I stand strongly with the staunchest American allies in the Middle East. Regardless if I believe the Israeli response to the constant missile attacks by Hamas from Gaza is proportional or not, there is no doubt in my mind that a response was necessary.
A country cannot allow a group like Hamas to barrage it's citizenry with missiles over and over with no response. And there is no doubt about the fact that it was Hamas that broke the cease fire agreement. That's just a fact.
As long as the Palestinian people allow Hamas to speak for them as a People, as long as Hamas is the elected representative body for the Palestinian Peoples, the people who will suffer most will be the Palestinians.
Israel, and rational people in America, cannot allow groups like Hamas to become legitimized. Period. Not when their agenda and leaders spout this type of dangerous rhetoric.
Hamas ... refused to accept Israel's existence. Its charter calls for an end to Israel, though during the 2006 election campaign, Hamas did not mention its call for the destruction of Israel in its electoral manifesto. Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar gave an interview to Al-Manar TV denouncing foreign demands that Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. After the establishment of Hamas government, Dr Al-Zahar stated his "dreams of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home which does not show Israel on it...I hope that our dream to have our independent state on all historic Palestine (including Israel). This dream will become real one day. I'm certain of this because there is no place for the state of Israel on this land"...
Hamas's charter calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic Republic in their historic homeland of Palestine, in place of Israel. Hamas sees this view as an Islamic religious duty... In 1999, late Hamas co-founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin mentioned the year 2027 as the possible date for the "disappearance" of Israel. The group has not issued a clear statement about how it would deal with the current population of Israel, should it succeed in overthrowing Israeli and secular Palestinian government. Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, one of its co-founders, stated that the movement's goal is "to remove Israel from the map".
Neither Israel nor the United States will accept any solution that involves people that want to obliterate Israel as their ultimate goal. The vast majority of Americans agree with Israel's decision not to engage with Hamas.
The poll asked Americans what U.S. policy toward the Palestinians should be now that Hamas has political power. The U.S. government is currently reassessing its policies and has threatened to suspend aid to the Palestinians unless they renounce violence and recognize Israel.
Most Americans believe the United States should conduct diplomatic relations with the Palestinians, but of that group, the majority says relations should be continued only if Hamas recognizes Israel. All in all, 22% of Americans say the United States should deal with the Palestinians regardless of their stance toward Israel, and another 44% say the United States should engage in diplomacy with the Palestinians if the Hamas-led government recognizes Israel. One in four Americans say the United States should not conduct any relations with the Palestinians regardless of their official policy toward Israel.
That's 70% of Americans that believe either that Israel shouldn't negotiate with Palestinians at all, or ONLY if Hamas recognizes Israel's right to exists. Hamas either has to change their Charter(to recognize Israel) and stop using terror as a political tool, or the Palestinians will suffer more and more.
When Americans went to the polls last month, Israel was not a top priority, Americans still have very strong support for Israel.
The poll revealed that McCain voters are more likely to support Israel than their Democratic counterparts, but support for Israel is across the board, and 71% of Americans think that America should support Israel in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians...
The percentage point differences were even more overwhelmingly in Israel's favor in response to questions as to whether or not Israel is a vital ally to the US; whether or not Israel is a country that respects freedom of religion, speech and press, and whether or not Israel respects the rights of women and minorities.
In general, Americans also believe that Israel is committed to reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, but are not convinced that the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are interested in reaching a peace accord with Israel...
Support for a two-state solution to the conflict is extremely high - above 80%. The majority believes an independent Palestinian state will improve the economic future of the Palestinian people; 67% think it will make Israel more secure as a nation and 59% are convinced it will reduce Palestinian terrorism against Israel.
President-Elect Obama has spoken about his views on the subject of whether Israel should defend Herself when attacked.
In the campaign, Mr. Obama made statements that sounded similar to those issued by the Bush administration on Saturday.
"If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that," Mr. Obama said in July. "And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing."
The Washington Post also describes how this all came about like this:
Israel's airstrikes on Gaza yesterday, in retaliation for a nonstop barrage of rocket attacks from Hamas fighters, raised the prospect of an escalation of violence that could scuttle any hopes the incoming Obama administration harbored of forging an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
"If the casualty reports are accurate, Hamas is going to respond. And this isn't a two- or three-day deal in which the genie is put back in the bottle," said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and author of "The Much Too Promised Land." "This takes the already slim chance of an early, active and successful Obama engagement on Israel-Palestinian peace and lowers it to about zero."
Israel has been warning for weeks that it would not tolerate regular rocket attacks launched from Hamas-controlled territory in the Gaza Strip, and it has been laying the groundwork for a new offensive with the collapse this month of a shaky six-month cease-fire. Still, the ferocity and scope of yesterday's Israeli attacks, which killed at least 225, appeared to stun Western governments and analysts. Arab countries condemned Israel, and Saudi Arabia urged the United States to intervene to stop the attacks.
So Hamas launches missile after missile into Israel, terrorizing the Israeli people, yet hurting the very people they claim to represent more than anyone else. This is not a question of proportion, this is a question of motives. The motives of Hamas for breaking the cease fire agreement and launching the barrage of missiles into Israel needs to be questioned, not the response by Israel.
There are many Israeli policies I disagree with, and I hope one day we can get to that point and demand accoutability from the Israelis so the people living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip can live in peace in a land called Palestine. But that day will never come if the Palestinian people elect leaders like Hamas. Or if Hamas does not change their goals AND tactics.
The Democratic Party platform reflects the views of the vast majority of Democrats, and the vast majority of Americans.
For more than three decades, Israelis, Palestinians, Arab leaders, and the rest of the world have looked to America to lead the effort to build the road to a secure and lasting peace. Our starting point must always be our special relationship with Israel, grounded in shared interests and shared values, and a clear, strong, fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy.
That commitment, which requires us to ensure that Israel retains a qualitative edge for its national security and its right to self-defense, is all the more important as we contend with growing threats in the region–a strengthened Iran, a chaotic Iraq, the resurgence of Al Qaeda, the reinvigoration of Hamas and Hezbollah. We support the implementation of the memorandum of understanding that pledge $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade to enhance and ensure its security.
It is in the best interests of all parties, including the United States, that we take an active role to help secure a lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a democratic, viable Palestinian state dedicated to living in peace and security side by side with the Jewish State of Israel. To do so, we must help Israel identify and strengthen those partners who are truly committed to peace, while isolating those who seek conflict and instability, and stand with Israel against those who seek its destruction. The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements.
Sustained American leadership for peace and security will require patient efforts and the personal commitment of the President of the United States. The creation of a Palestinian state through final status negotiations, together with an international compensation mechanism, should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.
All understand that it is unrealistic to expect the outcome of final status negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949. Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel. The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.
I couldn't agree with my Party, and the vast majority of my fellow Americans, more. This Catholic American of German heritage stands with Israel.