Jerusalem Embassy | 2016 Republican Presidential Candidates
What do the Republican Candidates Believe About Two-State Solutions / Jerusalem Embassy?
Y = for · N = against
Ben Carson: 2S=Y * ( but separated) JE= ?
Ben Carson: Create Palestinian State in Egypt, Get Israel out of Hamas’s Rocket Fire Range
*“We need to look at fresh ideas,” said Carson. “I don’t have any problem with the Palestinians having a state, but does it need to be within the confines of Israeli territory? Is that necessary, or can you sort of slip that area down into Egypt? Right below Israel, they have some amount of territory, and it can be adjacent. They can benefit from the many agricultural advances that were made by Israel, because if you fly over that area, you can easily see the demarcation between Egypt and Israel, in terms of one being desert and one being verdant. Technology could transform that area. So why does it need to be in an area where there’s going to be temptation for Hamas to continue firing missiles at relatively close range to Israel?”
Will Republicans Still Support a Two-State Solution Even if Netanyahu Doesn’t?
Former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania has said that the West Bank is “Israeli land” and that giving it over to Palestinian control would be akin to giving Texas to Mexico. But Matt Beynon, a spokesman, told me on Wednesday that Santorum would support whatever Israel determines to be in its security interest, a position he shares with Carly Fiorina. * Dr. Ben Carson, meanwhile, has questioned whether the two-state solution “makes sense.”
Comments on moving the embassy to Jerusalem=0
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Ted Cruz: 2S=N* (up to Israel) JE=Y
Cruz: U.S. Should Only Endorse Two-State Solution If Adopted by Israeli Gov’t
…“The question of whether peace is ultimately achieved through a one-state solution or a two-state solution is a question for Israel, and America shouldn’t dictate the answers,” Cruz said, adding that the real issue that’s holding back any advancement in the peace process is the “Palestinian leadership that embraces radical terrorism.”
Cruz was reluctant to totally rule out the U.S. serving as a mediator for talks between Israel and the Palestinians. If the Israel government decided “on its own initiative” to negotiate a two-state solution, the Republican Senator said, “every nation on earth would recognize those two states. There would not be a disagreement if it were negotiated by the parties in question. What it should not be is imposed from outside.”
A recent poll, conducted for the Washington Post and ABC News, indicated that support for a two-state solution is at nearly a 20-year low among Americans. Only 39 percent of respondents in the poll expressed support for a two-state solution, down from 58 percent in 2003…
Sen. Cruz: America Should Not Dictate Two-State Solution to Israel
Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ted-Cruz-Israel-dictate-two-state/2015/03/29/id/635130/#ixzz3qWCYkD2P
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Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said the United States should not be attempting to tell Israel how to negotiate peace with the Palestinians, and he wouldn’t do so if elected president.
“Israel is a sovereign nation, and I trust the leaders of Israel to determine whether they want to adopt a one-state solution or a two-state solution,” Cruz said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Obama administration has “demonstrated an arrogance that America’s going to dictate the terms of security in Israel. It’s not our place to do it,” Cruz said.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Ted-Cruz-Israel-dictate-two-state/2015/03/29/id/635130/
Ted Cruz: Cancel Iran deal and move embassy to Jerusalem
LAS VEGAS — Sen. Ted Cruz promises a bold shift in U.S. foreign policy if he’s elected president that would cancel President Obama’s arms deal with Iran and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Next Year In Jerusalem: GOP Hopefuls Vow To Relocate U.S. Embassy In Israel
Every six months, Obama sends the same memo to the secretary of state, stating the need to delay the move in order to “protect the national security interests of the United States.” The biannual letter is necessary because a law passed by Congress in 1995 requires the American embassy to be moved to the disputed city of Jerusalem by May 31, 1999.
The bill also declared that the U.S. government supported the recognition of Jerusalem as an undivided city and the capital of Israel. Congress threatened to withhold half of the State Department’s funding for “acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad” if the Jerusalem-based embassy did not open by 1999.
Despite widespread bipartisan support — the bill passed 93-5 in the Senate and 374-37 in the House — the new embassy never opened and the State Department’s funding continued to flow.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who are both running for president in 2016, are co-sponsoring a new version of the 1995 legislation. However, the new and improved law would remove the national security waiver that has allowed the past three presidents to delay moving the embassy from Tel Aviv.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/embassy-jerusalem-israel_n_7505306.html
Carly Fiorina: 2S=Y JE=?
Two-state solution with Jerusalem as undivided capital:
Q: Should the Palestinians have their own territory? And should the capital in Jerusalem be shared?
FIORINA: The peace process ultimately must include a two-state solution. However, I do not support the notion that Jerusalem should be a divided capital Tom Campbell apparently does.
CAMPBELL: No, that’s not true.
FIORINA: Well, you were one of only 34 people in the entire House of Representatives in 1990 to vote against Jerusalem being the undivided capital of Israel.
CAMPBELL: The motion was a political maneuver to embarrass President George H. W. Bush.
FIORINA: That’s a really interesting, and frankly intellectually contorted explanation. The reality is, 33 other congress people agreed with you, everyone else disagreed. The vast majority of Congress people were not embarrassed by this supposedly diplomatic maneuver.
CAMPBELL: The Prime Minister of Israel at the time was prepared to discuss a solution that involved as shared capital in Jerusalem.
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Carly_Fiorina_War_+_Peace.htm
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
During a debate while running for Senate in 2010, Fiorina offered her position on the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, including the status of Jerusalem. “The peace process ultimately must include a two-state solution,” she said. “However, I do not support the notion that Jerusalem should be a divided capital.”
In a separate 2010 interview, Fiorina criticized US President Barack Obama for negating prior peace agreements and the ultimate status of Jerusalem. According to the presidential candidate, it was a “mistake” that the Obama administration took such unprecedented harsh opposition to approved Israeli construction in Each Jerusalem, adding that it hurt the US’ relations with Israel.
“That particular part of East Jerusalem was part of what Ariel Sharon negotiated with the United States…[Sharon] basically said that these parts of East Jerusalem shouldn’t be up for discussion or grabs when we get to a two-state solution.”
Read more at https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/47627/presidential-election-cheat-sheet-carly-fiorina-and-israel-jerusalem/#YoEKRQwWBUzUH874.99
John Kasich: 2S=? JE=Y
He won applause by promising to force Iran to stop its nuclear research and to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, the “once and eternal capital of Israel,” if he’s elected president.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/12/low-key_kasich_seeks_republica.html
Kasich bonds with Adelson in Vegas
…While Kasich’s speech didn’t touch on foreign policy – the primary political focus of Adelson and many RJC donors – he delved deeply into the subject in a question-and-answer session that followed the speech. Pointing out that he served for years on the Armed Services Committee in the House, Kasich said the United States should maintain a military presence in Afghanistan and that both Russia and Iran should face more sanctions. His assertion that the U.S. should not pressure Israel into a peace process was the biggest applause line of his speech…
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/john-kasich-sheldon-adelson-105168
During the same trip, Kasich attended a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is staunchly pro-Israel. Kasich was vocal about his beliefs that America should put Israel first, as he scolded President Barack Obama for not meeting with Netanyahu and instead seeking negotiations with Iran. “You can’t separate this U.S.-Israel relationship,” Kasich told The Washington Post in March.
Report: Kasich Once Proposed Freeze on Israel Military Aid
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio is reported to have proposed freezing U.S. military aid to Israel while he was serving on the House Budget Committee, a recommendation that would make him an outlier in the 2016 Republican primary field.
The proposal is said to have been included on a list of potential budget cuts to offset the tax deductions advocated by House Republicans in the 1990s.
Kasich, who was the highest ranking Republican on the House Budget Committee at the time, proposed the list of cuts in conjunction with the House GOP’s “Contract With America,” the Philadelphia Enquirer reported on Nov. 17, 1994.
The deductions are reported to have included privatizing the air traffic control system, replacing Medicaid with “managed care programs,” and cuts to foreign operations.
“The plan also would freeze military aid to Egypt and Israel,” the Philadelphia Enquirer reported…
http://freebeacon.com/politics/report-kasich-once-proposed-freeze-on-israel-military-aid/
Quote directly from Philadelphia Enquirer article Nov. 17, 1994
* $16.3 billion in foreign aid and foreign operations, including cuts in aid to Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union, Food for Peace, the Peace Corps, United Nations peace-keeping, international development banks and the Export-Import Bank. The plan also would freeze military aid to Egypt and Israel.
http://articles.philly.com/1994-11-17/news/25868867_1_tax-cuts-spending-cuts-cuts-over-five-years
Foreign Policy
He calls himself a “strong and emotional supporter of Israel,” and returned to the House of Representatives in March for the first time in 15 years to attend Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address in which he criticized President Obama’s efforts to reach a deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/22/us/politics/john-kasich-on-the-issues.html?_r=0
Marco Rubio: 2S=Y* (But not now) JE=Y
Rubio Backs Netanyahu, Says Conditions for 2-state Solution ‘Do Not Exist Today’
Republican presidential candidate cites Palestinians’ lack of unity, mismanagement of government, incitement against Israel, rejection of Israeli offers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received Wednesday the backing of Florida Senator Marco Rubio in his present feud with the White house over his refusal to pursue the two-state solution.
During a Q&A session following a speech to the Council On Foreign Relations in New York, the Republican presidential candidate was asked by TV host Charlie Rose whether he would continue to support a 2-state solution if elected president.
“I don’t think the conditions exist for that today,” he responded. “The conditions for a two-state solution, at this moment, do not exist.” * When pushed whether the U.S should stop pressing Israel to resume negotiations with the Palestinians based on the 2-state solution, Rubio stated, “That’s the ideal outcome, but as the conditions currently exits, [the answer is] no!”
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.656368
Next Year In Jerusalem: GOP Hopefuls Vow To Relocate U.S. Embassy In Israel
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a routine block to a 20-year old congressional effort to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But two decades of stalling on the relocation could soon end if the 2016 GOP candidates have their way.
Every six months, Obama sends the same memo to the secretary of state, stating the need to delay the move in order to “protect the national security interests of the United States.” The biannual letter is necessary because a law passed by Congress in 1995 requires the American embassy to be moved to the disputed city of Jerusalem by May 31, 1999.
The bill also declared that the U.S. government supported the recognition of Jerusalem as an undivided city and the capital of Israel. Congress threatened to withhold half of the State Department’s funding for “acquisition and maintenance of buildings abroad” if the Jerusalem-based embassy did not open by 1999.
Despite widespread bipartisan support — the bill passed 93-5 in the Senate and 374-37 in the House — the new embassy never opened and the State Department’s funding continued to flow.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who are both running for president in 2016, are co-sponsoring a new version of the 1995 legislation. However, the new and improved law would remove the national security waiver that has allowed the past three presidents to delay moving the embassy from Tel Aviv.
During a fundraising event in Tennessee on Saturday, soon-to-be candidate and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told reporters he supported moving the embassy to Jerusalem “not just as a symbol, but a show of solidarity.”
While considering a 2012 GOP campaign, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee vowed that, “If I were president of the United States, I would move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.” Huckabee, who entered the presidential fray for 2016 last month, reiterated his support for Israel at an Israel Day celebration in New York on Monday.
Regardless of the outcome of the 2016 election, however, the U.S. embassy is likely to remain in Tel Aviv. Since 1995, the Republican presidential platform has included a promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem. Yet Bush continued to sign waivers to avoid making the move during his eight years as president.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/03/embassy-jerusalem-israel_n_7505306.html
Donald Trump: 2S=? JE=?
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Surprisingly, Trump has yet to offer his opinion regarding the two-state solution. However, in a 2013 interview with Arutz Sheva, Trump’s former adviser quoted the GOP candidate as criticizing US President Barack Obama for using the foreign policy success of killing terrorist Osama Bin Laden to pressure Israel to withdraw to 1967 borders as part of a peace agreement…
www.breakingisraelnews.com/46093/presidential-election-cheat-sheet-donald-trump-israel-jerusalem/#sRmjt2Kl5MzISSGq.99
Move embassy to Jerusalem = 0 quotes