Hillary Clinton said she would work to strengthen the U.S. relationship with Israel as president in a column for Forward on Thursday.
Her comments came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington next week to meet with President Obama. While Obama and Netanyahu are on chilly terms and have clashed over the White House’s nuclear deal with Iran, Clinton said she would be willing to work closely with the Israeli government.
"That includes immediately dispatching a delegation of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to meet with senior Israeli commanders," said Clinton. "I would also invite the Israeli prime minister to the White House in my first month in office."
Clinton cited her unsuccessful efforts to broker a peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians, and promised to continue pushing for negotiations if elected president. She said she would work to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and fight against the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement:
The dangers facing both our nations in the Middle East require bold and united responses. We must remain committed to preventing Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon, and to vigorously enforcing the new nuclear agreement. I would move to step up our partnership to confront Iran and its proxies across the region, and make sure dangerous Russian and Iranian weapons don’t end up in Hezbollah’s hands or threaten Israel. I also will combat growing efforts to isolate Israel internationally and to undermine its future as a Jewish state, including the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. I’ve spoken out against BDS in the United States and at the U.N., and will continue to do so.
Clinton’s column was greeted with skepticism from some in the pro-Israel community, who noted that President Obama made similar promises and immediately set about weakening the U.S.-Israel relationship.
"I wish I could believe the laundry list of commitments made by Secretary Clinton in her Jewish Daily Forward op-ed, unfortunately, President Obama similarly made claims when he was running for office and simply didn’t follow through," said one senior official with a pro-Israel organization in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. "The president who once told us he views Israel’s security as ‘sacrosanct,’ has been empowering Israel’s most prolific adversary, Iran, for years."
The insider added that Clinton’s decision to publish the column in the Jewish Daily Forward also raised concerns.
"But the op-ed does tell us one important item: that Secretary Clinton is out of touch with the mainstream pro-Israel community," said the official. "She planted her pro-Israel flag in of all places the Jewish Daily Forward, an outlet whose staff never misses an opportunity to criticize Israel and her American supporters, and whose readership seems to appreciate that misguided approach."