First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton began a Middle East tour by lending her support to an Israeli campaign against youth violence, saying it is also a problem in the United States.
Clinton, who is considering a run for a New York seat in the U.S. Senate, stressed that she’s traveling in her official capacity as first lady.
However, her activities and remarks while here are likely to be closely watched for impact on the large Jewish voting bloc in New York.
At Clinton’s first stop, a teen counseling center in Kfar Saba, she and Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s wife, Nava, signed a “Don’t Give Up — Fight Violence” pledge.
The pledge is part of an anti-violence campaign launched by Elem, the Association for Youth at Risk and Distress.
Clinton said she hoped to initiate a similar pledge campaign in the United States.
“It’s a good idea that I will take back to the United States because we are similarly engaged in a national campaign against violence,” Clinton said after signing the pledge.
“I particularly hope that the covenant which I just read will be heard by adults, because it is not the young people we need to reach.
“We need to provide services and opportunities and support for young people, but it is we, the adults of `the village’ who have to understand our responsibilities and obligations to children and youth.”
The counseling center in Kfar Saba — sponsored by Elem, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, Israeli government ministries and other organizations — is one of eight around the country providing teens with information and guidance.
The center provides an informal setting, including a coffeehouse, where peer counselors work with troubled youth.
Before touring the center, Clinton and Barak sat near some of Elem’s outreach vans and spoke with three young people in the program.
One of the them, 18-year-old Ohad Bikovsky, sporting tattoos and several body piercings, said the project had helped him deal with family problems and stop drinking.
Bikovsky said it did not matter to him whether Clinton’s visit was a campaign ploy.
“As long as she can help. That’s more important than the motive,” he said.
From Kfar Saba, Clinton continued on to Tel Aviv University, where she delivered an address.
On Thursday, Clinton was slated to visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and the Western Wall in Jerusalem, followed by a U.S. Agency for International Development-sponsored conference in Palestinian-controlled Ramallah.
That evening, she was scheduled to present a guest lecture at the Rabin peace center before continuing on to Jordan.
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