Kerry takes a stronger pro-Israel line By Bryan Bender, Boston Globe Staff | July 2, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry strikes a decidedly stronger pro-Israel position in a new policy paper than he did a few months ago, as he attempts to enlist the support of Jewish voters who have been gravitating to President Bush and away from their tradition of voting Democratic in presidential elections.
In the policy paper, which has not been released publicly, Kerry outlines clear, strongly worded positions on several issues important to the American Jewish community. He calls for more forceful action to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons, fully backs Israel's construction of a 425-mile-long barrier between Israel and the Palestinian territories that the paper refers to as ''a security fence," and pledges to work to push for a new Palestinian political class to replace Yasser Arafat, who is called a ''failed leader."
Earlier in the campaign, Kerry got off to a shaky start with some Jewish groups. Last October he called the barrier -- composed mostly of electronic fencing with razor wire and a ditch along a tracking road, but with some stretches made of concrete -- a ''barrier to peace." The new paper says building it is ''a legitimate right of self-defense" and ''not a matter" to be taken up by the International Court of Justice, which has criticized the move.
On Wednesday, Israel's High Court of Justice, responding to Palestinian complaints, issued a landmark ruling saying a planned 20-mile section of the barrier in the West Bank must be rerouted, because the current path creates hardships for thousands of Palestinians.
The Massachusetts senator earlier remarked that he might appoint James A. Baker III, secretary of state in the first Bush administration, a special peace negotiator. Jewish groups quickly attacked the proposal and accused Baker of making anti-Israel statements. The paper, drafted by policy and political advisers, does not say who Kerry would pick for that role.
With the paper, titled ''Strengthening Israel's Security and Bolstering the US-Israel Special Relationship," Kerry is attempting to reintroduce himself to Jewish voters. ''John Kerry has been at the forefront of the fight for Israel's security during his 19 years in the US Senate," it says. ''His pro-Israel voting record is second to none."
Republicans suggested some political desperation was behind the document.
full: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/02/kerry_takes_a_stronger_pro_israel_line/
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