Speaking at a boisterous rally for Israel near the United Nations headquarters this afternoon, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said she supported taking “whatever steps are necessary” to defend Israel against Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Syria in the military conflict in the Middle East.
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, center, speaks during a pro-Israel rally in New York, Monday, July 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
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Senator Clinton, addressing a crowd of several thousand people, said the United States must show “solidarity and support” for Israel in the face of the “unwarranted, unprovoked” seizure of three Israeli soldiers by members of Hamas and Hezbollah, which she referred to as among “the new totalitarians of the 21st century.”
“We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American values as well as Israeli ones,” said Mrs. Clinton, who was joined by two dozen political and religious leaders on a stage along 42nd Street.
Mrs. Clinton, who is seeking re-election to the Senate and is considered a possible candidate for president in 2008, also compared Israel’s fierce response, which has included heavy bombardment of Lebanon, to a theoretical response by the United States if it faced attacks from neighboring countries.
“I want us here in New York to imagine, if extremist terrorists were launching rocket attacks across the Mexican or Canadian border, would we stand by or would we defend America against these attacks from extremists?” Mrs. Clinton said to roars of approval.
“We will support her efforts to send a message to Hamas, Hezbollah, to the Syrians, to the Iranians,” Mrs. Clinton said. “We will not permit this to happen and we will take whatever steps are necessary.”
“It is a message that we want not only those in the Middle East to hear, but the world, because no nation is safe from these terrorist extremists,” she said. “They do not believe in human rights, they do not believe in democracy. They are totalitarians, they are the new totalitarians of the 21st century.”
Mrs. Clinton spoke for about two minutes and focused specifically on Israel and its citizens. She made no reference to a proposal, made earlier today by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, for sending an international “stabilization force” to quell the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon.
The event drew a who’s who of New York City politicians, including Congressmen Jerrold Nadler and Anthony D. Weiner, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, and two candidates for state attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo and Mark Green.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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