Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry accused President Obama of fostering a policy of “appeasement” in the Middle East, blaming him for the standoff at the United Nations over the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition.
Diving into one of the most high-profile foreign policy disputes, the Texas governor appeared alongside Jewish leaders in New York Tuesday to pledge unwavering support to Israel and call on the Obama administration to take a stronger stance against the statehood bid.
“We are indignant that certain Middle Eastern leaders have discarded the principle of direct negotiations,” he said. “We are equally indignant of the Obama administration and their Middle East policy of appeasement.”
Perry called on the U.S. to approach the Middle East with a “new firmness and a new resolve.” Perry criticized Obama for demanding concessions from the Jewish state that Perry says emboldened the Palestinians to seek recognition by the U.N.
“We would not be here today … if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn’t naive and arrogant, misguided and dangerous,” he said.
Perry said the U.S. — to show there are “consequences” for the action at the U.N. — should reconsider its aid to the Palestinians and shut down the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Washington office if the vote proceeds. He also expressed support for continued settlement construction and suggested the U.S. Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as a nod of support for a united Jerusalem under Israeli rule.
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3 Responses
old story
Old story on the Palestinians and Obama, new story on Perry getting involved in foreign affairs. Until recently, “foreign” for him meant visiting New York. We know from his past records that Perry’s a nice guy and likely to be friendly towards us.
Even if Obama is spectacularly successful in foreign affairs, or spectacularly unsuccessful, the election is very likely to be decided based on domestic economic policy.
Sounds great on paper but then again he is a politician (on an election trail on top of that) and even Obama knew the right things he needed to say when he was at that stage (‘Israel’s security is sacrosanct’; ‘Jerusalem must never be divided’ blah blah blah) and we all saw how much that was worth… I STILL cannot believe that frum people voted for him!