August 17, 1992 PRESIDENT BUSH: PROMOTING THE U.S.-ISRAELI PARTNERSHIP UNDER PRESIDENT BUSH, AMERICA'S TRADITIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH ISRAEL HAS REACHED A NEW STAGE OF DEEPER AND INTENSIFIED COLLABORATION DEMONSTRATED BY: PRIME MINISTER YITZHAK RABIN'S SUCCESSFUL TALKS WITH THE PRESIDENT, THE STRONGLY PRO-ISRAEL REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, AND THE IMPRESSIVE FOUR-YEAR BUSH RECORD OF STRONG SUPPORT FOR OUR ISRAELI ALLY. o The Bush-Rabin summit in Kennebunkport on August 10-11 solidified the U.S.-Israeli strategic partnership: It produced an accord providing $10 billion in U.S. loan guarantees to facilitate Israeli absorption of immigrants, and a joint commitment to work together closely in the historic Middle East peacemaking process that has begun. -- President Bush declared: "This is a relationship based on a shared commitment to democracy and to common values, as well as the solid commitment to Israel's security, including its qualitative military edge. This is a special relationship. It is one that is built to endure." -- Prime Minister Rabin responded: "Mr. President, we ... have supported since the beginning of the Gulf crisis the U.S. and your policy against Saddam Hussein's brutal aggression. The strong approach taken by the United States during the war greatly contributed to the regional sense of security and made a positive contribution to Israel's security as well." -- President Bush said the two countries shared the goal of "real peace" between Israel and the Arabs, "codified by treaties, characterized by reconciliation and openness, including trade and tourism." o The 1992 Republican Platform is a powerful statement of American support for Israel as a key ally and strategic partner: The Platform praises Israel as the only true democracy in the Middle East and elaborates on its strategic importance to America's interests. -- It calls for large-scale security assistance to Israel and renews the pledge to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge. The Democratic Platform does not. -- It insists on Israel's right to exist within secure and recognized borders and supports Israel's goal of true peace and reconciliation with its neighbors. It calls for an end to the Arab boycott of Israel. The Democratic platform does neither. -- It pledges that the U.S. will be an honest broker in the peacemaking process and will not impose solutions. -- It pledges that the U.S. will oppose an independent Palestinian state or any entity that will jeopardize Israel's security. It opposes any U.S. dialogue with the PLO until President Bush's stiff conditions are met. The Democratic platform does none of these things. -- It promises that Jerusalem must remain undivided and declares that no genuine peace would deny Jews the right to live anywhere in this "special city." -- It declares freedom of emigration to be a fundamental human right and affirms the right of Jews to resettle in Israel. -- It pledges that the U.S. will withdraw from any U.N. body that denies Israel's right to participate. The Democratic platform does not. o The Bush record over four years has brought U.S.-Israeli relations to a new high: U.S. assistance to Israel has been crucial in the political, economic, and security dimensions. -- President Bush's courage and decisiveness in the defeat of Iraqi aggression ended the possibility that Saddam Hussein could use nuclear weapons against his enemies -- with Israel at the top of his target list. -- The President's diplomacy has produced an historic peacemaking process in which Israel is meeting, for the first time, in face-to-face, continuing negotiations with all its neighbors and multilaterally with all Arab nations (except Iraq and Libya). -- The President suspended the U.S. dialogue with the PLO because of its failure to disavow terrorism. The PLO's support for Saddam has reinforced the Administration's resolve. -- The Bush Administration has urged the Palestinians and other Arabs to negotiate seriously with Israel, to take account of Israel's security needs, and to respond in a forthcoming way to Israel's new positions. -- The President's leadership obtained the repeal in December 1991 of the notorious 1975 UN General Assembly resolution that equated Zionism with racism. -- After the historic May 1991 airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel, Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir declared that the rescue "could not have taken place without the full, devoted help of the United States." -- In April 1992, after repeated U.S. urging, Syria lifted travel restrictions on its 4,500-member Jewish community. -- In each of the past four years, the Bush Administration has furnished $3 billion to Israel in economic and military assistance, as well as additional benefits such as early disbursement of assistance. -- Under the aegis of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Economic Development Group, cooperation is growing in fields such as science and technology, health, labor, agriculture, environmental protection, and the war against drugs. -- In March 1991, the U.S. agreed to an additional $650 million in emergency assistance to help cover the military and civil defense costs to Israel resulting from the Gulf War. -- The President has proposed a new, modern, and global system of strategic missile defense, which would help protect the United States and its allies -- like Israel -- against missile attack. The Democrats have sought to cut its funding. -- The U.S. is funding 78% of Phase II of the joint U.S.- Israeli "Arrow" anti-tactical-ballistic-missile development project. In dollar terms, Israel has been the largest foreign participant in our Strategic Defense Initiative program. -- During the Gulf War, the President sent several batteries of "Patriot" anti-missile missiles and 12 F-15/A aircraft from Europe, and sent U.S. Army units to help operate the missiles. -- U.S.-Israeli strategic cooperation now embraces over 300 joint programs in defense research and development, valued at over $2.9 billion. The Pentagon purchased $360 million in Israeli military goods in 1991 alone. -- The Pentagon has prepositioned approximately $300 million worth of military equipment in Israel, and the U.S. and Israel continue to conduct joint exercises under the aegis of the Joint Political-Military Commission.