So the Democrats official platform for the Democratic National Convention left out a clause that had been included in 2008 about their support of Jerusalem being the capital of Israel.
The platform does continue to support Israel, but it says nothing about Jerusalem itself and Jerusalem's status. Perhaps if it never did, this would not have been made into a big deal, but because it was included in 2008, it's omission now is glaring.
I know all the arguments, one the one hand they removed it so they must not support Israel's position, while on the other hand neither they nor the Republicans ever acted on such a clause even when it was in - they never moved the embassy to Jerusalem, they refuse to state on official papers "Jerusalem, Israel" and throughout negotiations for peace they never clearly took the position that Jerusalem is not negotiable.
I don't know that this removal of the clause is really all that important, as it seems to have been an empty statement anyway. US policy towards Israel has not really changed (though of course each individual's personal relationship might be warmer or cooler), and it is not going to change based on any specific party platform.
Why do you think, if you think that, it is a big deal?
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Of course it's a big deal. Since the platform has no actual impact, the fact that the boilerplate pro-Israel language has been removed indicates that the DNC and the Obama administration have no interest in being pro-Israel. When the DNC was asked about this, they said the platform reflects Obama administration policy. What remains in the platform is simply a bunch of words that Obama is a great friend of Israel.
ReplyDeleteThis is just one more in an unbelievable long list of examples of anti-Israel behavior by Obama and his administration.
Obama has had 4 years to demonstrate his policy on Israel. How we analyze the gift wrap on the package he plans to sell to the American people and International community has no impact on what is inside.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans are trying to get elected. They don't have the burden of a track record to prevent them to promise whatever they want.
I thought Obama was going to be a typical American President and realize that the best course of action was not to sacrifice valuable political capital, when you have no chance of coming out ahead. In doing so he has caused a lot of damage and endangered Israeli lives.