While the Obama administration takes a wait-and-see approach to the newest crisis in the Middle East, some Democrats in Congress stand firmly behind Israel's raid of a Turkish flotilla en route to Gaza.
New York Democratic Reps. Anthony Weiner, Jerrold Nadler, Gary Ackerman, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) have all vigorously supported Israel's boarding an aid ship bound for the blockaded Gaza — an act that resulted in ten deaths and a U.N. condemnation.
The comments expose a bit of daylight between the White House and some staunch defenders of Israel in Congress. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said the administration is "greatly supportive of [Israel's] security. That's not going to change." And in a statement, the White House said it had "regret" for the deaths but supported an investigation to uncover the facts.
Pro-Israel Democrats aren't being so nuanced.
"I think that members of the United States Congress understand why the blockade was in place against Hamas and support it, once you start at that place, a boat that bows into the teeth of that blockade isn't going to be viewed sympathetically," Weiner said. "To the extent that any time that there is a flare-up of tensions, it's bad for U.S. and Israeli efforts of peace. We obviously had a bad weekend."
Ackerman, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East, said he "strongly support(s) Israel's right to defend itself, and the right of Israel's naval commandos, who were executing a legal mission, to defend themselves by using force when they were brutally attacked."
He called Hamas the "true villain in this drama."
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=F552438D-18FE-70B2-A88DCB0C7A113BA0
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