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Monday, December 12, 2005
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Bush to Israel supporters: Back Mideast democracy
President Bush urged supporters of Israel to heed his call for the democratization of the Middle East.
“If you’re a supporter of Israel, I would strongly urge you to help other countries become democracies,” Bush said at a speech Monday at the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. “Israel’s long-term survival depends upon the spread of democracy in the Middle East.”
Differences over regime change in Syria have emerged in recent weeks between Israel and the Bush administration. Israel favors keeping Syrian President Bashar Assad in place, albeit with sanctions to push Syria to end its support for terrorism.
Israel fears that Assad’s removal could lead to chaos and greater militancy, but administration officials say that could create the conditions for democracy. Israel is also increasingly concerned over the fallout of the U.S.-led Iraq war, fearing that elections this week could hand a victory to allies of Iran, viewed by Israel as its deadliest enemy in the region.
Republican Jews to show war support
The Republican Jewish Coalition will take out ads in The New York Times and other newspapers to express support for the war in Iraq. The ad campaign comes after the Union for Reform Judaism called last month for the United States to begin withdrawing from Iraq. The ad says “Freedom is Worth Waiting For,” over a picture of an Iraqi woman whose finger is stained with ink, presumably after voting in the recent elections. It expresses support for President Bush and the war on terrorism, and calls recent comments by URJ President Rabbi Eric Yoffie “misleading and wrong.”
Said Matthew Brooks, RJC’s executive director: “We want to make the case that on this issue, they don’t speak for all Reform Jews and they don´t speak for all American Jews.” The ad is signed by several prominent Jews and members of the U.S. Congress, including U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). A Reform Jewish leader took issue with the ad.
http://jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:49 PM Permanent Link
 
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