John McCain and Joe Lieberman took to the Senate floor to respond to the Obama administration's recent outrage toward Israel. (Jen Rubin provides analysis here.) Here's the video exchange:
Here's a partial (rough) transcript of Lieberman's remarks:
The American relationship with Israel is one of the strongest, most important, most steadfast bilateral alliances we have in the world because it’s not based on temporal, that is matters that come and go, or politics and diplomacy. It’s based on shared values, shared strategic interests in the world and unfortunately, now the fact that we in the United States and the Israelis are also targets of the Islamist extremists, the terrorists who threaten the security of so much of the world. We have a strong bilateral relationship. The second thing to say is, in answering my friend’s question, is that the Israelis depend, to a very large degree, on America’s friendship as they approach the world…We’re friends. It’s as if we’re part of the same family. Without that confidence, Israel will never have the confidence in the U.S.—without that confidence in the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Israelis will not have the confidence to take the risks necessary for peace. And so the uproar over the last several days is very troubling, in that regard.
