Last night, presidential nominee Mitt Romney took political brinksmanship over Israel to a new level when, from the podium of the convention hall, he accused President Obama of “throwing Israel under the bus.”
Romney is trying to score political points by saying President Obama’s support for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of 1967 lines with land swaps was somehow a betrayal of our friendship to Israel. Yet, this has been the framework of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for over a decade under presidents from both parties. A two-state solution based on these parameters is the only way to safeguard Israel’s survival as a secure, democratic Jewish homeland. Saying otherwise is reckless pandering.
Without bold US leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel’s survival hangs in the balance. While politicians on both sides of the aisle understand the important role the US must play in order to achieve a two-state resolution, they are often unwilling to stand up for these beliefs because they too might be accused of throwing our ally Israel “under the bus.”
We must fix the broken politics in America on Israel so that politicians know that when they come to Washington, DC, they have the political space to fight for what is in America and Israel’s best interest and will have the support they need to do so.
Steven Krubiner is J Street’s Chief of Staff