions, held in Senator Kerry's home in Massachusetts, involved three former advisers to President Bill Clinton - Dennis Ross, the veteran peace negotiator; Martin Indyk, former U.S. ambassador to Israel; and Sandy Berger, former U.S. national security adviser.
Some of those present at this meeting report that Kerry asked to hear his guests' positions concerning the Israel-Palestinian dispute, particularly in light of present realities on the ground and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.

Kerry's preparations notwithstanding, Bush is the leader who set the agenda regarding U.S. support for Israel when he stood alongside Sharon at the White House, and fervently endorsed the disengagement plan. The Washington Post declared immediately after the meeting that Bush had made some headway in the race to win American Jewish support; so Kerry didn't waste a minute, and jumped on the bandwagon, announcing his support for Sharon's plan.

In an interview with NBC television, Kerry declared that he supports the separation plan, as well as President Bush's letter to the Sharon government. "Just because Bush is for it doesn't mean we have to be against it," stated Jay K. Footlik, senior adviser on Middle East and Jewish affairs in the Kerry campaign. "As long as it is good for the security of Israel and helps bring down the level of violence, then Kerry is for it."

In the stepped-up competition for American Jewish support, the message Kerry wants to send is that his commitment to the state of Israel is in no way inferior to the president's. "In what concerns the safety of Israel and its well-being, the U.S. is united, and even in an election year this is not a partisan issue," stresses Footlik.

In his appeal to Jewish American voters, Kerry insists that while he is no less committed than Bush to Israel, he has a much better domestic agenda. He has made a conspicuous effort to keep in step with the White House's policy positions on Israel. Along with his unqualified support for the separation plan, Kerry quickly justified Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantisi and other recent Israeli security initiatives.

Last week, Kerry campaigned in Florida, a state with a relatively large Jewish population, and which (along with Ohio, Illinois and Pennsylvania) is considered a state whose electoral votes are up for grabs: For Kerry, winning across-the-board support among Jews in Florida could make the difference in terms of taking the state in next November's election. "I have not a 99 percent, but a 100 percent record of sustaining the special relationship and friendship that we have with Israel," declared Kerry at one rally in Florida.

Meantime, Kerry's assistants vouch for his ongoing support for Israel. "If anyone is a Johnny come lately, it is president Bush, who visited Israel for the first time when he was running for office and who totally ignored the Middle East conflict during the first 18 months of his presidency," contends Footlik.

Though Kerry is wary about citing differences between his positions on Israel and Bush's policies, the Democratic hopeful has ventured criticism of the way the White House has handled crises in the Middle East. In a speech delivered Friday at a conference of newspaper editors in Washington, Kerry attacked Bush for being insufficiently involved in the region, and for not "doing enough to create the right climate in the Arab world." Republicans responded instantly to Kerry's accusations, saying that the Palestinians, not the U.S. president, shoulder the blame for the violent impasse in relations with Israel.

Kerry promises that, if elected, the U.S. will be more involved in the Israel-Palestinian dispute. He has suggested that he would appoint a special envoy to help jump start the peace process (in this connection, Kerry has stopped mentioning the names of Jimmy Carter and James Baker, partly due to the Jewish community's perception that they are overly sympathetic to Arab positions).

Kerry has also distanced himself somewhat from Bush with respect to the Palestinian question. The Democratic front-runner has endorsed the White House's position regarding Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat; but Kerry has clarified that if he gets to the White House, he will take proactive steps to identify responsible Palestinian leaders, unlike the Bush administration, which (Kerry alleges) has abandoned the effort to find a viable Palestinian partner for negotiations.

During the six months that remain until the U.S. presidential elections, Kerry is expected to deliver a major address both on the Middle East and his foreign policy platform. This speech is likely to convey Kerry's outlook concerning the Israel-Palestinian dispute - that is, Kerry will demonstrate unqualified support for Israel, along with his commitment to the promotion of negotiation with the Palestinians and the securing of Arab states' support for the peace process. He will also try to put to erase the residue of past positions that now seem awkward - in the past, Kerry issued declarations against the separation fence and in support of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's leadership, and he has also cited controversial names as possibilities for the special envoy post.

Kerry wanted to meet Sharon during his last visit to Washington. Israeli officials quickly claimed that the the meeting couldn't be arranged because of logistic-scheduling issues, and they noted that Kerry will be invited to visit Israel. In Kerry's camp, aides say that no such invitation has arrived; at any rate, they add, Kerry is unlikely to leave the country during election season. Kerry's advisers say they hope the meeting can be arranged during Sharon's next visit to Washington.

Republicans believe that Bush might win a record number of Jewish votes this election: they are shooting for 30 to 40 percent of the Jewish vote (in the 2000 elections, Bush won just 18 percent of this vote). Democrats admit that Bush's share of the Jewish vote is likely to rise in the 2004 elections, but they dismiss the Bush camp's 30 to 40 percent estimate as wishful thinking.

Kerry's aides, in meetings with American Jewish leaders, discuss domestic issues of special concern to Jewish voters, who have historically been liberal. They stress that Bush must not be the president to finalize a Supreme Court alignment - a conservative court, they point out, could (among other things) limit abortion rights, and overturn affirmative action.

Campaigning last week in Florida, Kerry received a boost when Senator Joseph Lieberman (Dem.-Conn.), the Jewish Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000 and who had battled him in the party primaries, went out the stump for him. Lieberman is likely to be a strong asset in Kerry's bid to win a decisive majority of Jewish voters - Lieberman is popular in the Jewish community, and he has a reputation for being tough on foreign policy issues. Other Jewish members of Congress have offered to help Kerry's campaign.

Kerry, his advisers add, will not try to reap political capital from the fact that his grandfather was Jewish. He learned about his Jewish background just last year, the aides say - and his newly discovered ancestry has not influenced his worldview.



Footlik fell in love with the country

Jay K. Footlik, who married an Israeli and lived in Israel for several years, has been offered - and accepted - the job of serving as John Kerry's adviser on the Middle East and Jewish communal affairs.

Footlik, 38, was in Israel for his wedding (he speaks Hebrew well), when he received the offer, which he immediately accepted, returning with his bride to Washington. Footlik, 38, says, "I have a deep connection with Israel, and I want a president who relates to the concerns I have concerning the security of Israel," says Footlik.

A native of Illinois, Footlik says his mother (who raised Footlik and siblings alone) worked hard to provide a Jewish education for her children, and that education influenced his choices in life. He completed his Israeli period about a year ago, when he joined Joseph Lieberman's campaign staff ("You can't say no to Joe," Footlik says); but his political career stretches back to the Clinton era. He worked for Clinton in the 1992 presidential race, and then served as White House liaison to the American Jewish community. On his first trip to Israel, he accompanied President Clinton for the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement; and Footlik fell in love with the country. "Every year I'd ask my landlord to extend the lease in another year," he says, recalling his time in Israel.

[Moses]

This just says it all. This country is being run by and on behalf of people who don't even live in America most of the time, and put Israel first. This just says it all.

Jay K. Footlik, who married an Israeli and lived in Israel for several years, has been offered - and accepted - the job of serving as John Kerry's adviser on the Middle East and Jewish communal affairs.
Footlik, 38, was in Israel for his wedding (he speaks Hebrew well), when he received the offer, which he immediately accepted, returning with his bride to Washington. Footlik, 38, says, "I have a deep connection with Israel, and I want a president who relates to the concerns I have concerning the security of Israel," says Footlik.
A native of Illinois, Footlik says his mother (who raised Footlik and siblings alone) worked hard to provide a Jewish education for her children, and that education influenced his choices in life. He completed his Israeli period about a year ago, when he joined Joseph Lieberman's campaign staff ("You can't say no to Joe," Footlik says); but his political career stretches back to the Clinton era. He worked for Clinton in the 1992 presidential race, and then served as White House liaison to the American Jewish community. On his first trip to Israel, he accompanied President Clinton for the signing of the Israel-Jordan peace agreement; and Footlik fell in love with the country. "Every year I'd ask my landlord to extend the lease in another year," he says, recalling his time in Israel.

[karpomrx]

It's almost as if these people are compelled to create hostility.
Like some deranged fireman who is an arsonist- he creates a danger in order to be seen as a hero.

[Moses]

Yes. Notice the code word "security" is used. That is the concern of mr. Fook---- And that's what the ABB have been telling us should be OUR concern. They have strenuously been trying to turn the US into Israel. Lieberman has been involved in having the DC police dept collaborate w/ Israel, and we now have a virtual police state here.

And of course they have brought us the 'Homeland Security Department". It wasn't enough for the Democratic Party leadership to simply summer in Israel. They have turned the US into Israel too. I don't want to live in Israel. I don't like Israel. And I don't want the US to be like Israel.

[POA]

Moses said:

Yes. Notice the code word "security" is used. That is the concern of mr. Fook---- And that's what the ABB have been telling us should be OUR concern. They have strenuously been trying to turn the US into Israel. Lieberman has been involved in having the DC police dept collaborate w/ Israel, and we now have a virtual police state here.

And of course they have brought us the 'Homeland Security Department". It wasn't enough for the Democratic Party leadership to simply summer in Israel. They have turned the US into Israel too. I don't want to live in Israel. I don't like Israel. And I don't want the US to be like Israel.

Lieberman and the DC police department?

I haven't heard anything about this whatsoever. Could you say more/provide an article?

[Moses]

As you know, DC is a sort of colony overseen by congress. (and the Real Estate Developers and the Washington Post). Lieberman is on the oversight committee.

Long story short: We have been Israelized in DC-- the police chief devising his security in partnership w/ Israel.

Don't have articles -- its a local story so have just read about it in the local paper (the Post) as it has developed. I forget the Chief's name-- he's a black (somewhat black) version of the police Chief in the Simpsons.

But if you were to google, say "Police Chief" + Security + Israel + "Washington DC" or Capitol (or "security cameras") you would probably come up with his name and stories about his partnership w/ Israel.