President Obama’s Unwavering Commitment to the State of Israel and the US
-IsraelRelationship
From the beginning of his administration, Barack Obama has consistently exemplified
America’s unbreakable commitment to Israel. He has worked tirelessly to ensure Israel’ssecurity, and in light of recent turmoil in the region, has dramatically increased America’ssupport for Israel’s security and qualitative military edge. The President has a deep
understanding of the grave threats Israel faces and he has been steadfast in supporting
Israel’s right to defend itself. He has worked closely with Israel and the Arab world on the
Israeli-
Palestinian conflict to facilitate a resolution that protects Israel’s core interests,addresses Israel’s security needs, and re
cognizes Israel as a Jewish state and the homelandfor the Jewish people. The Obama administration has executed a robust multilateralstrategy to counter efforts to de-legitimize Israel.
Reaffirming the special relationship between the United States and Israel
President Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have met seven timessince Netanyahu took office. These meetings, together with frequent phone calls andextensive consultations, are a reflection of the extraordinary bonds between the twocountries.[PBS,05/20/2011]
Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Obama at the White House in 2009 for
“your friendship to Israel and your friendship to
me.
You’re… a great friend of Israel, and someone who is acutely cognizant of our security concerns.”
When Israel’s Embassy in Cairo was attacked by protestors, President Obama called
on Egypt to protect the embassy and offered his support to Prime MinisterNetanyahu. The next day Netanyahu said
“I would like to express my gratitude to
the President of the United States, Barack Obama. I asked for his help. This was adecisive and fateful moment.
He said, ‘I will do everything I can.’
And so he did. Heused every considerable means and influence of the United States to help us. Weowe him a special measure of gratitude. This attests to the strong alliance between
Israel and the United States.”
When asked about the Obama Administration, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak
said “Our countries are good friends. And I'm the minister of defense, I can te
ll youthat I can hardly remember ... a better period of support, American support andcooperation and similar strategic understanding of events around us than what we
President Obama’s ambassador to Israel has said “the relationship between the
United States and Israel is the most important and strongest we have anywhere inthe world. We have common interests and common values and they unite us, ourtwo democracies. We are coping with the same threats and as a result we built anexcellent relationship of cooperation, between our governments and ourintelligence gathering agencies. But even more important than our strategicrelationship
Unprecedented financial commitment to Israel’s security
President Obama sent Israel the
largest-ever
security assistance funding in 2010($2.775 billion) and raised that to $3 billion for 2011. [Remarks by Andrew J.Shapiro at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy, 7/16/10][State,
Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2011 Budget and Appropriations,3/23/11]
Under the Obama administration, Israel continues to stand as the leadingbeneficiary of U.S. security assistance funds from the Foreign Military FinanceProgram for military training and equipment
–
accounting for more than 50 percent
of the program’s funding, which is
used to aide some 70 countries in total. [Remarksby Andrew J. Shapiro at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy,7/16/10]
The Obama administration has instituted special provisions for this funding,including the early disbursal of funds. [AIPAC, accessed 7/20/11]
Israel is the only recipient of military funding aid that is not required to spend all of the funds in the US and is the only country authorized to use more than 25 percent
of the funding for offshore procurements, providing a significant boost for Israel’s
domestic defense industry and helping them to develop indigenous productioncapacity. [AIPAC, accessed 7/20/11]
Israeli forces have been granted access to advanced US military hardware (such asthe F-35 Joint Strike Fighter) and emergency stockpiles of US arms. [Reuters,10/8/10][UPI, 1/19/10]
At President Obama’s direction, Congress authorized an additional $205 million forIsrael’s Iron Dome short
-range rocket defense system designed to stop missilesfrom Hamas and Hezbollah. [Associated Press, 4/16/11]
Prime Minister Netanyahu thanked President Obama in his speech to Congress forbeing "very generous in giving us tools to do the job of defending Israel on our own...[and] for your steadfast commitment to Israel's security. I know economic times are
tough. I deeply appreciate this." [Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s
Expanding US-Israel military and defense cooperation
The Obama administration has expanded bilateral security consultations andcooperation on a wide range of shared security challenges, includingcounterterrorism and the prevention of illicit arms smuggling into Gaza. [JTA,1/21/09][White House, accessed 7/20/11]
In 2010, there were nearly 200 senior-level Department of Defense visitors to Israelwith senior-level meetings occurring on a near-
weekly basis. [Andrew J. Shapiro’s
Remarks at the Brookings Saban Center for Middle East Policy, 7/16/10][White
House, accessed 7/20/11]
These visits are in addition to visits by senior Obama administration officials such asVice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, andothers. [Reuters, 03/08/10][Reuters, 02/23/09][Politico, 02/12/10][Reuters,
03/24/11]
More than 1,000 US troops traveled to Israel in late 2009 to participate in the
largest-ever
Outgoing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before Congress on March 2,
2011: “In terms of conc
rete steps to improve the security relationship between [theUS and Israel], more has been done in the last two years than in any comparableperiod in my [45-
year] career.” [Congressman Rothman Questions Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the Middle East, 3/3/11]
At a press conference in Jerusalem with Vice President Biden, Prime MinisterNe
tanyahu said “President Obama has said in Cairo, and he has repeated this many
times since, that the bonds between Israel and the United States are
unbreakable…
In pursuing, for example, the joint military exercises for militarydefense between the Israel
i army and the American military; in securing Israel’squalitative military edge; and in many other activities along the world’s scene,including the battle against the infamous Goldstone report.” [Remarks by Vice
Defending Israel’s right to self
-defense
The Obama administration rejected the Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict as
“unbalanced, one
-
sided and basically unacceptable,” pointing to serious concerns
with its recommendations. [NJDC, 10/28/2009][
Washington Post
The Obama administration lobbied heavily against the Goldstone report advancingbeyond the Human Rights Council. [Reuters, 4/6/11]
The Obama administration expressed solidarity with Israel in the aftermath of theGaza flotilla incident, working behind the scenes to have a more balanced statement
by the UN Security Council that included embracing Israel’s own independent
When Turkey barred Israel from participating in an October 2009 NATO exercise to
protest the Jewish state’s Gaza offensive, the United States pulled out of the drill,
resulting in its indefinite postponement. Soon afterward US troops joined Israel fortheir largest-ever joint military exercises in missile defense. [Reuters, 10/14/09]
[CNN, 10/21/09]
Commitment to a two-
state solution that protects Israel’s interests
In a letter to the Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations, President Obama said, “As we continue to strive for lasting peaceagreements between Israel, the Palestinians, and Israel’s neighbors, all sides should
understand that our commitment to Israe
l’s security is unshakeable and that nowedge will be driven between us.” [Conference of Presidents of Major American
In his 2011 speeches to the State Department and the AIPAC policy conference,President Obama insisted that Israel not be required to return the 1967 lines, and
that any future border accommodate Israel’s security and demographic concerns.
"The parties themselves -- Israelis and Palestinians -- will negotiate a border that is
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President Obama’s Unwavering Commitment to the State of Israel and the US-Israel Relationship
From the beginning of his administration, Barack Obama has consistently exemplified
America’s unbreakable commitment to Israel. He has worked tirelessly to ensure Israel’s
security, and in light of recent turmoil in the region, has dramatically increased… (More)
America’s unbreakable commitment to Israel. He has worked tirelessly to ensure Israel’s
security, and in light of recent turmoil in the region, has dramatically increased… (More)
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