Possible 2016 US presidential candidate
Elizabeth Warren to meet NetanyahuMassachusetts senator has been mentioned as a
possible challenger to Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination.While it is two full years before the 2016 US presidential race, the parade of possible candidates to Israel began Monday afternoon with a meeting by Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
Warren, whose name has been mentioned as a possible challenger to Hillary Clinton for the democratic nomination, arrived Saturday in Tel Aviv, and will also visit Ramallah and Amman. This is the first trip abroad for the senator, elected in 2012 and who has so-far concentrated largely on US domestic issues.
According to the Boston Globe, Warren has been among only a handful of senators who have not traveled abroad. The paper wrote that while the trip may "reignite speculation of a 2016 presidential run, Warren has been planning to travel to Israel for months."
According tot he Boston Globe, "Warren's foreign policy views seem to be anti-interventionist, with a skeptical eye to any US military action. In February, delivering her only major speech on foreign policy since she took office, she warned of using military might without considering the implications."
In August during a meeting with constituents, the Globe said she was pressed on her support of Israel and her votes to send money to support its fight against Hamas, and said that Israel was being attacked "indiscriminately" and had a right to fight back even though civilian casualties were the "last thing Israel wants."
"But when Hamas puts its rocket launchers next to hospitals, next to schools, they're using their civilian population to protect their military assets,"Warren was quoted as saying, "And I believe Israel has a right, at that point, to defend itself."
A plank on Israel that appeared on her website when she ran for senate in 2012 said that she believed Israel "must maintain a qualitative military edge and defensible borders."
"The United States must continue to ensure that Israel can defend itself from terrorist organizations and hostile states, including Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and others," she wrote. "I also believe firmly that a two-state solution is in the interest of Israel and the United States. Lasting peace, however, requires negotiations between the parties themselves, and although the United States can and should aid in this process, we cannot dictate the terms. Unilateral actions, such as the Palestinians' membership efforts before the United Nations, are unhelpful, and I would support vetoing a membership application."
Other possible US presidential candidates are scheduled to visit in the coming months.
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