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APN Presidential Campaign Issue Brief Number 1:

The U.S., Israel, and the Quest for Peace
The U.S., Israel, and the Quest for Peace
 
The issue of Israel has a legitimate place in the debate and discourse of a U.S. election.  This place is as part of a serious discussion of how, if elected, the candidates would advance the non-partisan goals of Israeli-Palestinian peace - establishing two states living side-by-side in peace and security - and of pursuing broader Arab-Israeli peace and normalization.  Unfortunately, during U.S. elections there are often people both inside and outside the campaigns who want to play politics with the issue - using Israel to score political points for themselves or against their opponent.  This is a cynical tactic that comes at the expense of the best interests of both the U.S. and Israel. 
 
Support for Israel has never been a partisan issue.  Since the birth of the Jewish state, American political leaders - from both major parties - have supported the special relationship between the U.S. and Israel.  This relationship is anchored in shared values and interests and recognition of the historical imperative to provide a safe homeland for the Jewish people.  The U.S. commitment to Israel has been demonstrated with vital economic and military assistance and uncompromising moral and diplomatic support, helping Israel survive and flourish in this dangerous region. 
 
This special relationship has been buttressed by America's clear national security interest in a safe, secure, and strong Israel living at peace with its neighbors.  Presidents from both parties have long recognized that Israeli-Arab peace is essential to Israel's security and well-being.  They have also realized that the Arab-Israeli conflict impacts broader U.S. national security interests in the region and around the world.  Presidents from both parties have understood that sustained, credible U.S. efforts to achieve Israeli-Arab peace are a necessary element of U.S. support for Israel and a cornerstone of any serious U.S. approach to confronting the challenges emanating from this volatile region.
 
Over the past six decades, true friends of Israel in the White House from both parties have worked to achieve peace.  Their efforts strengthened Israel in times of crisis and paved the way for enduring peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan.  Sadly, similar efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Syrian, and comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace and normalization have met with disappointing results.  These failures underscore the need for redoubled efforts and creative diplomacy; real support for Israel demands that such efforts not be abandoned, regardless of how difficult the current circumstances or how distant the prospects for peace may appear. 
 
For Israel, the best U.S. president will not be the one who, in the heat of an election campaign, tries to outflank his opponent with dogmatically hawkish positions on Jerusalem or the peace process.  Rather, the best U.S. president will be the one who, during the campaign and then in office, rebuilds U.S. strength and credibility in the international arena, permitting the U.S. to reclaim and re-energize its role as a leader in the effort to achieve Israeli-Arab peace and as an agent of stability in the Middle East.
 
APN urges each of the Presidential campaigns to: 
  • Resist efforts to politicize the issue of support for Israel, recognizing that pro-Israel credentials are not measured in point-scoring and hard-line declarations during a campaign, but rather in credible, sustained commitment and action once in office; 
  • Commit to making the achievement of Israeli-Palestinian, Israeli-Syrian, and Israeli-Arab peace a top U.S. foreign policy priority, and to investing the kind of sustained, credible U.S. leadership necessary to achieve real progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
  • Refrain from making statements that undermine U.S. credibility, foreclose political or diplomatic options for the next President or create obstacles for U.S. diplomacy and leadership in the Middle East.