American Israelis Urge Netanyahu to Resist Obama Pressure for More Concessions; Call for American "Gestures" to Israel

For Immediate Release
May 10, 2009

The American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) today called upon Prime Minister Netanyahu to resist all efforts by the Obama Administration to pressure Israel to make further concessions to the Palestinians at this time.

AIAC is a non-political, non-partisan, issue-oriented NGO whose purpose is to express the united voice of the more than 250,000 Americans living in Israel.

Harvey Schwartz, AIAC Chairman, stated that "high officials of the Obama Administration, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice-President Joe Biden, as well as others, have recently called upon Israel to make further unilateral concessions to the Palestinian side. Such calls are, frankly, insulting, coming before the new Netanyahu Administration has even had the opportunity to complete its policy review.

The Obama Administration's apparent muscle-flexing against Israel, while kow-towing to anti-American two-bit dictators such as Iran's Ahmadinejad, Syria's Assad, Venezuela's Chavez and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is outrageous and doomed to failure. The Americans in Israel know that the American citizenry is not in favor of this drastic policy turn and will not accept it. We urge Prime Minister Netanyahu to resist all Obama Administration pressure to adopt any policy which is not in Israel's best interest."

Schwartz further stated that "recent media reports as well as statements from Obama confidante's point to the adoption by the Administration of a 'blackmail' policy regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, warning Israel that U.S. support on this threat is to be conditioned upon Israel making further unilateral concessions to the Palestinians. As Americans, many of whom were recently in the United States, we know that this odious policy is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Americans, who are fair-minded and recognize that it is the Palestinians who are the impediment to peace, not Israel. They are fully aware that the Iranian nuclear threat and the Peace Process are entirely disparate issues , and that the Obama Administration's attempt to link the two is contrary to America's best interests and the unacceptable abandonment of America's most loyal friend in the Middle East. AIAC calls upon the U.S. Congress to deliver the clear message to the Obama Administration that it should abandon such policy forthwith".

"Rather than insisting that Israel make further gestures to the Palestinians as 'confidence-building measures' ", continued Schwartz, "it is time for the United States to make gestures to Israel as confidence-building measures. Among such gestures should be:

1. The immediate release of Jonathan Pollard;

2. The unequivocal demand that Hamas immediately release Gilad Schalit;

3. Announcing that the Obama Administration will adopt a more conciliatory policy toward Israel;

4. Confirming that the United States recognizes Israel as a Jewish State and insisting that all Arab countries (as well as the Palestinians) do the same; and

5. Granting $900,000,000 of additional funding to Israel (the same amount which the U.S. pledged to the Palestinians) to cover the cost of reconstruction of those portions of Israel which were damaged or destroyed by the Hamas shelling of Southern Israel and the Hezbollah shelling of Northern Israel."

Aaron Tirschwell, AIAC's Executive Director, stated that "the Obama Administration has gotten off on the wrong foot with Israel. Adopting the confidence-building measures listed above would be a good start to getting back on the right track".

AIAC is devoted to effectively recruiting and activating the more than 250,000 expatriate American citizens in Israel in order to create a united voice that will be heard by the governments and people of the United States and Israel on issues that pertain to the continued safety and security of Israel and the Jewish people worldwide.