Deputy FM: Israel doesn't meddle in internal U.S. politics
Source: Haaretz
In what appeared to be an attempt to distance Israel from some of the controversial statements made by its own prime minister, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Thursday criticized the “noise” in U.S.-Israeli relations that has been generated by “not very well judiciously planned remarks from both sides.”
Appearing in New York before the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations, Ayalon referred to statements that “may have been misconstrued as prodding the U.S. to take action against Iran” and described them as “totally wrong.” He said that Jerusalem and Washington “see eye to eye on Iran” and that this understanding is greater than “statements that may have been amplified by the media.”
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“Israel has no better friend than the U.S. and no better friend than President Obama in the international community,” Ayalon said.
Ayalon presented the outlines of the new Israeli initiative to focus international attention on the plight of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, which will be officially launched Friday at the United Nations. He said that Israel owes a “moral debt” to the 856,000 Jews who fled from persecution or were evicted in the wake of the 1948 War of Independence. “Better late than never,” he said.
Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/deputy-fm-israel-doesn-t-meddle-in-internal-u-s-politics.premium-1.465937
on the last note about the 'plight' of Jewish refugees from Arab countries, none are still refugees in the known sense they are citizens of either Israel or the US for the most part unlike the 750,000-900,000 Palestinians who evacuated Israel in 1947-1948 however the Palestinians are petitioning the UNGA for nonmember observer status next week in this the UNSC has no say
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But on the "last note about the 'plight'..." the Jews cannot go back to their homes in Arab countries, from which they were forcibly expelled. In 1947-8 Israel begged the Arabs not to leave, but for the most part they chose to leave ("evacuated"
. Arabs - Palestinians - have complete autonomy in Gaza and municipal autonomy in the West Bank. Conditions are not ideal for either side, and this is not the time or place for yet another round of shouting-at-walls. But just as the Jewish refugees from Arab lands became citizens elsewhere, so the "Palestinians who evacuated Israel" could have - or should have been allowed to by their Arab brothers - become citizens elsewhere. You can't have it both ways.
