Secretary Clinton Reaffirms Strong US-Israel Ties and Support

Secretary Hillary Clinton recently spoke at the Annual Gala Dinner of the American Jewish Committee. Her remarks firmly restated the United States' close association with Israel, and the Obama Administration's unwavering support of Israel and peace in the Middle East.

This organization for more than a century has been a voice for the aspirations of the Jewish people for a secure and democratic homeland. We saw the pictures flashing before us on the screen – the faces of those who have made Israel their home and those who have made America our home. You have fought for the core values that make this country great –equality and religious freedom, civil rights and women’s rights, a freer, fairer nation in which every child has the opportunity to live up to his or her God-given potential.

So let me first thank you, thank all of you, for everything you do on behalf of the United States of America and our ideals and values. Because at the core, our relationship with Israel is premised on those values. (Applause.)

There are so many ways that the American Jewish Committee has advanced and spoken to the enduring bond between the United States and Israel. AJC recognizes that we are two nations woven together with our stories, our stories of struggle and triumph, of hope and disappointment. We are beacons for pilgrims and people yearning to be free. We are lands built by immigrants and exiles, given life by democratic principles, and sustained by the service and sacrifice of generations of patriots. We have seen our cities and our citizens targeted by terrorists. And Americans and Israelis alike have met these threats with unyielding resolve.

For all of our similarities, though, we know that Israel faces unique challenges. A nation forced to defend itself at every turn, living under existential threat for decades. We Americans may never fully understand the implications of this history on the daily lives of Israelis – the worry that a mother feels watching a child board a school bus or a child watching a parent go off to work. But we know deep in our souls that we have an unshakable bond and we will always stand not just with the Government of Israel but with the people of Israel. 

Supreme Court Sides With Interior on Mojave Desert Cross

The Supreme Court ruled today that Congress and the Interior Department acted properly when they used a land transfer to solve a dispute over a cross on display in the federal Mojave National Preserve.

The case, Salazar v. Buono, stemmed from a 2001 lawsuit challenging a cross erected in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Frank Buono, an Oregon resident who had served as an assistant superintendent in the park and was a regular visitor, claimed the memorial to World War I veterans was unconstitutional because it gave the impression that the government was advancing a particular religion.

By a 5-4 margin, the Supreme Court ruled today that lower federal courts were wrong to dismiss as "evasion" the federal government's effort to transfer the land underneath the religious symbol. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion (pdf) for the majority, arguing that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had failed to consider the profound "dilemma" posed by the case.

Strict Abortion Measures Enacted in Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Legislature voted Tuesday to override the governor’s vetoes of two abortion measures, one of which requires women to undergo an ultrasound and listen to a detailed description of the fetus before getting an abortion.

Though other states have passed similar measures requiring women to have ultrasounds, Oklahoma’s law goes further, mandating that a doctor or technician set up the monitor so the woman can see it and describe the heart, limbs and organs of the fetus. No exceptions are made for rape and incest victims.

A second measure passed into law on Tuesday prevents women who have had a disabled baby from suing a doctor for withholding information about birth defects while the child was in the womb.

Opponents argue that the law will protect doctors who purposely mislead a woman to keep her from choosing an abortion. But the bill’s sponsors maintain that it merely prevents lawsuits by people who wish, in hindsight, that the doctor had counseled them to abort a disabled child.

The Religious Case for Church-State Separation

Here we go again.  On April 15 a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer, slated for May 6, was unconstitutional. The usual voices have been heard rising in objection (Sarah Palin and Franklin Graham among them) and, proving yet again that President Obama is no radical, the administration announced its own plans to challenge the decision. One can make a reasonable case that the weight of custom puts the fairly banal idea of an occasionless, generic day of prayer (how many of you even knew that we have had such a day every year since 1952?) on the safe side of the Establishment Clause. But the right is, as ever, taking things a beat too far. Lest anyone try to convince you that God should be separated from the state, Palin said, our Founding Fathers, they were believers.

Governor Palin's history is rather shaky. Religious liberty—the freedom to worship as one chooses, or not to worship—is a central element of the American creed. Yes, many of the Founders were believing, observant Christians. But to think of them as apostles in knee breeches or as passionate evangelicals is a profound misreading of the past. In many ways their most wondrous legacy was creating the foundations of a culture of religious diversity in which the secular and the religious could live in harmony, giving faith a role in the life of the nation in which it could shape us without strangling us. On the day George Washington left Philadelphia to take command of the Continental Army, the Rev. William Smith preached a sermon at the city's Christ Church, saying: "Religion and liberty must flourish or fall together in America. We pray that both may be perpetual."

The Palestine Peace Distraction

Announcing a comprehensive plan now—one that is all but certain to fail—risks discrediting good ideas, breeding frustration in the Arab world, and diluting America's reputation for getting things done.

President Obama recently said it was a "vital national security interest of the United States" to resolve the Middle East conflict. Last month, David Petraeus, the general who leads U.S. Central Command, testified before Congress that "enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests." He went on to say that "Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples . . . and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world."

Kansas governor vetoes restrictions on late-term abortions

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has vetoed a law that would put restrictions on late-term abortions and redefine when a fetus is viable. A Democrat, he followed his predecessor, Kathleen Sebelius, who rejected a similar bill before becoming U.S. secretary for Health and Human Services.

"Kansas' current law concerning abortion was passed more than a decade ago and strikes a reasonable balance on a very difficult issue," Parkinson said in his veto message, which was buried in a news release about the signing of a shield law for journalists. "I support the current law and believe that an annual legislative battle over the issue is not in the public's best interest." He added that "all abortions are tragedies," but the decision "is a private decision and should not be dictated by public officials."

Bill would tell PAs of teen abortions blog

Abortion clinics would be required to tell prosecutors about teenagers seeking abortions under legislation passed Tuesday by the Missouri House that supporters hope could provide leads on potential rapists.

Israel as the 'National Homeland of the Jewish People': Looking Back and Ahead

On March 16, 2010, Tal Becker and Hussein Ibish addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon to discuss the history and future of Israel's Jewish identity in political and diplomatic context. Mr. Becker is an Israel-based international associate with The Washington Institute. Mr. Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.

Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East

Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is "seriously considering" proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.

Lawyer: Abortion doctor’s death was ‘terrorism’

It appears that the murder of Dr. George Tiller has had some unforeseen consequences - it has caused some medical school students to look into training in reproductive health procedures, including abortion procedures.

The murder of one of the few U.S. doctors who performed late-term abortions was "a gutless act of terror" and was as destructive as "an earthquake" for women seeking such medical services, the doctor's friend and attorney said Thursday.

Attorney Lee Thompson asked District Judge Warren Wilbert to give the harshest possible sentence to anti-abortion zealot Scott Roeder, who admitted he gunned down Dr. George Tiller in the back of Tiller's Wichita church last May because he felt doing so would protect unborn children.

Roeder was facing a mandatory life prison term, although Wilbert had to decide whether to make him eligible for parole after 25 or 50 years. The judge indicated during the hearing that the evidence showed that the 52-year-old Roeder stalked Tiller before killing him, which could qualify him for the harsher of the two sentences.