H. Ross Perot affirmed his support for Israel in his first address to a Jewish audience since becoming a presidential contender, but failed to spell out any position regarding issues central to the American Jewish agenda.
When pressed at a news conference following his speech, he said his views on loan guarantees and Israeli settlements are among the issues he is still studying.
"Israel is our friend. Israel has been our friend. Israel proved in technicolor that it is our friend in the recent war. And you stand by your friends and it’s just that simple," Perot told 450 people at a dinner Tuesday night hosted by the American Jewish Committee.
All in all, Perot’s 7-minute speech fell far short of a policy statement, and the news conference after the dinner gave little new information to reassure pro-Israel lobbyists concerned at the emergence of a possible presidential candidate who has no recorded positions on issues regarding Israel.
"I am not an authority on every single issue about Israel. I’m studying all those issues now," he told reporters, responding to a question about loan guarantees and settlements in the administered territories.
Asked to elaborate on his implied promise to stand by Israel, Perot said that "under pressure, you don’t cut and run." He refused to explain further, saying, "I don’t want to undercut the process under way now."
In his speech, Perot described Israel as "a beacon to its part of the world in terms of its democratic government."
"I feel very strongly that Israel has not fully tapped the potential of all the great intellects of that country," he said.
‘ENORMOUS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY’ IN ISRAEL
"There is enormous economic opportunity in the minds of the people who are there. When you look at the talent flowing to Israel these days, I believe that is a challenge to all of us over here to figure out how, in the tiny world we live in, to help Israel tap that potential, to help Israel have greater economic stability," said the Texas billionaire.
Perot was invited to speak to the AJCommittee two weeks ago, by Alan "Ace" Greenberg, the chairman of Bear Stearns & Co.
Perot began his speech by discussing the Holocaust. Outside his Dallas office is a bust of Raoul Wallenberg, he said.
"It’s a constant reminder in my life of what man is capable of inflicting on other people. That’s a problem we have to face," he said.
He recalled hearing the woman who sheltered Anne Frank explain simply. "I just loved that little girl."
Asked Perot: "Does it have to be more complex than that? Why should it be more complex than that?"
Not much was more complex than that in Perot’s speech, though he later promised reporters that if elected, he will be "under the hood of the car, working on the engine" in his quest for detailed solutions to the country’s ills.
"My message is very simple," he said "Number 1, we ought to love one another.
"And for those of us who cannot cross that threshold, we ought to get along with one another, for the very simple reason that all of us who understand sports know is true: Divided teams lose, united teams win.
"If I could capture all the energy we lose in racial division, I could light up this country. This is just no longer acceptable in a mature country like ours today."
He said he had denounced David Duke as "reprehensible" when the former Ku Kluk Klan leader ran for Louisiana governor last fall, and that he had promised to join a boycott of Louisiana that was threatened if Duke had won.
Perot mentioned his meetings with Israeli leaders.
"I had the privilege of meeting (former Prime Minister) Golda Meir, and certainly I think about her.
"My son and I, when he was 12 years old, had the privilege of spending several hours with General (Ariel) Sharon, shortly after the Six-Day War. And until the day I die, I will never forget when my son suddenly started asking the man who won the Six-Day War questions about strategy and tactics, and General Sharon treated him like another man.
"We had the privilege of spending the day with (Jerusalem Mayor) Teddy Kollek, and I saw him reaching out to everyone and trying to make sure that he could provide a home and safety for everyone. He was a tremendous role model."
The remainder of his speech was an anecdote about a tailor who fled Russian anti- Semitism and lived to see his grandson chosen as president of Perot’s firm. This, he quoted the grandfather as saying, was the fulfillment of the American dream.
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