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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-align:center'><b><font size=5 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Obama
to offer pro-Israel views at <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City>
gathering <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Lynn Sweet – <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> Sun Times March 1, 2007</span></font></b><font
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><br>
For the first time since becoming a senator -- much less a White House hopeful
-- Barack Obama on Friday will talk in depth about <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
policy toward <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> and the
<st1:place w:st="on">Mideast</st1:place>. <br>
<br>
The story behind the story of Obama's appearance before the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee's regional forum at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and
Towers provides insight into the Obama presidential operation. <br>
<br>
AIPAC, whose sole interest is U.S.-Israel relations, is one of the most
influential lobbying groups in the nation. Its annual policy conference starts
March 11 in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Washington</st1:place></st1:State>.
The gathering provides fertile territory for Obama to schmooze with
well-connected backers and donors. Though no 2008 presidential candidates are
on the program, Obama is hosting a reception for AIPAC members -- as is
archrival Hillary Rodham Clinton. <br>
<br>
<st1:City w:st="on">Clinton</st1:City> delivered a well-received speech before
an AIPAC regional meeting in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:State>
on Feb. 1. The Obama team wanted to get Obama's pro-Israel views -- not
well-known -- out front before the big AIPAC conference. Obama's team has put
together a briefing sheet on his record about <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but that was not widely
circulated and clearly not enough. If he was to make a major speech on <st1:country-region
w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>, there was an interest among Obama's <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chicago</st1:place></st1:City> backers for him
to deliver it in the city. <br>
<br>
The Chicago/Midwest AIPAC office obliged and booked Friday's foreign policy
forum featuring Obama, not unlike how the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
arranged an event for Obama when he wanted to deliver a major <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iraq</st1:place></st1:country-region> speech
last November. <br>
<br>
Meanwhile, Obama's speech started taking shape with input from Mark Lippert,
Obama's Senate foreign policy adviser, and Dan Shapiro, a <st1:place w:st="on">Middle
East</st1:place> specialist, now a lobbyist, who is an Obama campaign foreign
policy adviser. Shapiro recently was a deputy chief of staff for Sen. Bill
Nelson (D-Fla.) and handled international affairs for Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(D-Calif.). He also served on the National Security Council under former
President Bill Clinton. <br>
<br>
One of the most important concerns for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>
is to ensure that <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region>
does not get nuclear capability. <br>
<br>
Obama, in his speech, will detail his vision for <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>
and the <st1:place w:st="on">Mideast</st1:place> and expand his views on
regional engagement. Last November, in his <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region>
address, Obama, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for
an "opening dialogue" with <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iran</st1:country-region>
and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Syria</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
"Make no mistake," Obama said then, "if the Iranians and Syrians
think they can use <st1:country-region w:st="on">Iraq</st1:country-region> as
another <st1:country-region w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:country-region> or a
staging area from which to attack <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> or other countries, they are
badly mistaken." <br>
<br>
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
in a switch, will hold talks with the two nations. <br>
<br>
Obama on Friday will call for tougher <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Iran</st1:place></st1:country-region> sanctions, more bilateral
diplomacy and declare he is for leaving all military options on the table. He
will underscore the need for energy independence so that U.S. Mideast policy is
not anchored to the country's huge appetite for fossil fuels. <br>
<br>
Obama traveled to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>
for the first time in January 2006. He allotted time on his official trip to
visit projects sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Chicago and the Chicago
Catholic Archdiocese. <br>
<br>
Obama's camp is well-aware that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz -- in a recurring
feature ranking the 2008 <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
presidential candidates or people who may run on how good they are for <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region> -- puts
him last on its list. Former GOP New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani tops its ranking,
followed by Newt Gingrich, John McCain, Clinton, Al Gore, Sam Brownback and the
others, with Obama at the end. Part of the reason for the low score may be that
the others have worked the Israeli street for years and Obama is just an
unknown factor when it comes to <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
<br>
<br>
But let me share something. Last August, Obama was in <st1:City w:st="on">Cape
Town</st1:City>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">South Africa</st1:country-region>,
at a time when <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region> was
being criticized for overreacting for its military attacks in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region> in
response to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. Obama was speaking to a group
at a cultural institution called The Center for the Book, which provided a
friendly venue for the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Illinois</st1:place></st1:State>
Democratic. The crowd, clearly hostile to <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>,
expected Obama to bash <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>
on <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lebanon</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
He did not. They were surprised. <br>
<br>
They just did not know Obama well enough to realize who they were dealing with.
</span></font><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:Arial;color:black'>Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/278222,CST-EDT-sweet01.article
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;text-align:center'><font size=1 color=black face=Arial><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>Last updated 02/03/2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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