Texas Governor Rick Perry left behind his pro-jobs, economy-centered stump speech today to jump headfirst into international policy. Perry held a press conference in New York City to criticize President Obama for his handling of Israeli-Palestinian issues.
The Palestinian Authority today will formally request U.N. membership.
"We would not be here today at the precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn’t naive, arrogant, misguided and dangerous," Perry said this morning.
"Bolstered by the Obama administration’s policies and apologists at the U.N., the Palestinians are exploiting the instability in the Middle East hoping to achieve their objective without concessions or direct negotiations with Israel," Perry said, adding that the United States should reconsider funding for the U.N. if the Palestinian request moves forward.
The National Jewish Democratic Council quickly responded to the Governor's remarks. In a press release, the NJDC's president and CEO David Harris accused Perry and "others like him are not thinking beyond their immediate political concerns."
"Rick Perry's comments today demonstrate that he clearly has little command of the U.S.-Israel relationship and even less interest in preserving the historic bipartisan support for Israel. His baseless attacks on President Barack Obama's strong record of support for Israel and the actions that the President and his Administration are taking to beat back the Palestinian's unilateral initiative are nothing more than a deeply disturbing ploy to inject domestic politics into the U.S.-Israel relationship."
The United States is reportedly working on a behind-the-scenes plan to address a change in the Palestinian status at the U.N., but has also promised a veto in the Security Council for Palestinian membership.
Governor Perry has been a vocal supporter of Israel. In 2009 he accepted the Defender of Jerusalem award while visiting the country.
