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CLINTON/GORE ON ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST




The end of the Cold War does not mean the end of
U.S. responsibility abroad, especially in the
Middle East.  The people of the region are still
denied peace and democracy. America's friend Israel
is still threatened by her neighbors.

The United States has vital interests in the Middle
East. That is why Governor Clinton and Senator Gore
supported President Bush's efforts to throw Saddam
Hussein out of Kuwait.  We must remain engaged in
the region and continue to promote spread of
democracy, human rights and free markets.

Among all the countries in the Middle East, only
Israel has experienced the peaceful transfer of
power by ballot -- not by bullet.  A Clinton/Gore
Administration will never let Israel down.


The Clinton/Gore Plan

Loan Guarantees

Bill Clinton will ensure Israel's longstanding
request for our assistance in its effort to cope
with the massive influx of Jewish refugees from the
former Soviet Union. He will not hold hostage to
political struggle hundreds of thousands of men,
women, and children whose freedom we've demanded
for decades.

Peace Process

The United States will work with the new Israeli
government to move the peace process forward.  In
doing so the United States cannot predetermine the
outcome of the negotiations or impose peace on any
party.

*    We can and should serve as an honest broker
     and, on occasion, as a catalyst.  No side
     should be expected to make unilateral
     concessions.

*    Jerusalem is the capital of the state of
     Israel and must remain an undivided city
     accessible to people of all faiths.

*    Peace that does not provide for Israel's
     security will not be secure and lasting.

Palestinian State

The Palestinians have the right -- as specified in
the Camp David Accords -- to participate in the
determination of their future.  But they do not
have the right to determine Israel's future.  For
that reason, Bill Clinton opposes the creation of
an independent Palestinian state.

Democracy

Our foreign policy must promote democracy as well
as stability.  We cannot, as this Administration
has done, ignore the link between the two.

*    We should promote democracy in the Middle East
     and throughout the world.  The Bush
     Administration lost an opportunity to promote
     democracy in Kuwait.

*    A Clinton Administration will never forge
     strategic relationships with dangerous,
     despotic regimes.  The Bush Administration
     failed to learn from its appeasement of Saddam
     Hussein when it shared intelligence with him,
     awarded him credits, and opposed sanctions on
     the eve of his invasion of Kuwait.  Today the
     Bush Administration repeats that mistake as it
     casts a blind eye on Syria's human rights
     abuses and on its support for terrorism.

A strategic relationship

The United States has a fundamental interest not
only in the security of Israel but also in our two
nations strategic cooperation in the region.

*    Unlike the current Administration, the Clinton
     Administration will fulfill American
     commitments on the pre-positioning of military
     stocks in Israel, and will enhance logistics
     cooperation to support American forces in the
     region.

*    Bill Clinton understands and firmly supports
     Israel's need to maintain a qualitative
     military edge over any potential combination
     of Arab adversaries.  Clinton remembers the
     contributions Israel made during the Gulf War
     -- especially the forbearance which was so
     essential to the successful war effort.  He
     also knows that had Israel not conducted its
     surgical strike against Iraq's nuclear reactor
     in 1981, our forces might well have confronted
     a Saddam Hussein armed with nuclear weapons in
     1991.

An economic partnership

Israel's greatest resource has always been the
genius of its people, and America has always
benefitted from that genius.  In 1991, American
exports to Israel totalled $3.3 billion, and over
the next five years, Israel is expected to purchase
as much as $30 billion in American goods --
providing needed benefits and jobs to the American
economy.

*    Together, our two nations will create a Joint
     American-Israeli High-Tech Commission to work
     on research and development of the
     technologies of the twenty-first century.

Against the arms race

We learned from Saddam's conquest of Kuwait that
missiles and military dictators are a dangerous
combination.  It is time we became a leader in the
effort to rein in the dangerous proliferation not
only of weapons of mass destruction, but of
conventional arsenals as well.

*    We need to aid Israel's defense against these
     dangerous weapons by ensuring the completion
     of the Arrow anti-ballistic missile.

*    We need an Administration that will produce
     action, not just promises to stop the spread
     of dangerous missiles in the Middle East.  We
     need a strong international effort and tough
     sanctions to keep weapons of mass destruction
     out of the hands of tyrants like those in
     Iran, Iraq, and Libya.



The Record

*    Senator Gore has strongly supported Israel
     throughout his congressional career. He
     recognizes that Israel is an important ally in
     a region of great volatility and high stakes.

*    Spoke out on the Senate floor against
     President Bush's politicization of
     humanitarian loan guarantees for Israel to
     absorb Jewish immigrants from the former USSR.

*    Strongly criticized the President for
     violating longstanding U.S. policy that
     distinguishes between Israeli control of
     Jerusalem and all other issues relating to the
     status of the West Bank.

*    Championed a provision to block Defense
     Department contractors compliance with the
     Arab Leagues secondary boycott of Israel.

*    Supported the use of force to evict Iraqi
     troops from Kuwait. In the aftermath of the
     war, Gore strongly condemned George Bush's
     belated response to the massacre of Kurds and
     Shiites who rose up against him. Gore believes
     America and the United Nations must use all
     means necessary to ensure that Saddam Hussein
     fully complies with UN ceasefire and
     disarmament resolutions.

*    Consistently opposed proposals by the Reagan
     and Bush Administrations to export advance
     weapons to the Middle East.

*    Authored legislation to stop the proliferation
     of ballistic nuclear missile technology, and
     is an original co-sponsor of the pending
     Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act to deter
     the transfer of chemical, biological, nuclear,
     and advanced conventional weapons technologies
     to those countries.