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Opinion
PRESIDENTIAL SWEEPSTAKES
Obama: Israel's Security Sacrosanct
Washington
S
ince the birth of the State of Israel
60 years ago, the United States
has stood as its strongest ally.
This partnership has been supported by
Democrats and Republicans. The bipartisan
tradition goes back to President Truman,
who in 1948 made
the United States
the first nation to
officially recognize
Israel.
Since that day,
America's relation-
ship with Israel has
never been just a dip-
lomatic relationship
or a military alliance.
Sen. Carl
It
has always been a
Levin
fundamental
part-
Special
nership
to
protect
Commentary
our shared values
— a commitment to
democracy, freedom and liberty.
After 60 years of friendship, the United
States and Israel must continue to stand
together, to protect our shared values and
priorities — to continue to strive for our
shared goal of a peaceful Middle East.
And that is what Barack Obama will do as
president of the United States. I have had the
opportunity to work side by side with him
in the U.S. Senate, and I know he is commit-
ted to maintaining the strong and special
relationship between the United States and
Israel.
As president, Barack Obama will do every-
thing he can to help Israel protect itself from
outside threats, whether they come from
as nearby as Gaza or as far away as Tehran.
The defense cooperation between the United
States and Israel has been a model of suc-
cess, and Sen. Obama believes in its preser-
vation.
Sen. Obama believes that the United States
and Israel must stand shoulder to shoulder
in the fight against terrorism because terror-
ism threatens our shared values, our way of
life and our right to live without fear.
Sen. Obama will add a crucial element
that has been missing in the fight against
terrorism and the effort to advance the
search for peace in the Middle East. He will
end America's unilateral style — its isola-
tion from allies who have been put off by the
Bush administration's go-it-alone, "you're
with us or with the terrorists" approach.
Example number one: Iran, the great-
est source of terror in the region. President
Bush's Iraq policy has led to a stronger, more
adventurous Iran.
The best way to prevent Iran from going
nuclear with its uranium program without
the use of military force is to unite the world
against Iran's activity. Because no country
wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon, it
should be possible to rally the world, includ-
ing Russia, against Iran's effort to obtain a
nuclear weapon. But we can succeed only if
we reach out to other countries in a way that
avoids the domination and often bullying
rhetoric that has marked the Bush years.
Unified efforts by the world community
employing strong sanctions and Congress
enacting Sen. Obama's legislation to make it
easier for pension funds to divest from com-
panies investing in Iran are useful ways of
pressuring Iran to change their behavior.
There are many other issues where
Senators Obama and McCain have different
views, which I believe should attract our
community to Sen. Obama. These include
separation of church and state, women's
reproductive rights and health care. But
when it comes to support of Israel, Sen.
Obama and Sen. McCain agree. As Sen.
Sen. Obama
Obama puts it,"Israel's security is sacro-
sanct. I will also carry with me an unshak-
able commitment to the security of Israel
and the friendship between the United States
and Israel."
This election will truly mark a pivotal
moment in our history. Working together
with others who share our values, we can be
strong, we can protect our freedoms and we
can secure a lasting peace for ourselves, for
Israel and for all nations seeking peace. ❑
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin is a Michigan Democrat. He
was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978.
McCain: Israel Support Steadfast
Washington
A
s I travel across the country cam-
paigning for Sen. John McCain,
R-Ariz., for president, people often
express surprise that a senator who was once
the Democratic vice-
presidential nominee
is campaigning for
the Republican nom-
inee for president.
I know that it is
unusual for someone
who is a Democrat to
endorse a Republican
candidate for presi-
dent. But as I tell
Sen. Joe
people I meet: This
Lieberman
is no ordinary time,
Special
and this is no ordi-
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nary election —and
my good friend of 20
years, John McCain, is no ordinary candidate.
In this critical election, no one should let
party lines stop them from choosing the
best-qualified person to lead our nation. The
problems that confront us are too great, the
threats are too real and the opportunities are
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September 25 • 2008
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too exciting to play partisan politics.
We need our next president to break
through the reflexive partisanship that is poi-
soning our politics and preventing progress.
We need a president who can reunite our
country, restore faith in our government and
rebuild confidence in America's future.
I have worked closely with Sen. McCain
for more than 20 years on many issues
— from stopping genocide in the Balkans
to combating global warming to creating the
9-11 Commission and enacting its recom-
mendations into law. I have seen him, time
and again, rise above the negativism and
pettiness of our politics to deliver results for
the American people. And I have watched
him, time and again, work across party lines
to make our country safer and stronger.
There are many important issues in this
campaign, but the central issue is national
security and the war against Islamist
extremism. And I know with absolute cer-
tainty that the most-qualified candidate to
be commander-in-chief is John McCain.
Islamist extremism is a totalitarian ideol-
ogy every bit as fanatical and vicious as the
fascism and communism we fought and
defeated in the 20th century. And the out-
come of this war will determine the future of
freedom for hundreds of millions of people,
including here at home. From the moment
the next president steps into the Oval Office,
he will face life-and-death decisions in this
war. We must have a president who is ready
on day one to make these decisions.
John has always been a steadfast, prin-
cipled and unwavering supporter of Israel.
He understands, as he put it just a few weeks
before 9-11, that "America's unequivocal
support for Israel — not evenhandedness,
not moral equivalence, not winking at
Palestinian violence — is the best guarantor
of peace in the Middle East"
Sen. McCain is the best-qualified candi-
date to confront the threat we face from the
Islamic Republic of Iran. He knows that it is
the terrorist-supporting theocracy itself that
is the problem, and until the Iranian people
are free we are not safe.
John doesn't just talk; he acts. He sup-
ported an amendment I offered with Sen.
Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., that designated the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard — which has mur-
dered our troops in Iraq, supports Hamas
Sen. McCain
and Hezbollah, and carried out the bloody
attack on the Argentinean Jewish center that
killed 85 people — as a terrorist organiza-
tion. Unfortunately, Senators Obama and
his vice-presidential candidate, Joe Biden,
opposed the amendment.
When it comes to keeping America, Israel
and all our allies safe in this time of war,
John McCain has proven that he has the
experience, the strength, the judgment and
the character to be our commander-in-chief
from day one. And that why I'm working so
hard for him as our next president.
❑
Sen. Joe Lieberman is a Connecticut
Independent. He was first elected to the U.S.
Senate in 1988.