Trump: 'Is President Obama trying to destroy Israel with all his bad moves?'
Trump takes to Twitter to claim that the new proposed language of the Republican Party's platform is the "most pro-Israel of all time!"
By JPOST.COM STAFF, JTAUpdated: JULY 14, 2016 10:11Obama and Trump(photo credit: REUTERS)
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump took a stab at US President Barack Obama's stance on Israel late Wednesday, taking to Twitter to ask: "Is President Obama trying to destroy Israel with all his bad moves?""Think about it and let me know!" the billionaire real-estate mogul continued.As Obama's personal relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been marked by tensions, Trump has previously criticized the current US president and his administration for its attitudes toward Israel.Trump's tweet came days after the Republican Party's Platform Committee unanimously agreed to language on Israel that omits references to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.In his tweet Wednesday, Trump claimed that the new proposed language of the platform is the "most pro-Israel of all time!"The committee meeting Tuesday in Cleveland voted on the language approved Monday by its national security subcommittee.The two-state concept has long been a pillar of both Democratic and Republican policy in the region, and a stated policy of Netanyahu, although not of his government.For decades it has also been a mainstay of pro-Israel activism and of the pro-Israel lobby, including its leader, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Yet in contrast with 2012, when AIPAC reportedly opposed the language, this year it did not offer resistance and praised the platform.“The US seeks to assist in the establishment of comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, to be negotiated among those living in the region,” the platform says.“We oppose any measures intended to impose an agreement or to dictate borders or other terms, and call for the immediate termination of all US funding of any entity that attempts to do so,” it also says, a reference to Palestinian Authority efforts to seek statehood status outside the framework of negotiations. “Our party is proud to stand with Israel now and always.”
The language must be approved by the full Republican National Committee ahead of the convention in Cleveland next week.Other language on Israel “reject(s) the false notion that Israel is an occupier” and describes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and “indivisible,” both changes from the 2012 platform.Israelis are nearly equally divided on the question of who would be a better president of the United States for Israel, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, according to a poll taken for Channel 2 in June. When asked who would be better for Israel, 37 percent said Trump and 36% Clinton. Asked who was more fit to be president for the US, 47% said Clinton and 31% Trump. In the most conclusive answer in the survey, 57% said Clinton was more likely to pressure Israel to make concessions to the Palestinians and only 13% said Trump. Following extended conflicts between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Democratic presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, 43% of respondents said he would get along better with the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump. Thirty-four percent said he would get along better with Clinton, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party.Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.