George W. Bush

Condoleezza Rice reveals Olmert peace offer

Jennifer Lipman — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:01:42 +0100

The former US Secretary of State has recalled the day when Ehud Olmert made a bold offer to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to Condoleezza Rice, in 2008 the then Israeli Prime Minister promised to give the Palestinians up to 94 per cent of the land they wanted.

In extracts from her forthcoming autobiography, published by Newsweek, Ms Rice referred to a meeting with Mr Olmert in Jerusalem.

She said he told her: "I'll give them enough land, maybe something like 94 per cent with swaps...There will be two capitals, one for us in West Jerusalem and one for the Palestinians in East Jerusalem " .

She added that Mr Olmert said that the mayor of the joint city council would be selected "by population percentage".

Last year President George W Bush wrote in his memoirs that a deal was agreed in secret between Mr Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to hand over the "vast majority" of the West Bank to a Palestinian state.

Lauren Bush prepares to become Lauren Lauren

Jennifer Lipman — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:41:53 +0100

America's wedding of the year is set to take place this weekend, when the son and daughter of two of the most legendary American families tie the knot.

On Sunday, David Lauren – son of fashion designer Ralph – will marry Lauren Bush, granddaughter and niece of the 41st and 43rd US presidents.

As a result of the wedding, Ms Bush is due to become Lauren Lauren, rather than the designer’s original surname of Lifshitz, although she has indicated that she will go for the double-barrelled option of Lauren Bush-Lauren to minimise confusion.

Mr Lauren, 39, works for Polo Ralph Lauren, while his fiancée is a designer and former model.

The couple, who met in 2004, are to be married at Ralph Lauren’s Colorado ranch, with a rodeo as part of the festivities.

The bride is set to wear one of her future father-in-law’s creations, while according to the New York Post the dress-code for the 200 guests is “black tie with a Western twist”.

Her grandfather George HW Bush has declined the invitation, reportedly because of ill- health.

The couple’s wedding comes just over a year after another former president’s daughter – Chelsea Clinton – married a Jewish New Yorker.

On this day: Rachel Levy killed

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 09:48:58 +0100

Just days after 25 people were killed as they sat down for seder in the Park Hotel in Netanya, a 17-year-old Israeli girl went on a routine trip to the supermarket. Her visit to the Kiryat Yovel neighbourhood of Jerusalem that Friday afternoon coincided with that of another teenage girl, one named Ayat al-Akhras.

Al-Akhras was one of two Palestinian suicide bombers to strike that day and is thought to be the youngest ever. When she detonated the explosives hidden on a belt around her waist, she ended the lives of Levy and Haim Smadar, a 55-year-old security guard. Twenty-eight others were injured.

Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades later claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack. Levy’s death captured international attention, not least because of the similar ages of the killer and victim.

In the wake of the atrocity President George W Bush said: “When an 18-year-old Palestinian girl is induced to blow herself up, and in the process kills a 17-year-old Israeli girl, the future, itself, is dying -- the future of the Palestinian people and the future of the Israeli people.”

A documentary about the attack and its impact on both girls’ mothers, To Die in Jerusalem, was made by HBO in 2007.

In total, there were 55 Palestinian suicide attacks on Israel and 220 victims in 2002 – the bloodiest year of the second intifada.

What the JC said about female suicide bombers: In the race for popular support in the West Bank and Gaza, Hamas and Islamic jihad understood that they, too, would have to bend the rules. They, too, would need to include women as weapons in their lethal arsenal...When an apparently normal young woman turns herself into a human bomb, there is no complicity between her and her male handler. In a society steeped in fundamentalism which relegates women to a status inferior to that of men, double standards don't disappear even within the context of martyrdom.

See more from the JC archives here.

Joe Lieberman to quit ahead of difficult senate race

Jennifer Lipman — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:48:37 +0000

One of the most senior Jewish politicians in the United States, and the only Jewish vice-presidential candidate in the history of the major parties, is expected to announce his departure from the Senate today.

Senator Joe Lieberman, who was first elected to represent Connecticut for the Democratic party in 1988 but left to run as an independent in 2006, will not contest a fifth election next year.

He will step down in January 2013, 12 years after he would have arrived at the White House had his run with Al Gore been successful, and nine years after he failed to secure the Democratic nomination for a presidential run against George W Bush.

His support for the Iraq war and his moderate positions on a number of issues put him at odds with much of his party, and in 2006 he lost the Connecticut primary to another Democratic candidate. He stood as an independent and won reelection in 2006 with 49.7 per cent of the vote.

But political experts suggested that he would have faced a difficult campaign against candidates from both parties next year.

A member of the 68-year-old’s staff said that Mr Lieberman was confident he could win but that he wanted “to have a new chapter in his life.”

Mr Lieberman caused a political stir in 2008 when he publicly backed the Republican candidate John McCain over his party’s choice – Barack Obama – for the presidency.

Born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1942, he came from a religious family and has remained observant throughout his life. He is one of the strongest supporters of Israel on Capitol Hill.

In 2002 Mr Lieberman told the JC that he had no doubt that Americans were “ready for a Jewish President.”

As a student at Yale, where he was editor of the university newspaper, he was involved in the civil rights movement, travelling to Mississippi to protest in 1963. He was elected to local office in 1970 and has remained in public life ever since.

David Gergen, a political adviser who studied at Yale with Mr Lieberman, told the New York Times that the senator was "from a breed that is becoming increasingly extinct, and we are poorer for it.

“He loved the job. He loved the politics. I think he will miss it.”

On this day: Iraq attacks Israel

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 08:00:36 +0000

After the US-lead forces launched Operation Desert Storm, Iraq aimed Scud missiles at the bustling Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa.

The move was not unexpected; when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait the previous summer he did so alongside vocal threats to "burn half of Israel". And after Desert Storm began, an Iraqi radio broadcast recorded Hussein proclaiming: “The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun. The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins."

The missiles, armed with conventional high explosives, hit in the early hours of the morning, as Israel slept. There were no deaths initially and only minor injuries but, as the first time in Israeli history Tel Aviv had been attacked, they represented a major threat to the country’s security.

Over the course of the Gulf War, some 39 of the weapons would be fired at Israel. In total, two Israelis died, although several suffered heart attacks triggered by the shock, and more than 200 people were injured, while Israelis sought gas masks and injected chemicals to protect themselves. Houses, shops and cars were also damaged in the six-week onslaught.

The government of the time, fronted by Yitzhak Shamir and his Likud party, did not retaliate. Aware this was what Hussein was banking on, because Israel’s presence in a coalition would likely push out Arab support for the war or even trigger them to support Iraq, President George HW Bush called on Shamir not to take unilateral action but to let the Allied forces respond.

On February 28, Bush declared a ceasefire. Saddam Hussein would remain in power until the next allied invasion of Iraq. Whatever else its consequences, the Gulf War and theattacks on Israel left Hussein a heroic figure for the Palestinians.

What the JC said: Under the guidance of psychologists, teachers held meetings to discuss how best to help children recover from the trauma of a week which Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir likened to London's Second World War blitz...in Tel Aviv - the main target of the attacks - sales of Valium skyrocketed. Thousands of residents - "refugees" even though they drive away without furniture on their roofs - headed for the relative safety of hotels in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea or Eilat.

See more from the JC archives here

George Bush' niece Lauren to marry Jewish

Jennifer Lipman — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:27:04 +0000

Six months after Chelsea Clinton married investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, the granddaughter of President’s George HW Bush has announced she is to marry another New Yorker of Jewish descent.

Lauren Bush, niece of George W Bush, is engaged to the son of Jewish fashion designer Ralph Lauren.

At 39 David Lauren, the executive vice-president at Polo Ralph Lauren, is 13 years older than his future bride. The couple met in 2004.

Ms Bush, a designer and former model, will become Lauren Lauren when the couple marry next year. However she is not expected to take on Ralph Lauren's original name - Ralph Rueben Lifshitz.

Tony Blair: Middle East was my priority

Jessica Elgot — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:18:11 +0000

Tony Blair has told the Iraq war inquiry that the Middle East process had been his priority for dealing with Islamic extremism, and that he was “frustrated” that the US had not done more.

Mr Blair said he kept pushing the Israel-Palestine issue: “You could describe me as a broken record through this period.”

But he stressed that he did not trade peace in the Middle East for the war in Iraq. He said: “It would not have been right to make [the Middle East] a pre-condition.

“I did not trade one policy for another. I would not have done Iraq if I hadn’t thought it was right, regardless of the Middle East peace process.”

He said he did not impose conditions on former US President George W Bush to help him in the Middle East, insisting “The US/UK relationship is "an alliance", not a "contract.”

Sir Roderic Lyne, regarded as one of the toughest questioners on the inquiry’s panel, quoted former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying Mr Blair was “relentless” in trying to persuade the Americans to deal with Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Blair responded that it had been a matter of “huge frustration” that it had not happened quicker, and implying he had not been satisfied with the American position.

But he added that he had been successful in persuading the Americans to adopt the “road-map for peace” in the Middle East in 2003.

Olmert in his Aipac swansong

Nathan Guttman — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In what may be his last trip as prime minister to Washington, embattled Israeli leader Ehud Olmert met President George Bush and congressional leaders.

At the centre of Mr Olmert’s talks with President Bush was the emerging nuclear threat posed by Iran. Mr Olmert, according to Israeli sources prior to the meeting, wished to stress that Iran was still actively pursuing nuclear weapons, a view in contrast to the US National Intelligence Estimate which determined that Iran was no longer actively involved in developing nuclear weapons. President Bush has expressed in the past his reservations regarding the intelligence estimate.

Mr Olmert acknowledged his complicated domestic situation in his speech at the Aipac conference on Tuesday night. He said: “Israeli politics is accustomed to all kinds of trials and tribulations, but your love and support for the State of Israel provides a powerful foundation, a solid rock on which we know we can always rely, in good times and in times of crisis.”

Still, Mr Olmert’s political prospects were the talk of the day for many delegates at the Washington convention centre. Israeli diplomats and officials said this was first issue raised by American activists at the conference. “Will he survive?” they asked.

These questions were, for the most part, left unanswered.

George Bush can ride a bike

Simon Round — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has given President George W Bush a bicycle. The official Israeli explanation for the gift is that the bike was given because the President’s knees are (like his brain) a little knackered and he can’t go jogging any more.

However, given the fact that Bush has a history of falling off bicycles (the last time was in Scotland three years ago), could this actually be a sophisticated and very subtle assassination attempt?

Israel is our best friend, says Bush

Fri, 16 May 2008 11:38:14 +0100

US President George Bush pledged America’s constant support as “Israel’s oldest and best friend in the world” on Wednesday during his keynote address to Shimon Peres’s President’s Conference in Jerusalem.

Previewing a speech he was to make to the Knesset on Thursday, Mr Bush said: “I will talk about the day when I believe that every child in the Middle East can live in peace and freedom.

President Bush on the podium

“With trust in the rock of Israel, that day will come. And when it does, America will be by your side. God bless Israel and God bless America.”

Mr Bush was making his second visit to Israel in four months. But this was more of a social than a political visit, scheduled to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary. “As a person who’s 61 years old, it doesn’t seem that old,” he said earlier in the day.

Jerusalem became a city under a security cordon during the two-day visit. Some 14,000 police officers were on duty for what was being called “Operation Clear Skies 2”. After Mr Bush arrived by helicopter, streets were closed, including the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway.

King David Street, where the Bush contingent was based in the King David Hotel, remained closed for the visit.