Rice cheers Obama's MOU with Israel

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South Shore Rep. Kathleen Rice cheered the Obama Administration’s memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Israel, announced last week, that ensures record levels of American aid to the Jewish state over the next ten years.

“It’s more money than previous MOUs, that’s a good thing,” Rice told The Jewish Star as she toured the South Shore Community Chest’s fair in Cedarhurst on Sunday. “It reaffirms our commitment to Israel and our partnership with them.”

The MOU guarantees Israel $38 billion in American military assistance over 10 years, from Fiscal Year 2019 through FY 2028, superseding a $30 billion MOU signed in 2007 that expires in FY 2018, according to the White House.

“America’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable,” President Obama said in a statement. “Over the past eight years, my administration has time and again demonstrated this commitment in word and deed.”

Some members of Congress voiced upset with a MOU-related agreement between the Obama administraiton and Israel in which Israel promises to refuse any aid that might be voted by Congress in excess to what’s promised in the MOU.

Rice said that while “every congressperson should have a say in these things … nothing is getting done in Washington right now, so I’m glad this MOU is done.”

AIPAC issued a statement applauding both the president and his congressional critics.

The MOU “demonstrates America’s strong and unwavering commitment to Israel,” AIPAC said. “We also commend the bipartisan majorities of the House and Senate who have urged the administration to come forward with a dramatic increase in U.S. support for the Jewish state, and we look forward to working with Congress to ensure the full amount is funded.”

Rice was asked whether, considering current political dysfunction in the Capitol, she enjoyed being in Washington.

“It’s been a little frustrating,” she said. “There are real ideologues at both ends of the spectrum — not just Tea Party Republicans, but people on the very left of my party as well. We need people who are in the middle, who recognize we have to get things done, that compromise is part of the game.” 

 “I’m very happy I’m down there,” she said. “I know there are a lot of people like me who are willing to compromise, willing to negotiate and get this country going in the right direction.”

Rice’s Republican challenger, Ret. U.S. Marine David “Bull” Gurfein of Manhasset, stopped by The Jewish Star’s booth at the fair and said that national defense should be the federal government’s top priority. He said that he was not yet familiar with the MOU.

With Sunday’s fair, in the Andrew J. Parise Park, the Five Towns Community Chest promoted its new identity, having recently changed its name to the geographically broader Community Chest South Shore.

 

The fair was a two day event, but Saturday’s edition was reported to have been sparsely attended.

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