Top Obama aide: U.S. commitment to Israel is not a slogan

[Turborama]

Source: Haaretz

U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones told participants at the J Street conference on Tuesday that the Obama administration believes "without equivocation" that "Israeli security and peace are inseparable."

Addressing delegates to the left-leaning pro-Israel group's conference in Washington, D.C., James declared that the Obama administration was steadfast in its commitment to Israel and was determined to help bring about an end to the conflict in the Middle East.

"Time is not necessarily on our side - the imperative for peace is now," he said. "America's commitment to Israel is not just a slogan and not something we signed on easily. This commitment for Israel and peace is as strong as ever in the face of the many challenges in the region," Jones added. "If I could advise the President to solve one problem among the many problems - this would be it. This is the epicenter, where we should focus our efforts... Our unshakeable bound with Israel is to ensure that Israel is treated fairly."

Jones told the delegates that while some of the U.S.' goals regarding the Middle East were moving along, there was still much work to be done. Primarily, he said, the sides must agree to resuming peace negotiations without preconditions. "We made some progress towards the goal we set but we must do much, much more," he said. "It's time to re-launch negotiations without preconditions.

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Jones lauded J Street for a successful first national conference and said the administration was intent on returning to future conferences. "I'd like to congratulate you on this impressive conference and I'm honored to represent President (Barack) Obama and make sure that we'll be represented in all future conferences," Jones said.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1123992.html