NJDC Begins “Embassy Watch” Campaign Today: ‘Will President Bush Keep His Word on Israel?’
Listed in: Israel, Other Foreign Policy, NJDC News, Press Releases
Washington, DC: Throughout his presidential campaign, then-Governor George W. Bush repeatedly courted Jewish audiences by pledging, "as soon as I take office I will begin the process of moving the U.S. ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital" (remarks before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, May 22, 2000). The Jewish Telegraphic Agency similarly reported on December 2, 1999, "A Bush spokesman told JTA that the governor supports moving the embassy and Bush has said in the past that he 'would start the process as soon as I got sworn in.'" In fact, the Ha'aretz newspaper reported on the following day, "George W. Bush, the front runner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy, has declared that he will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the day he is inaugurated as U.S. president."
"Well Mr. President, you were sworn-in on Saturday, and we'll gladly give you Sunday off. But today is Monday, and it is time for you to get about the business of upholding your pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel immediately upon taking office," said Ira N. Forman, Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council. "At most every campaign stop, you asserted that your new administration would be all about 'honor' and 'integrity' - and keeping your word. When you made these campaign promises time and again to the American Jewish community, you never said you would get around to it eventually; to the contrary, you repeatedly used the word 'immediately' and the phrase 'as soon as I take office.'
"President Bush, through our new 'Embassy Watch' campaign, we are merely holding you to the standard that you set out when you gave your word to the American Jewish community. And we're hardly playing 'gotcha' with one misstatement you may have made, since you made the same pledge to AIPAC, B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Committee and other major Jewish organizations. Was that idle campaign rhetoric, Mr. President, or does your word count? Will you demonstrate the honesty that was the rhetorical hallmark of your campaign? Through our regular 'Embassy Watch' updates, the National Jewish Democratic Council will be reminding the American Jewish community and the rest of the American public of exactly what you repeatedly said during your campaign, Mr. President - and we'll be counting the days until your promise to move the embassy is fulfilled. And President Bush, today is Day Number One."
CANDIDATE GEORGE W. BUSH ON THE JERUSALEM
EMBASSY MOVE
• "A Bush spokesman told JTA that the governor supports moving the embassy and Bush has said in the past that he 'would start the process as soon as I got sworn in'" (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 2, 1999).
• "George W. Bush, the front runner in the race for the Republican presidential candidacy, has declared that he will move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem the day he is inaugurated as U.S. president. Bush was speaking at a large gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington" (Ha'aretz, December 3, 1999).
• "But something will happen when I'm president: as soon as I take office I will begin the process of moving the U.S. ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital" (remarks before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, May 22, 2000).
• "Indeed, Texas Gov. George W. Bush looked pleased as he promised participants at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington that he would move the U.S. ambassador in Israel to Jerusalem.The Bush campaign reportedly said the governor meant to say the embassy as well" (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 23, 2000).
• "Something else will happen should I be elected: as soon as I take office I will begin the process of moving the U.S. ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital" (remarks before the B'nai B'rith International Convention 2000, Washington, DC, August 28, 2000).
• "Something else will happen when I take office in January 2001 I will set in motion immediately the process of moving the U.S. ambassador to the city Israel has chosen as its capital, Jerusalem" (response to the American Jewish Committee's Election 2000 Questionnaire, October, 2000).
