At the first and only vice presidential debate for the upcoming American elections, both candidates were quick to affirm their strong support for Israel and the importance of pushing for a two-state solution - a rare moment of agreement between the two parties.
While Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said she was encouraged to know that both candidates love Israel, Democratic vice presidential nominee, Joe Biden's, remarked that US President George W. Bush's policy toward Israel and its neighbors was an "abject failure" which had had enhanced the power of Hamas through Palestinian elections and Hizbullah through a failure to secure southern Lebanon with NATO troops.
Palin disagreed with Biden's assessment of Bush policy, and said that she and running mate John McCain would make Israeli-Palestinian peace a central goal as the Bush administration has in the last part of its term, something which McCain campaign advisors have largely downplayed as a key policy priority.
Biden, meanwhile, said he and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would provide "thoughtful, real, live diplomacy that understands that you must back Israel in letting them negotiate, support their negotiation, and stand with them, not insist on policies like this administration has." He argued that Bush's Middle East posture has only played into the hands of Iran.
"Speaking of freedom being on the march, the only thing on the march is Iran," he said. "It's closer to a bomb. Its proxies now have a major stake in Lebanon, as well as in the Gaza Strip with Hamas." Earlier on Iran, PBS moderator Gwen Ifill asked which constituted the bigger threat, a nuclear Iran or an unstable Pakistan. Biden answered that both would be "dangerous" and "game-changers."
Pakistan he said, has deployed nuclear weapons, which "can already hit Israel and the Mediterranean," while "Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be very, very destabilizing," but added that "they are not close to getting a nuclear weapon that's able to be deployed." Palin also said both would be "extremely dangerous." Referring to Iran, she added, "They cannot be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, period." 10/03/08
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