August/September 1992, Page 36

Pander Watch

(Sometimes what politicians say, and where they say it, says all a voter needs to know about their ability to lead rather than to follow the mob.)

Clinton: "If I Ever Let Israel Down, God Would Never Forgive Me."

(Excerpts from transcript of remarks by Gov. Bill Clinton to the Jewish Leadership Council, Sheraton Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC, June 30, 1992)

"I'm very concerned about the damage which has been done to our relationship with Israel by the Bush administration. President Bush's press conference on September the 12th was one of the worse days in the history of our two nations' relationships. His callous remarks against the American Jewish community and its efforts to participate in our system of democracy were an affront to the basic rights of all Americans to speak freely and to try to influence the political process.

"In the intervening months, this administration has pressured Israel relentlessly to make one-sided concessions in the peace process. It has ignored the cruel and crippling Arab boycott and other roadblocks to peace in favor of focusing only on those things that Israel has done with which it disagrees. The administration has imposed conditions on loan guarantees to Israel while granting over $12 billion in loan guarantees to Arab nations, including Iraq, without one single condition. Its rejection of Israel's request for humanitarian assistance for hundreds of thousands of Russian immigrants has imposed new hardships on these innocent refugees seeking to begin new lives. This is no way to treat a steady friend, a staunch ally and a stable democracy. And, as president, I will put an end to it.

"Because of the developments in Israel which are encouraging to all of us who hope for peace, this administration will now spend the next four months trying to make you forget the last four years. But you should not forget the cold shoulder and the back of the hand that this administration gave to Israel. Nor will America ever forget the contributions that Israel made during the Gulf war, as much for her forebearance as for anything else. We will not forget Israel's restraint in spite of Saddam Hussain's threats to burn half of Israel, in spite of the Scud attacks, in spite of the painful spectacle of Israelis of all ages wearing gas masks, and in spite of the fact, as you know so well, Israel was founded on the principles of self-government, self-reliance and self-defense. . .

"I look forward to working with the next Israeli government, and I look forward to working with, not against, Israel. We're going to rebuild our relationship with Israel, first by granting Israel's longstanding request for our assistance in its attempt to cope with the massive influx of Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union. . .

"We can and must serve as an honest broker, and on occasion as a catalyst, but no side should be expected to make unilateral concessions. The Palestinians should have the right, as specified at Camp David, to participate in the determination of their own future, but they do not ave the right to determine Israel's future. And for that reason, I oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"Whatever the outcome of the negotiations, as stated in our Democratic platform, Jerusalem is still the capital of Israel and must remain an undivided city acceptable to all. Most importantly, peace must have as its cornerstone arrangements that secure the security of Israel. I understand the meaning of secure and recognized boundaries. Peace that does not provide for Israel's security will not itself be a secure and lasting peace. . .

"I have repeatedly argued that in this post-Cold War era, our foreign policy must promote democracy as well as stability. We cannot, as this administration has too often done, ignore the link between the two. The Bush administration lost an opportunity to promote democracy in Kuwait. It failed to learn from its appeasement of Saddam Hussain when it shared intelligence with him, awarded him credits and opposed sanctions against him right up to the eve of his invasion of Kuwait. And the administration seems poised to repeat the mistake it made as it casts a blind eye on Syria's human rights abuses and its support for terrorism. I can assure you that a Clinton administration will not forge strategic relationships with dangerous, despotic regimes.

"As we pursue the goals of peace and democracy, we must never forget that Israel remains a strong, reliable friend and a stable, strategic ally. The United States has a fundamental interest not only in the security of Israel, but also in our two nations' strategic cooperation in the region. Unlike the current administration, I will fulfill our commitment on the prepositioning of military stocks in Israel and enhanced logistics cooperation to support American forces in the region.

"For decades, the United States has stood firmly behind Israel's need to maintain a qualitative military edge over any potential combination of Arab adversaries, understanding that the Arab states inevitably enjoy a quantitative edge and that a shift in the balance of power can be an inducement to wage war. It is time, therefore, that we recommitted ourselves to that qualitative position and that we became a leader in the effort to rein in the dangerous proliferation not only of weapons of mass destruction but of conventional arsenals as well. . .

"We need to advance Israel's defense against these dangerous weapons by ensuring the completion of the joint Arrow anti-ballistic missile. . . We need a strong international effort and tough cooperation with sanctions to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of Iran and Iraq and Libya. Surely we have learned from Saddam's conquest of Kuwait that missiles and military dictatorships are a dangerous combination. And we should strengthen our economic partnerships as well. . .

"Twenty percent of Israel's imports are from the United States. In 1991, that figure totaled $3.3 billion. If the Russian immigrants can successfully be integrated into Israeli society, over the next five years Israel is expected to purchase as much as $30 billion in American goods, and that will provide needed benefits and jobs for our own economy.

"Now we should take the next step for our own interests to develop mechanisms that we need, public and private, to cooperate with our Israeli friends to enhance our own economic competitiveness in a technological partnership. In a Clinton administration, we will create a new joint American-Israeli high-tech commission to work together on research and development for the technologies of the 21st century. . .

"I have believed in supporting Israel as long as I have known anything about the issue. It may have something to do with my religious upbringing, and I want to close with a story that is very important to me. For the last several years until he died, I was very much under the influence of my pastor at a small Baptist church, or a not-so-small church in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was a close friend of Israel and began visiting even before the state of Israel was created. And when he was on his death bed, he said to me that he hoped one day I'd have a chance to run for president, but that if I ever let Israel down, God would never forgive me.

"I want you to know that I think he's looking at me, and if I'm elected president, I'll never let Israel down. Thank you very much."

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