Kerry vouches for Obama on Israel visit
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US Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said Monday that Barack Obama is a 100 percent supporter of Israel and if elected, he will bring new spirit to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts.
Senator Barack Obama greets supporters before the Ohio primaries debate
Photo: AP , AP
Slideshow: Pictures of the week The unsuccessful 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, on a congressional visit to Israel, also said an online campaign questioning Obama's background and credentials was character assassination. The main allegation is that Obama is a closet Muslim.
Kerry also tried to counter concerns expressed by some American Jews that Obama would not support Israel if he is elected president.
"This is a man who has been in a minority status in his life, a man who understands what discrimination and even persecution can be and I think he has a really deep personal understanding of what Jewish history is," Kerry told The Associated Press. "He understands the emotional, cultural, historical, political, strategic connection and I think he honors that."
Kerry helped Obama burst on the national stage by selecting the then-Senate candidate to deliver the keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Kerry has been a strong and vocal backer of Obama's 2008 campaign. Kerry lost to President George W. Bush in a closely contested election.
Obama announced a Mideast visit last week. A stop in Israel could help improve his standing among skeptical Jewish voters.
Kerry, a Vietnam war veteran like Republican candidate John McCain, believed overall American Mideast policy would change "regardless of who is elected." But he said Obama represented a more "sensible approach," particularly on Iraq and Iran.
"He is a 100 percent supporter of Israel, and he is committed to Israel in all the ways that all of us are, but I think he understands that there is a better way to achieve our goals in Iraq," he said.
"He has no illusions about the difficulties in Iran. Iran is a risk, a danger, a threat and a challenge, and we have to deal with it."
Israel considers Iran a dangerous threat because of its nuclear program and its calls to wipe Israel off the map.
Kerry said that Bush made many mistakes in the region, but he praised the president and his secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, for refocusing their efforts in the last year of the Bush presidency. Bush has visited Israel twice and Rice has made frequent trips, trying to push Israel and the Palestinians toward a peace agreement.
"Ambition with respect to the Middle East is never a bad thing, but I think the clock is ticking very fast and there is a lot of fragility in the process that is out of their control. But I think it is well worth pushing and I'm glad they are," he said.
Kerry, a longtime member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, arrived from Saudi Arabia and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other Israeli leaders before departing for Egypt.
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Topic: John Kerry in Israel says 'you can trust obama i vouch for him (Read 3324 times)