Clinton will make her remarks in Washington before an audience that has filled the Verizon Center this morning as the first of four of the five presidential candidates to address the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee conference.
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Responding to Tuesday’s bombings in Belgium, Netanyahu said: “The chain of attacks from Paris to San Bernardino, from Istanbul to the Ivory Coast and now to Brussels, and the daily attacks on Israel, this is one continuous assault on all of us”.
Saying that Iran funds terrorist organizations around the world, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Palestinian groups inside Israel, Netanyahu said the Islamic Republic “remains fully committed to genocide – our genocide”. “We need steady hands”, she said, “not a president who says he’s neutral on Monday, pro-Israel on Tuesday and who-knows-what on Wednesday”.
“Israel’s security is non-negotiable”, Ms. Cinton said and quoted Nobel Peace victor Elie Wiesel to underscore her point: “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim”. But he also used the contrast to take a direct shot at Trump. “It is so preposterous, we are not going to let that happen”.
As in so many arenas, Trump was a divisive presence.
“As president, I will not be neutral”.
Israel regards the divided city as its capital but many countries, including its ally the United States, have resisted moving their missions there while its status and borders are still a matter of dispute.
AIPAC, which has criticized some of Obama’s policies with regard to Israel and opposes last year’s White House-brokered deal to dismantle Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities, is officially non-partisan and traditionally invites all presidential candidates to speak during an election year. Well, my view is very different. So it was helpful on two occasions Monday to see him delve deeper into what a Trump administration’s foreign policy would look like. That began in earnest Monday, with labor unions, members of Congress, and the presidential candidates all escalating their criticism. No doubt those Democratic voters were the people “deeply hurt” by Trump’s comments.
“With President Obama in his final year – yeah!”
TRUMP: Discussions have been swirling about an attempt to bring a Security Council resolution on terms of an eventual agreement between Israel and Palestine. Other Aipac leaders stood with her on stage. And we’d build another one and it would get blown up.
“Hillary Clinton goes full Neocon at AIPAC, Demonizes Iran, Palestinians”, declared a headline on the website of Juan Cole, a liberal Middle East analyst known for his fierce opposition to Israel.
Hillary Clinton, who leads the polls for the Democratic nomination, also laid into Trump for his wavering on Israel.
Trump has largely avoided the nitty-gritty of policy details during his campaign, focusing instead on boldly-stated goals and declining to say whom he counts among his advisers despite repeated promises to do so. “But it is important among friends to be honest and truthful about differences that we may have”. He called on Netanyahu’s government to demonstrate its commitment to a two-state solution and said settlement expansion weakened prospects for peace.
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“Invitation is not endorsement” of the conference’s speakers, AIPAC managing director Richard Fishman said, adding that the group may not agree with the “substance, tactics or tone” of everyone who takes its stage.
