2012 Presidential Candidates'
Views on the Middle East
President Barack Obama
On the U.S.-Israel Relationship top
"Yes, we are bound to Israel because of the
interests that we share -- in security for our communities, prosperity
for our people, the new frontiers of science that can light the world.
But ultimately it is our common ideals that provide the true foundation
for our relationship ... In the United States, our support for Israel
is bipartisan, and that is how it should stay."
- Remarks
to the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 4, 2012
"Our iron-clad commitment -- and I mean iron-clad
-- to Israel’s security has meant the closest military cooperation
between our two countries in history."
- State
of the Union Address, January 24, 2012
"No U.S. administration has done more
in support of Israel's security than ours ... We’re going to keep standing with our Israeli
friends and allies, just as we’ve been doing when they’ve
needed us most. ... On my watch, the United States of America has led
the way, from Durban to the United Nations, against attempts to use
international forums to delegitimize Israel."
- Remarks
to the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism,
December 16, 2011
"The special bonds between our nations are ones
that all Americans hold dear because they’re bonds forged by common
interests and shared values. They’re bonds that transcend partisan
politics ... We stand with Israel as a Jewish democratic state because we know that
Israel is born of firmly held values that we, as Americans, share: a
culture committed to justice, a land that welcomes the weary, a people
devoted to tikkun olam ... So America’s commitment to Israel and Israel’s security is unshakeable.
- Remarks
to the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism,
December 16, 2011
"This [Hannukkah] is also a time to be grateful
for our friendships, both with each other and between our nations. And
that includes, of course, our unshakeable support and commitment to
the security of the nation of Israel."
- The
White House, December 8, 2011
"I try not to pat myself too much on the back,
but this administration has done more for the security of the state
of Israel than any previous administration," Obama said. "We
don't compromise when it comes to Israel's security ... and that will
continue ... No ally is more important [to the United States] than the
state of Israel"
- Haaretz,
December 1, 2011.
"Israel’s legitimacy is not a matter for debate. That is my commitment;
that is my pledge to all of you."
- Remarks to the
AIPAC Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
"A strong and secure Israel is in the national
security interest of the United States not simply because we share
strategic interests ... America’s commitment to Israel’s
security flows from a deeper place -- and that’s the values
we share ... As two vibrant democracies, we recognize that the liberties
and freedoms we cherish must be constantly nurtured. And as the nation
that recognized the State of Israel moments after its independence,
we have a profound commitment to its survival as a strong, secure
homeland for the Jewish people."
- Remarks to AIPAC
Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
"Furthermore, our relationship with our Israeli
and Arab friends and partners in the region extends beyond our committment
to its security and includes the continued ties we share in areas
such as trade, exchanges, and cooperation on a broad range of issues."
- President
Obama's National Security Strategy, May 2010
On The Peace Process top
"I make no apologies for pursuing peace. Israel’s
own leaders understand the necessity of peace. Prime Minister Netanyahu,
Defense Minister Barak, President Peres -- each of them have called
for two states, a secure Israel that lives side by side with an independent
Palestinian state. I believe that peace is profoundly in Israel’s
security interest."
- Remarks
to the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 4, 2012
"As President, I have never wavered in pursuit
of a just and lasting peace - two states for two peoples; an independent
state of Palestine alongside a secure Jewish state of Israel. I have
not wavered and will not waver ... A just and lasting peace is in
the long-term interests of Israel. It is in the long-term interests
of the Palestinian people. It is in the interest of the region. It
is the interest of the United States, and it is in the interest of
the world."
- Remarks
to the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism,
December 16, 2011
"We know that peace demands a partner – which is why
I said that Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with Palestinians
who do not recognize its right to exist. And we will hold the Palestinians
accountable for their actions and for their rhetoric."
- Remarks to the
AIPAC Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
"It is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to take action. No
peace can be imposed upon them -- not by the United States; not by anybody
else ... a lasting peace will involve two states for two peoples: Israel
as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people, and the state
of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people ... The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states."
- "Arab Spring"
Speech, May 19, 2011.
"That truth is what makes peace so hard. And
the deadlock will only be broken when each side learns to stand in
each other’s shoes ... We will only succeed in that effort if
we can encourage the parties to sit down together, to listen to each
other, and to understand each other’s hopes and fears."
- Speech to the
United Nations General Assembly, September 21, 2011.
"As we pursue peace between Israelis and Palestinians,
we will also pursue peace between Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria,
and a broader peace between Israel and its neighbors. We will pursue
regional initiatives with multilateral participation, alongside bilateral
negotiations."
- President
Obama's National Security Strategy, May 2010
Regarding
Palestinian Unity Government top
"The recent agreement between
Fatah and Hamas poses an enormous obstacle to peace. No country can
be expected to negotiate with a terrorist organization sworn to its
destruction. And we will continue to demand that Hamas accept the basic
responsibilities of peace, including recognizing Israel’s right
to exist and rejecting violence and adhering to all existing agreements."
- Remarks to the
AIPAC Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
On The Palestinian
Unilateral Declaration of Independence top
"No vote at the United Nations will ever create an independent
Palestinian state. And the United States will stand up against efforts
to single Israel out at the United Nations."
- Remarks to the
AIPAC Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
On Palestinian Statehood
and Israeli Security top
"I said it in September at the United Nations. I said it when I stood
amid the homes in Sderot that had been struck by missiles: No nation
can tolerate terror. And no nation can accept rockets targeting innocent
men, women and children. No nation can yield to suicide bombers."
- Remarks
to the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism,
December 16, 2011
"And so long as there are those who long for a better future,
we will never abandon our pursuit of a just and lasting peace that ends
this conflict with two states living side by side in peace and security.
This is not idealism; it is not naïveté. It is a hard-headed
recognition that a genuine peace is the only path that will ultimately
provide for a peaceful Palestine as the homeland of the Palestinian
people and a Jewish state of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people."
- Remarks to the
AIPAC Policy Conference, May 22, 2011.
"We believe the borders
of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually
agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established
for both states."
- "Arab Spring"
Speech, May 19, 2011.
On Iranian Threat
top
"The clock's ticking."
- Remarks
to Iran from Latin American summit in Colombia, April 15,
2012
"Already there is too much loose talk of war.
Over the last few weeks such talk has only benefited the Iranian government
by driving up the price of oil, which they depend on to fund their
nuclear program. For the sake of Israel's security, America's security
and the peace and security of the world, now is not the time for bluster.
Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in, and to sustain
the broad international pressure we have built. A nuclear armed Iran
is completely counter to Israel's security interests, but it is also
counter to the national security interests of the United States."
- Remarks
to the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 4, 2012
"Indeed, the entire world has an interest in
preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. A nuclear-armed Iran
would thoroughly undermine the non-proliferation regime that we've
doen so much to build. There are risks that an Iranian nuclear weapon
could fall into the hands of a terrorist organization ... others in
the region would feel compelled to get their own nuclear weapon, triggering
an arms race in one of the world's most volatile regions. It would
embolden a regime that has brutalized its own people, and it would
embolden Iran’s proxies, who have carried out terrorist attacks
from the Levant to southwest Asia."
- Remarks
to the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 4, 2012
"Iran’s leaders should understand that
I do not have a policy of containment; I have a policy to prevent
Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. And as I have made clear time
and again during the course of my presidency, I will not hesitate
to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States and
its interests."
- Remarks
to the AIPAC Policy Conference, March 4, 2012
"As president of the United States, I don't
bluff ... I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize
that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have
a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say ... Iran is known to sponsor
terrorist organizations, so the threat of proliferation becomes that
much more severe ... it is important for us to see if we can solve
this thing permanently, as opposed to temporarily."
- Interview
with Jeffrey Goldberg in the Oval Office, March 2, 2012
"Another grave concern – and a threat to the security of
Israel, the United States and the world – is Iran’s nuclear
program. And that’s why our policy has been absolutely clear: We are determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons ...We have imposed
the most comprehensive, the hardest-hitting sanctions that the Iranian
regime has ever faced ... Rest assured, we will take no options
off the table. We have been clear."
- Remarks
to the 71st General Assembly of the Union for Reform Judaism,
December 16, 2011
On Israeli Settlements
top
"Now, Israel is going to have to take some difficult steps as
well, and I shared with the Prime Minister the fact that under the roadmap
and under Annapolis that there’s a clear understanding that we
have to make progress on settlements. Settlements have to be stopped
in order for us to move forward. That’s a difficult issue. I recognize
that, but it’s an important one and it has to be addressed."
- Press
Conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu, May 18, 2009
"This kind of activity [Israeli settlement building] is never
helpful when it comes to peace negotiations and I'm concerned that we're
not seeing each side make the extra effort to get a breakthrough that
could finally create a framework for a secure Israel living side by
side in peace with a soverign Palestine."
- Remarks
in Indonesia, November 9, 2010
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