Heinz Kerry-Funded Web Site Praises Hezbollah

Kerry on Rush and Israel
Idea that Republicans back Jewish state ruffles senator

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., got a little hot under the collar about Rush Limbaugh's analysis today suggesting Republicans are better friends for Israel than Democrats.

"Rush Limbaugh's ignorance and willingness to divide Americans knows no bounds," Kerry said in a formal statement on his website just hours after the show ended. "His latest statement about Israel is beyond offensive to all of us who have fought to protect Israel in the face of enemies committed to its destruction."

What did Limbaugh say that got Kerry so bent out of shape?

Limbaugh said the most frequent guest in the Clinton White House, besides Monica Lewinsky and the campaign donors in the Lincoln bedroom, was Yasser Arafat. He called President Bush the best friend Israel ever had in the White House.

"Rush Limbaugh needs to pick up a history book instead of a doughnut," Kerry added. "It was a Democratic president who first recognized the State of Israel. It was a Democratic president who first sold Israel defensive weapons. And it was a Democratic president who first sold Israel offensive weapons."

Kerry continued: "The people of Israel and the Jewish community don’t need Rush Limbaugh to tell them who stands with them, and no one has time for right wing trying to score cheap political points while Israel fights to defend its very existence."

Arafat all but endorsed Kerry in the 2004 presidential election.

Arafat deputy and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told WND in an exclusive interview that while "we do not involve ourselves in internal American politics," at the same time "our region has been sliding deeper and deeper into chaos because of certain policies over the past few years, and this needs to change."

While he would not directly endorse Kerry, it was clear Erekat was implying the PA wants a change in White House leadership: "If things continue the way they are, if certain policies toward our region are maintained in the years to come, there is going to be a lot of violence on both sides."

A prominent Arafat aide who asked that his name be withheld spoke to WorldNetDaily from Arafat's battered Ramallah compound.

"The president [Arafat] is frustrated with Bush's policies," he said. "The president [Arafat] thinks Kerry will be much better for the Palestinian cause and for the establishment of a Palestinian state."

Kerry coveted the Jewish vote during his race, but also made a point of going after the Arab-American vote – telling each side what they wanted to hear.

In October 2003, he told the Arab American Institute in Michigan: "I know how disheartened Palestinians are by the Israeli government's decision to build the barrier off of the Green Line – cutting deep into Palestinian areas. We don't need another barrier to peace. Provocative and counterproductive measures only harm Israelis' security over the long term, increase the hardships to the Palestinian people, and make the process of negotiating an eventual settlement that much harder."

But a week before the New York state primary, he told a Jewish group: "Israel's security fence is a legitimate act of self defense. No nation can stand by while its children are blown up at pizza parlors and on buses. While President Bush is rightly discussing with Israel the exact route of the fence to minimize the hardship it causes innocent Palestinians, Israel has a right and a duty to defend its citizens. The fence only exists in response to the wave of terror attacks against Israel."