John McCain is a supporter of Israel. He has consistently been a supporter of Israel.
WASHINGTON - A little while after the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, a group of Israelis visited Senator John McCain in his office, armed with maps. Among them was the IDF military attache, Major General Dan Harel, and ambassador Danny Ayalon. The maps were laid out, a briefing was made, and McCain did not hesitate much at the end to declare the just cause behind the Israeli offensive.
In one of his speeches during that time, at a fundraiser in a St. Louis golf center, he said: “My dear friends, you have probably seen our European friends say, ‘Well, the Israelis have got to stop.’ But what would we do if somebody came across our borders and killed our soldiers and captured our soldiers? Do you think we would be exercising total restraint?”
He has never forgotten the Israeli Soldiers who have been kidnapped and killed by the enemies of Israel throughout the Middle East.
Here is a subject with which McCain identifies a great deal more with Israel than some of the members of the current U.S. administration - his concern for the Israeli prisoners. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given some of her interlocutors cause to understand that she believes this to be an obsession which affects Israel’s judgment. She may even be right about this - but McCain, a former POW, identifies with this obsession. Whenever Israel needs someone to pick up the telephone on the subject of the prisoners, McCain is ready to help -if he can.
Israeli captives on the one hand - prisoners in Israeli jails on the other. McCain believes that Israel is the perfect example of how terror suspects should be interrogated, without torture. During one of his meetings with Shaul Mofaz, when the latter was still defense minister, McCain’s aides asked for details on this subject.
McCain understands the threat that is Iran ….
If there is one statement that has made him popular among Israeli leaders it is this: “There is only one thing worse than military action, and that is a nuclear armed Iran.”
When McCain makes such a statement, Israel believes him, because McCain - and this is precisely what makes him a candidate with a chance to win - is a man who keeps his word. In a speech at Yeshiva University he said that “Iran’s choice is clear. So is ours.” This will be a subject that will be high on the agenda during the confrontations between the Republican candidate and his Democratic counterpart.
Joe McCain, John McCain’s brother, is a self-proclaimed ‘Judeophile”.
“I would have been proud to be Jewish,” he told Haaretz in a telephone conversation, but to the best of his knowledge, this is not the case.
He says that some people may think so because of an article he wrote and disseminated among friends, on the subject of hatred of Jews, “the most abused, kicked-around race of people.”
“While we mourn and seethe at September 11th, we don’t notice that Israel has a September 11th sometimes every day,” he wrote in support of Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism.
He added, and reiterated again yesterday, that he is not concerned about Israel’s security because he believes its strong army will protect it. If Israel ever requires his help, he promised, he will stand by it side “completely,” since it is “our only ally in the Middle East.”
McCain has been a strong advocate of sending military aid to Israel.
[McCain] has been a veteran proponent of sending military aid to Israel; maintaining Israel’s military supremacy is a cornerstone of his political scope. McCain’s favorite Israeli acquaintance, his aides never hesitate to say, is Ehud Barak, whose name is synonymous with security. He visited Israel many times, and has met with every prime minister, from Menachem Begin to Ehud Olmert.
During the Reagan era approximately 30% of Jewish voters were in the Republican party. Many believe that McCain will draw at least that many Jewish voters back to the party. Especially if his democratic opponent is Barack Obama. Obama is a complete unknown in terms of his policies and beliefs. Hillary Clinton is secretive and no one really knows what her policies will be towards Israel. McCain, on the other hand, is an open book and unflinching in his support of Israel.
February 24th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Returning ‘Home’: FOB Falcoln, Baghdad…
Pete Hegseth will be returning returning to Baghdad, Iraq, for a one week inbed with men who are on the ground creating a stable Iraq alongside their Iraq Security Force partners. He will be reporting back to us at National Review Online and Vets ……..