LAZIO: When the US failed to use its veto, in the UN Security Council [which condemned Israel’s response to Palestinian protests] - that was one of the great mistakes of the last few years, and I spoke out immediately. I’m sure that Mrs. Clinton had a
chance to speak with the president about this, to urge him not to use that veto. I would love to know what the context of the discussion was.
Q: Did you urge him to use it?
CLINTON: That was what I urged my husband to do. He made a different decision
Source: (X-ref Lazio) NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Cut off US aid if Palestine declares a state unilaterally
Q: In recent weeks, scores of people have been killed in the Middle East. In view of what’s happened, do you think there should be a Palestinian state now?
CLINTON: Only as part of a comprehensive peace agreement. That’s always been my position, that
[it should] guarantee Israel’s safety and security and the parties should agree at the negotiating table. A unilateral declaration is absolutely unacceptable and it would mean the end of any US aid.
LAZIO: That’s a change of heart for Mrs. Clinton,
because back in 1998 you called for a Palestinian state. You undercut the Israeli negotiating position. The people of New York want to have somebody who has a consistent record. For eight years I have been consistent and strong in my support for the
security of the state of Israel. Without equivocation. Without a question mark next to my name.
CLINTON: There is no question mark next to me. There’s an exclamation point. I am an emphatic, unwavering supporter of Israel’s safety and security.
Source: NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Returned money from organization associated with terrorists
LAZIO [to Clinton]: When you accept contributions from people that support Hamas, when they’re your guests at the White House, when you cavort with terrorists, you send a message to the Palestinian Authority that encourages violence to be used as a tool
to achieve political ends.
Q: Wait a minute. Didn’t your presidential candidate, George W. Bush, also accept contributions?
LAZIO: It’s absolutely wrong for all. The difference, though, on top of receiving the contributions, is that people who
support the Hamas terrorist group, have been invited and courted at the White House, which I think is wrong.
CLINTON: I learned that an organization claimed credit for sponsoring a fund-raiser I attended; an organization whose members have made
statements that I find offensive and have condemned. And as soon as I found out the facts, I returned all of the money that was raised because I did not want anyone to have a false impression about my strong support for Israel’s safety and security.
Source: (X-ref Lazio) NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Focuses on increasing relationship between US and Israel
LAZIO [to Hillary]: It’s very hard to accept a claim of consistency [on Israel] when you called for a Palestinian state with full military powers. It’s difficult to accept that you are a consistent supporter when you stand on the sidelines while Suha
Arafat issues a blood libel suggesting that Israelis have been orchestrating an attack on Palestinian women and children with poison. It’s hard for us to imagine you’ve been a consistent supporter when you refused to support the law which says that we
should move our embassy to Jerusalem, not next year, but right now. For eight years I’ve wanted the embassy to be placed in Jerusalem. CLINTON: My positions for more than 20 years have been to do everything I could to support Israel and to increase the
relationships between the US and Israel. I’ve worked on everything from the National Council of Jewish Women’s program to bring a preschool instruction program for children of the US, to speaking out, time and time again, about violence and terrorism.
Source: (X-ref Lazio) NY Senate debate on NBC
Oct 28, 2000
Engage in world affairs, including human rights
Hillary Clinton called for the US to reject isolationism and aggressively engage itself in world affairs in the tradition of President Truman at the end of WWII. Staking out a more internationalist position than many of her fellow Democrats, Clinton
called for expanding the definition of American interests beyond the loss of American lives and the protection of American dollars to include such things as women’s and human rights, environmental protection and the spread of deadly diseases.
Source: Dean Murphy, NY Times
Oct 20, 2000
Human rights are central to our objectives abroad
“At this decisive moment in our history, I believe America needs a renewed internationalism, not an old isolation,” Clinton said. “It very much is in our interest to assert the leadership required to meet our strategic and national security needs and
interests around the world.” Saying that the US should do more than just intervene in “splendid little wars” in which it can prevail, Clinton claimed she reflected the views of NY’s current senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
And while aligning herself with her husband on many issues, she called for a broader foreign policy mandate that, for instance, considers disease fighting a national security issue and deems the rights of women a priority.
“I think it has become increasingly clear that our efforts to ensure democracy and human rights cannot be considered marginal but are indeed central to our foreign policy objectives this century,” Mrs. Clinton said.
Source: Dean Murphy, NY Times
Oct 20, 2000
Keep Cuban embargo; pay UN bills
Hillary Clinton said she would oppose lifting the embargo against Cuba until democracy took root there. She said she would support paying America’s unpaid bills to the United Nations.
She once again voiced her support for Israel and, while praising the tentative cease-fire agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians reached Monday, she made it clear the burden was on Yasir Arafat to end the violence.
Source: Dean Murphy, NY Times
Oct 20, 2000
US should have vetoed biased anti-Israel UN resolution
Q: Did the U.S. do right to abstain from the UN’s anti-Israel resolution?
CLINTON: We should have vetoed it. It was one-sided. It did not address the violence that I believe is fomented by Arafat. It did not address what Israel has tried to do, such
as pulling out of Lebanon. We’re seeing the capture of Israeli soldiers, the desecration of Joseph’s tomb. It’s imperative that Arafat end the violence and get back to negotiating. The US remains the guarantor of Israel’s security, and in the Senate, I
would certainly be a strong voice for doing whatever was required. I’ve also called for conditioning aid to the Palestinians on their willingness to end violence, on their willingness to rid their textbooks of anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli statements.
LAZIO: I did issue a statement immediately expressing my strong disappointment with America not using its veto power. I do not support call for a Palestinian state. My record is one of 100% consistency for the security of the state of Israel.
Source: Senate debate in Manhattan
Oct 8, 2000
Pollard committed a crime, but use of secret evidence unfair
Q: Jonathan Pollard, the American naval officer who betrayed the country, was sentenced to life for espionage and treason. The secretary of defense, the secretary of state, the director of the FBI and the head of the CIA have all said do not pardon him.
Do you support clemency for Mr. Pollard?
CLINTON: What Pollard did was a terrible crime against the US. It was a great breach of trust and national security and he plead guilty, was convicted and is serving a very long prison term. The question for me
is around the due process issues concerning the way that he was sentenced. It is something that I have questions about and I believe that fair-minded people should ask similar questions. There was secret evidence put in before the court that has never
been revealed.
LAZIO: The only person who is in a position to make that decision and the only person who’s got the authority to actually issue a pardon is the president himself.
Source: Clinton-Lazio debate, Buffalo NY
Sep 13, 2000
Support Israel in finding a safe and secure peace
Hillary Clinton supports a move [of the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem]. She spoke more generally yesterday about what she called her longstanding respect for the country and its people. “The United States has been and
will be always there for Israel,” she said. “And we will always support the Israeli government and Israeli people as they struggle to find a safe and secure peace.”
She stayed away from more controversial topics, such as whether there should be an
independent Palestinian state. Mrs. Clinton angered many Jewish voters last year with when she voiced support for such a state. But the animosity felt by some in the crowd toward Mrs. Clinton was evident on nearly every block, with some holding signs
recalling her embrace last year of Yasir Arafat’s wife, Suha.
Source: Associated Press in NY Times
May 26, 2000
Extend peace treaties to Palestinians, Syrians & Lebanese
The message of Oslo [was]: How we can fulfill Rabin’s legacy by bidding farewell to generations of war and ushering in a new century of real and lasting peace? The same
must be true on all of Israel’s borders so that the peace that now covers some will be a peace that extends to all-Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese.
Source: Remarks at Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center
Nov 11, 1999
Smartest strategic choice is peace
By working for peace, we are not being na‹ve or soft-headed. We recognize that peace in the Middle East is not only a moral imperative, but the smartest strategic choice to ensure security for the children of Israel. That doesn’t mean that Israel can
ever let down her defenses. It doesn’t mean that her friends, especially the US, will ever be relieved of our responsibility to help Israel maintain her military strength.The work of peace and the work of democracy are neverending.
Source: Remarks at Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center
Nov 11, 1999
Puerto Rico: Stop using live ammo at Vieques
There should be an immediate and permanent end to the bombing. The use of live fire on the island (Puerto Rico) has put the people of Vieques at risk, degraded the environment, and hampered economic development.
Source: Press Release
Oct 19, 1999
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