At GOP Jewish Forum, Candidates Back Israel and Talk Tough on Iran

WASHINGTON — A parade of Republican presidential candidates Tuesday decried militant Islamic extremism and pledged support for Israel before a large Jewish audience.

Wooing a small but influential segment of Republicans, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Sam Brownback of Kansas, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee all took a hard line against Iran and criticized the Democratic presidential candidates for not taking as tough a position.

Rick McKay/Cox Newspapers (enlarge photo) Presidential candidate and former Sen. Fred Thompson discusses Islamic extremism at the Republican Jewish Coalition presidential forum Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2007.

Of all the candidates, Giuliani was the most direct in repeatedly criticizing Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. Giuliani said the Democratic front-runner had changed her position on negotiating with dictators and had not specifically said she would be willing to use military force against Iran.

"It is absolutely necessary that we are clear that the military option is not off the table," Giuliani told several hundred people attending the Republican Jewish Coalition presidential forum.

Romney was even more belligerent, saying the military option is not only "on the table, it is in our hand. We are poised and ready to act."

Giuliani said he had agreed with Clinton when she criticized Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for indicating he would personally meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other dictators without preconditions.

But he said Clinton has since reversed her stand and expressed a willingness to negotiate.

Clinton said in New Hampshire last week that she would negotiate with Iran, but has clarified her statement to indicate that the United States should negotiate with Iran, not that she would directly negotiate with Ahmadinejad without preconditions.

Giuliani also said Clinton has not given a direct answer to whether she would use military force against Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.

But in a just-released article in Foreign Affairs magazine, Clinton wrote that "if Iran does not comply with its own commitments and the will of the international community, all options must remain on the table."

Thompson, asked how he would defeat Clinton if he were the nominee, said, "I don't think we need to worry as much about Hillary Clinton as about ourselves." He said Republicans needed to remain dedicated to their principles.

McCain was the only Republican candidate at the forum to dwell on the war in Iraq, noting that he criticized the Bush administration's early handling of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, but that the administration was now following his call for more troops.

The military surge in Iraq "is succeeding," McCain said, warning that if the United States pulled out it would allow Iran to move in and destabilize much of the Middle East.

McCain also vowed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear missiles, and warned that the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is deteriorating.

"These are very difficult and dangerous times and we need a strong hand on the tiller," he said.

McCain also said he would continue current efforts to establish a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.

"It's time we got a little tough with" Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.

Although Jewish voters have historically been closely aligned with the Democratic Party, Republicans have been wooing prominent Jewish leaders for years.

As expected in speaking to a Jewish audience, all of the candidates declared their support for Israel.

Brownback, who trails far behind in the GOP presidential leaders, urged the audience not to be swayed by personality but by the candidate whose "core principles" were closest to theirs, including "the core policy of standing with Israel."

Romney declared, "we will never allow the destruction of the state of Israel. ... The world has a moral obligation to a nation that rose, literally, from ashes — never again."

Thompson declined to promise that he would cooperate with Israel in any joint strikes against Iran, but said, "Israel has the right and the necessity to do everything it can to defend itself." He said Israel acted properly in its recent strike against Syria and in bombing Iraq in the early 1980s.

Thompson also refused to say he would consider pardoning Jonathan Pollard, an American who was sentenced to life in prison for spying on behalf of Israel.

All of the candidates said Israel should not be forced to negotiate with the Palestinians. Romney said he supported the Bush administration's effort to seek a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians in upcoming negotiations, but that he was "cautious" about the prospects.

Giuliani said the Palestinians must recognize Israel's right to exist and demonstrate over time that they have renounced terrorism.

"It's shocking that 60 years after the Holocaust the Jewish people are still being required to negotiate for their right to exist," he said. "You cannot negotiate with someone who is threatening to destroy you and your family."