Leaders of both parties on Capitol Hill talked tough on Middle East policy Tuesday before the country’s largest pro-Israel lobby.
In separate speeches before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Republican Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, vowed to stand by Israel as neighboring Iran seeks nuclear capabilities and maintains a belligerent posture toward the Jewish state.
“For too long, leaders of both political parties in the United States have not done nearly enough to confront the threat of Iran,” Pelosi said. “We still have not done enough.”
In particular, she said, Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
“It threatens the security of Israel, the stability of the region and the safety of the world,” she said.
Pelosi’s comments before the powerful lobby group come after House Democrats backed down from efforts to include in the Iraq war spending bill a provision that would specifically require President Bush to seek congressional approval before taking any military action against Iran.
Boehner said Islamic militants’ long-term plan is to “destroy Israel,” and he tied Israel’s survival to the larger debate on Capitol Hill about the war in Iraq.
“If we lose Iraq, we lose Israel,” he said. “If we do not use every means at our disposal with the international community to force Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs and stop sponsoring terrorism, we lose Israel.”
And, he warned to sustained applause, Congress would send the wrong signal by setting a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.
“The terrorists point to Vietnam, to Tehran, to Beirut, to Somalia and say, ‘Wait for the last helicopter to leave,’ ” Boehner said, referring to past conflicts. “For too long, we have given Islamic extremists every reason to believe that we do not have the fortitude to defeat them.”
