(THEMEDIALINE).United States Representative Robert Wexler, the first Jewish American politician outside Chicago to endorse U.S. President Barack Obama's presidential bid, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week on his third visit to Israel since December.
He argued after the meeting that the Obama-Netanyahu package represents the strongest U.S.-Israeli leadership the world has witnessed in a very long time.
Below is an abridged transcript of the interview. For a full transcript, click here.
The Media Line: American policy towards Israel and the entire Middle east has clearly seen a shift. Is this reflective of a significant change in American interests?
Congressman Wexler: I don't think there's a significant change in interests. We value greatly a robust relationship between the United States and Israel. That's the way it is in the Obama administration.
If you're talking about things like the right of return, President Obama and his administration have been unequivocal in terms of rejecting a right of return. Israel is a Jewish state. Things such as the policy with respect to Hamas are identical under the Obama administration as they were under the Bush administration.
What is different is that President Obama presents for the United States, for Israel, for the Palestinians and for the broader Arab world a different dynamic in which we hopefully will take advantage of the opportunities that are presented: the opportunity for the first legitimate, earnest attempt at getting 22 Arab states to begin in a serious and significant fashion to normalize their relations with the State of Israel.
I happen to think that the combination of President Barak Obama and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is the strongest combination of American Israeli leadership that we have been presented with in a very long time... These two men working together in a collaborative fashion can achieve extraordinary results... Both Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu understand that their individual and collective success is very much tied to one another.
