Election 2008: Obama on Israel Factsheet

PERFECT PRO-ISRAEL VOTING RECORD IN THE U.S. SENATE
The pro-Israel community has always used voting records to determine whether a candidate is “pro-Israel.”

• He has voted in favor of foreign aid to Israel every time.

• He has written and signed onto numerous pro-Israel letters and resolutions, including the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act (lead sponsor) Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act (cosponsor), a letter urging President Bush to press Palestinian leadership to bar terrorist groups from Palestinian elections, a letter expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism, and a letter calling on the European Union to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist groups. He also sent a letter from his U.S. Senate office to the U.S. Ambassador of the United Nations calling for the U.S. to strongly support Israel on the U.N. Security Council.

• When in the State Senate, he cosponsored a bill authorizing the state of Illinois to invest in Israel bonds.

BELIEVES ISRAEL’S SECURITY IS PARAMOUNT

• Obama said, “Israel’s security is sacrosanct […] I will also carry with me an unshakable commitment to the security of Israel and the friendship between the United States and Israel.” – New York Sun, 2/25/2008

• At the NJDC Washington Conference, Obama declared, “When I am President, the United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel in search of this peace and in defense against those who seek its destruction.” – Philadelphia Jewish Voice, 7/2007

PRO-ISRAEL MIDDLE EAST ADVISERS

• Tony Lake: former Clinton National Security Council adviser

• Former Congressman Mel Levine (D-CA)

• Eric Lynn: senior aide to former Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-FL)

• Denis McDonough: former senior foreign policy adviser for Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD)

• Ambassador Dennis Ross

• Dan Shapiro: former National Security Council official during the Clinton Administration

• Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL)

SAYS “NO” TO IRANIAN NUKES

• He was the lead sponsor on an Iran divestment bill in Congress, the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007.

• He cosponsored the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007 in the U.S. Senate which called on the Secretary of State to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organization.

• Obama stated, “My approach to Iran will be aggressive diplomacy. I will not take any military options off the table.” – New York Sun, 2/25/2008

• At the 2008 AIPAC Policy Conference, he announced, “The danger from Iran is grave, it is real, and my goal will be to eliminate this threat.” – 6/4/2008

REPUDIATES HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH

• Obama cosponsored the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006.

• He joined a letter calling on the European Union to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist groups.

• Obama said, “I am not naïve. There is a hard core of jihadist fundamentalists who we can’t negotiate with. We have to hunt them down and knock them out. Incapacitate them.” – New York Sun, 2/25/2008

• The New York Times reported, “He again called Hamas a terrorist group and said that ‘we should not talk to them unless they recognize Israel, renounce violence and are willing to abide by previous accords’ that Israel has negotiated with its neighbors and with the Palestine Liberation Organization.” – 5/16/2008

• At the 2008 AIPAC Policy Conference, Obama said, “We must isolate Hamas unless and until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and abide by past agreements. There is no room at the negotiating table for terrorist organizations. That is why I opposed holding elections in 2006 with Hamas on the ballot.” – 6/4/2008