Source: AIAC Media Release 05/10/09 (Copy below - See also:
www.aiacoalition.org)
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AIAC: AMERICAN ISRAELI ACTION COALITION
AMERICAN ISRAELIS URGE NETANYAHU TO RESIST OBAMA PRESSURE FOR MORE
CONCESSIONS; CALL FOR AMERICAN "GESTURES" TO ISRAEL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 10, 2009
The American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) today called upon Prime
Minister Netanyahu to resist all efforts by the Obama Administration to
pressure Israel to make further concessions to the Palestinians at this
time.
AIAC is a non-political, non-partisan, issue-oriented NGO whose
purpose is to express the united voice of the more than 250,000 Americans
living in Israel.
Harvey Schwartz, AIAC Chairman, stated that "high officials of
the Obama Administration, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
Vice-President Joe Biden, as well as others, have recently called upon
Israel to make further unilateral concessions to the Palestinian side. Such
calls are, frankly, insulting, coming before the new Netanyahu
Administration has even had the opportunity to complete its policy review.
The Obama Administration's apparent muscle-flexing against Israel, while
kow-towing to anti-American two-bit dictators such as Iran's Ahmadinejad,
Syria's Assad, Venezuela's Chavez and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is
outrageous and doomed to failure. The Americans in Israel know that the
American citizenry is not in favor of this drastic policy turn and will not
accept it. We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to resist all Obama
Administration pressure to adopt any policy which is not in Israel's best
interest."
Schwartz further stated that "recent media reports as well as
statements from Obama confidante's point to the adoption by the
Administration of a 'blackmail' policy regarding the Iranian nuclear threat,
warning Israel that U.S. support on this threat is to be conditioned upon
Israel making further unilateral concessions to the Palestinians. As
Americans, many of whom were recently in the United States, we know that
this odious policy is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Americans,
who are fair-minded and recognize that it is the Palestinians who are the
impediment to peace, not Israel. They are fully aware that the Iranian
nuclear threat and the Peace Process are entirely disparate issues , and
that the Obama Administration's attempt to link the two is contrary to
America's best interests and the unacceptable abandonment of America's most
loyal friend in the Middle East. AIAC calls upon the U.S. Congress to
deliver the clear message to the Obama Administration that it should abandon
such policy forthwith".
"Rather than insisting that Israel make further gestures to the
Palestinians as 'confidence-building measures' ", continued Schwartz, "it is
time for the United States to make gestures to Israel as confidence-building
measures. Among such gestures should be:
1. The immediate release of Jonathan Pollard;
2. The unequivocal demand that Hamas immediately release
Gilad Schalit;
3. Announcing that the Obama Administration will adopt a
more conciliatory policy toward Israel;
4. Confirming that the United States recognizes Israel as
a Jewish State and insisting that all Arab countries (as well as the
Palestinians) do the same; and
5. Granting $900,000,000 of additional funding to Israel
(the same amount which the U.S. pledged to the Palestinians) to cover the
cost of reconstruction of those portions of Israel which were damaged or
destroyed by the Hamas shelling of Southern Israel and the Hezbollah
shelling of Northern Israel."
Aaron Tirschwell, AIAC's Executive Director, stated that "the
Obama Administration has gotten off on the wrong foot with Israel. Adopting
the confidence-building measures listed above would be a good start to
getting back on the right track".
AIAC is devoted to effectively recruiting and activating the more than
250,000 expatriate American citizens in Israel in order to create a united
voice that will be heard by the governments and people of the United States
and Israel on issues that pertain to the continued safety and security of
Israel and the Jewish people worldwide.
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JUSTICE FOR JONATHAN POLLARD
Website: http://www.JonathanPollard.org
RSS: http://www.JonathanPollard.org/rss.htm
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