Kredo: “Not Certain” Bush Would Have Met ECI’s Pro-Israel Criteria

David Streeter — September 16, 2011 – 11:00 am | Barack Obama | Foreign Policy | Israel | Stop the Smears Comments (0) Add a comment

Washington Jewish Week’s Adam Kredo raised an interesting point regarding the Emergency Committee for Israel’s (ECI) “Five-Step Plan to a Pro-Israel Presidency.” Kredo wrote:

Looking back over The Emergency Committee for Israel’s new five-point plan to a pro-Israel presidency, I’m not certain that President George W. Bush would have fully met the group’s criteria. (Just to note, ECI didn’t bring Bush into the equation. I am.)

First off, Bush was supportive of aid to the PA, at least in part (Step 2). Refresh your memory here.

Regarding the status of Jerusalem (Step 3), I’ve written many times before that Bush dealt very delicately with the issue—just as Obama has.

From a Bush press conference in 2001*:

Q) Mr. President, the Prime Minister last night expressed his faith in Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal, undivided capital, under Israel sovereignty. Mindful of your campaign statements, how do you feel about this statement? Is that something that has U.S. support? 

PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, the status of Israel, I mean, the status of Jerusalem will be ultimately determined by the interested parties. During the campaign, I said we’ll begin the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem

Bush also used that pesky presidential waiver to put off moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 

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