T. Belman. This great development would not have been possible without the unanimous support of American Christians and their organizations. The Democratic Party would never pass such a platform because AIPAC and progressive Jews would never support it.
Amid the intrigue and speculation over the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, one item that the party has settled is its firm support for Israel and opposition to a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On Tuesday, the Republican Platform Committee unanimously approved a number of significant changes to its platform in an attempt to further set the party’s pro-Israel credentials apart from the Democrats, who are facing concerns over their party’s future support for the Jewish state. The GOP’s platform changes included removing language encouraging a two-state solution as well as reinstating a reference to an “undivided” Israel that was previously included in the party’s 2008 platform, but was removed in 2012.
“The U.S. 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 approved amendment said. “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.”
Alan Clemmons, a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and a Republican convention delegate, conveyed his disappointment over the 2012 GOP convention, when the platform committee chose not to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.
“I was a delegate at the last RNC, but was not on the platform committee. I observed the platform committee process and proposed language similar to the language that was passed today (July 12). Unfortunately, that language gained no traction and it went nowhere on the platform, and as a matter of fact the platform regressed in terms of support for Israel,” Clemmons told JNS.org.
The push to bolster the Republican Party’s language on Israel follows a four-year effort by Clemmons and Joseph Sabag, the former executive director of the Israel Allies Foundation. Both leaders sought to reach out to the party’s base — evangelical Christians — as well as to Jewish and other ethnic groups to reach a consensus on the GOP’s pro-Israel stance.
“Between Joseph and myself, we talked to pastors that represent literally millions of evangelical Americans,” said Clemmons.
Although evangelical support was a significant factor in crafting the 2016 RNC platform, Clemmons said the party “didn’t leave the Jewish population out of that mix.”
“We met with many of prominent movers and shakers in the Jewish community throughout the United States, and Israel as well,” he said.
According to Clemmons, two more recent alliances that made a significant impact on drafting and approving the platform’s Israel language were with David Friedman and Jason Dov Greenblatt, senior Israel advisers for presumptive nominee Donald Trump’s campaign.
“Those gentleman appreciated what we were doing. They appreciated the language that was being offered and presented it to Mr. Trump, who likewise was very interested in being of assistance in this process,” Clemmons said.
Clemmons, in his platform committee speech prior to this week’s vote, said that along with Trump’s advisers and leading policy experts, he “was able to present platform language that captures the true sentiment of pro-Israel supporters everywhere.”
The Trump campaign’s Friedman told JNS.org that getting the pro-Israel language on Jerusalem reinstated “was a collaborative effort with a lot of people whose hearts were in the right place with respect to Israel. I think the outcome speaks for itself.”
“It’s the most pro-Israel platform that either party has ever issued, so we’re obviously very proud of the accomplishment,” he said.
The Trump campaign’s involvement in reinstating the platform language may also signal a move by the candidate to bolster his pro-Israel credentials, amid questions over his past statements on remaining “neutral” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and accusations of anti-Semitism stemming from his recent Twitter post featuring what critics called a Jewish Star of David.
Friedman said that Trump has been working very hard to “lay that issue to rest over the last couple of months.”
“Mr. Trump himself has said, over and over again, that he is a highly pro-Israel candidate—not just in comparison to Hillary Clinton, where the differences are stark—but even in absolute terms, he’s a very pro-Israel candidate,” he said.
The GOP platform “should lay that issue to rest,” said Friedman, who argued that the Trump campaign’s work on the Israel language highlight the candidate’s ability to work with leaders across different faiths and ethnicities to achieve a common goal.
“When people criticize [Trump] for being polarizing, I think just the opposite is true. This was an effort which unified people of different faiths, all united behind a desire to support Israel,” Friedman said.
One of the groups that the Trump campaign worked with closely on the platform was the Hispanic Israel Leadership Coalition (HILC), a group that seeks to engage Latino Christians in support of Israel. HILC is a subsidiary of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC).
Pastor Mario Bramnick, president of HILC, told JNS.org that Trump and his advisers “were very strong on the importance of this language [on Israel]. And through discussions, the language was finalized…[and] ultimately approved by a unanimous vote.”
“We are very encouraged by the resolve and support of Mr. Trump and his advisers on the issue,” said Bramnick, who is also a regional vice president for the NHCLC. “We had worked with the platform committee leadership regard the reinserting of the language as a united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the nation of Israel, and the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem should the Republican candidate win the presidency.”
Clemmons, the South Carolina state lawmaker, affirmed the roles of Bramnick and HILC, calling them a “very big part” of the process to reinstate the platform language.
“[Bramnick] certainly has a large congregation and a prominent following, and a good feel for the respect that evangelical Christians have for Israel. He was certainly a partner in all of this. That’s not unlike the other pastors around the country who were a part of it as well,” Clemmons said.
The push for the revised platform language was also backed by Pastor John Hagee’s Christians United for Israel (CUFI) non-profit through its separate 501(c)(4) lobbying affiliate, the CUFI Action Fund.
In a letter (first reported by JNS.org) that was sent to Republican convention delegates on July 6, former Ronald Reagan administration official Gary Bauer, director of the CUFI Action Fund, called for the Republican platform to “strengthen its language in support for Israel with Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided, eternal’ capital.”
Bramnick praised CUFI’s role in the process, saying the group “worked very hard behind the scenes to make sure that a very strong supportive platform language came forth from the Republican Party, especially as it pertains to a united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel.”
For evangelical Christians, support for Israel is not only a political stance, but a theological one. As such, working to strengthen the Republican Party’s ties with the Jewish state is a highly prioritized process for that faith community moving forward.
“There was a Pew [Research Center] report back in 2013 that said that 82 percent of the evangelical community believes that God has given the land of Israel to the Jewish people, and we read that literally,” Bramnick said. “We believe that is a biblical covenant and mandate that really no person has the right to revoke….For the evangelical community, this is very important.”
Before the embassy was not moved due largely to the Arab Lobby. Today that Lobby is a shadow of its former self. The Arabs have been weakened by the drop in oil prices and America’s energy independence. They have also been weakened by the Iran deal etc.
I believe he will move it if elected.
@ bernard ross:If he move the embassy I would be very surprised because of the cost and complexity of finding suitable land. The real estate agent who finds suitable land and or a complex of buildings to sell will be very happy.
If it is important to him he could temporarily designate the Consulate in East Jerusalem the Embassy while finding a logical site and building it.
My guess is he will have more important things to spend money on. The symbolism however is very important, so I hope he follows through provided he becomes President.
Bear Klein Said:
I agree, and because Trump is not a typical establishment pol there may even be a chance that he will follow through on some of his Israel related platforms. I actually beleive that vanity AND rebelliousness might get him to finally move the embassy…. where he is the only president who did what he said. Further, I beleive that in spite of his platform to cut back aid.. that in the case of Israel he will actually expand the aid AND the scope of the relationship… that he will realize the possibility of great savings by Israel operating more freely along agreed lines. I think he will green light lots of operations that state and former arabists red lighted. He does not need the arabs and he will see them as a competitor rather than a needed supplier.
Bear Klein Said:
this is an interesting observation, I am clueless about Pence.
Bear Klein Said:
yes, when speaking to robotic parrots without a mind of their own or the ability to do research one has to learn how to speak to them and how to “formulate” his positions for their digestion… like one does when teaching toddlers to speak and read. I never had a problem understanding him because I researched each lie and determined them to be false and intentional libels.
Bear Klein Said:
Perhaps you can elucidate the “unforced errors”, I never saw them…. but then I did research. I dont beleive he has become more focussed… what he has done is that he has taken his famous, and very accurate one liners…or should I say the “bottom liners” that every businessman who achieves things understands…… and dressed them up with some extra verbosity and lipstick for dummies, lazy minds, and parrots who cant think for themselves to understand. He hasnt changed, he has just presented simple things to confused people who cant understand someone who is not marketing BS to them.
Bear Klein Said:
LOL, you make it sound as if the problem was Trumps rather than the idiots who elected hussein as president, who think hillary is not a crook, and fool superficial and trivial Jews who take the red herring bait of “six pointed stars” fed them by those who consider jews to be fools. Manaford was there to help those who needed a special education or remedial reading class.
Bear Klein Said:
He always had a legit chance but not a practical chance. It was his own savvy, difficult to observe for those who judge books by their covers, that got him where he is… where he outsmarted and beat everyone aligned against him… including the dems, the gop and the media… so far he has whipped them all… it is no accident….. it is actually an incredible achievement which deserves great praise….. except we should never expect that praise from experts, academica and other do nothings who require candidates to kiss their butts. I dont want trump to make any concessions to the establishment as I believe those concessions will lose him votes.. I believe as always that his appeal is most to the non affiliated who seek specific platforms and goals which neither party endorese… because both are puppets.
Bear Klein Said:
I am not impressed by his VP process, but then I was not impressed by Trump at the beginning either. Therefore I wait to see what his real plan is regarding the Veep because I expect it will be logical even if I cant see it now. He has played the media and everyone else expertly…. he reminds me of “Columbo”….. who “plays fool to catch wise”.
@ Bear Klein:
interesting how the one questioned the most on his Israel credentials and anti semitism, and still being questioned… is actually the most pro Israel and the most pro jewish. If he comes to the presidency he will be too pro Israel for Israelis AND since when has there ever been a president with an orthodox Jewish family
the only reason that I never considered him anti semitic nor anti Israel nor nuetral is that I did the homework and looked into the details… saw and heard his family… understood he hoped to make a deal but did not need it.
Today there are still Ahole Jews pretending and spreading the libel that Trump is anti semitic so that they can install a crook who received over a 100 million from muslims; who may have intentionally given info to the MB on ambassador stevens for his murder on a definitely intentional “insecure” server AND who has a muslim brotherhood terror org connected main adviser and likely handler for the muslim donors.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/likely-trump-vp-cherishes-israel-met-netanyahu-passed-anti-boycott-laws/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/mike-pence-would-be-a-really-conservative-and-mostly-unknown-vp-pick/
@ bernard ross:Trump evolved in learning how to talk about many issues and formulating his positions including Israel.
He had a few unforced errors along the way. Very lately he has become more focused. Paul Maniford among others appears to be helping him navigate the political waters.
Trump has a legit shot to be the President. 67% of the people recently polled believe Hillary is untrustworthy or dishonest. The hearings with the FBI director revealing how she has lied and been extremely careless with classified information is hurting her.
Trump has played the media well in focusing on his VP vetting process and made it a fairly visible process. Unlike McCain for example who one, two, three hocus pocus here is Sarah Palin.
If Trump rolls out a cabinet before the election that is well regarded he will strength his position again.
Bear Klein Said:
Trump said this from the very beginning
Bear Klein Said:
Rare event, that they are followed and even rarer if anyone knows what’s in the platform and then even followed 5 min after the convention closes.
Bear Klein Said:
Amen!!!!!!!!
In fact platforms are not always followed.
This change in platform is symbolic in the change of the GOP becoming the clear and unambiguous Pro-Israel in deed (votes) and in word. The Dems want it both ways.
This platform is far better than having it stay with two state solutions. It is also says nothing will be forced down Israel’s throat unlike past administrations.
A definite change for the better for Israel.
ArnoldHarris Said:
True dat !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ yamit82:
I realize that. What counts is the Administration including the State Department.
Nevertheless, I believe this platform will change the conversation. Saying “no” to the TSS will have more currency as will the search for alternatives.
@ yamit82:
Can’t argue with any of that. In this country, political party platforms are just like sand castles children build on beaches.
All that really counts is to build the independent power of the Jewish state and the Jewish nation. Achieve that, and it doesn’t really matter what the goyim think of the Jews or, for that matter, what the pathetic and perpetually miserable liberal Jews think of us either.
Arnold Harris, Outspeaker
Ted I do think you give too much credence and import to party platforms especially when it comes to foreign policy and even more especially re: Israel. I was in Jerusalem recently and I still haven’t been able to locate the American embassy. 🙂