Bauer Condemns Obama Administration's Hostility to Israel, 'No Doubt the Most Anti-Israeli Government in U.S. History'

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Mar 15, 2010, 10:41 ET

WASHINGTON, March 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer on Monday condemned the Obama administration's continuous mishandling of the U.S.-Israeli relationship and for its "outrageous hostility toward the only reliable democratic friend we have in the Middle East."

Bauer, an influential Christian conservative known for his work on behalf of Israel, had an itinerary very similar to Vice President Biden's last week. Bauer's itinerary included meeting with Israel's leadership, as he has many times before. He was in Israel as the current escalation in flawed U.S.-Israeli relations began with the announcement of a new building project in Jerusalem, Israel's capital.

The president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families made the following statement: "It is obvious that in recent days the Obama administration has manufactured a crisis with Israel and is doing everything it can to humiliate our ally and weaken the Israeli government on the eve of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"We shouldn't lose sight of what set off the administration's tirade. It was the on-going process of authorizing homes to be built in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel for its people. No other nation in the world runs its housing decisions by the Obama administration, but Israel is expected to do so, leading to numerous Obama officials denouncing our ally and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling Israel's behavior 'insulting.'

"But it is an insult to Israeli sovereignty to suggest that it must get the Obama administration's permission to build homes for Israeli Jews. The homes are not the reason peace has been elusive in the Middle East. There is no peace because Israel's enemies refuse its right to exist at all.

"What is particularly telling is that this is a president who has bowed to a Saudi king, who has repeatedly held his hand out to Iran only to have his face slapped in response and who has regularly suffered the slings and arrows of insults from Russia, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, to name a few. For whom does he reserve his anger, toughness and vehemence? For Israel, the only reliable ally we have in the Middle East.

"Even in the last few weeks, the Obama administration weakly responded to Syrian President Bashar Assad's insult of accusing the U.S. of 'colonialism,' and publicly apologized to Moammar Gadhafi for allegedly treating him with less than the appropriate level of respect after Libya called for a 'jihad' against peaceful Switzerland.

"Last week a Gallup poll showed support for Israel among the American people at 64%. When President Obama attacks Israel, he may gain the applause of Middle East thugs, but he will not get the support of the American people."

SOURCE American Values