“We’re going to keep standing with our Israeli friends and allies, just as we’ve been doing when they’ve needed us most. In September, when a mob threatened the Israeli embassy in Cairo, we worked to ensure that the men and women working there were able to get out safely. Last year, when raging fires threatened Haifa, we dispatched fire-fighting planes to help put out the blaze.
“On my watch, the United States of America has led the way, from Durban to the United Nations, against attempts to use international forums to delegitimize Israel. And we will continue to do so. That’s what friends and allies do for each other. So don’t let anybody else tell a different story. We have been there, and we will continue to be there. Those are the facts.”
But he also flagged down this Ben Smith piece on another President's relationship with Israel, specifically the man who said this:
“The immediate adoption of a settlement freeze by Israel, more than any other action, could create the confidence needed for wider participation in these talks.”
Ronald Reagan said that. He would probably be where Jon Huntsman is in the polls if he ran for office today, if not further down in the proceedings. He also said this in 1987:
He said the effect of the occupation [of Gaza and the West Bank] ‘also damages the self-respect and world opinion of the Israeli people.’
And yes, for that statement alone, Ronald Reagan would have been called and anti-Semite and a terrorist sympathizer by today's Republican party. My mother voted for Reagan in 80 and again in 84. Somehow I don't see her voting for the Republican in 2012.
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