Obama, Oren: There’s No Crisis

David Streeter — March 18, 2010 – 11:05 am | Comments (2) Add a comment

President Barack Obama and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren both publicly stated that there is not a crisis endangering the U.S.-Israel special relationship. When asked if there was a crisis in an interview with Fox News, Obama replied “no” and explained:

“We and the Israeli people have a special bond that’s not going to go away ... But friends are going to disagree sometimes.”

Click here to watch the video

 

Oren, who denies the recent comments attributed to him that allege a crisis, wrote in The New York Times:

“Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to a comprehensive peace that guarantees Israel’s security and Jewish identity, and provides for a Palestinian state.”

And:

“Though we may disagree with the White House at certain stages of the peace process, we must never allow such differences to obscure the purpose we share or to raise doubts about the unbreakable bonds between us.

“During his visit, Vice President Biden declared that support for Israel is ‘a fundamental national self-interest on the part of the United States’ and that America ‘has no better friend in the community of nations than Israel.’ The people of Israel, in turn, view the strengthening of their relations with the United States as a paramount national objective. Because we share fundamental values — democracy, respect for individual rights and the rule of law — our friendship can sustain occasional disagreements, and remain unassailably solid.”

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