new york | Stability in the Middle East, including Israel, rests on a decisive American victory in Iraq, Republican presidential candidate John McCain told Jewish leaders this week.
Speaking on Oct. 30 in New York to a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, McCain said the Bush administration had mishandled the war and Americans were understandably frustrated.
The senator from Arizona warned, however, that the United States cannot withdraw from Iraq. He said a meaningful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is virtually impossible unless the United States scores a decisive victory there.
McCain spoke briefly about Palestinian attacks against Israel and Iranian ambitions in the region — two hot-button issues for many Jewish organizations — but focused nearly all of his talk on the importance of winning in Iraq.
“I believe that all of the situation is connected to Iraq,” he said. “When things are going well it is one thing. When things are going badly it is another thing.”
McCain’s appearance at the conference, an umbrella group widely seen as the Jewish community’s main collective voice on foreign affairs, comes just weeks after he drew criticism for telling the Web site Beliefnet.com that he would probably be most comfortable with a Christian being president.
The senator did not raise the issue during his appearance, which focused on foreign-policy issues, nor did anyone in the audience who asked questions afterward.
Following his talk McCain, who has since said he would vote for a Muslim if that candidate were the most qualified, told a reporter that his Beliefnet comments had been taken out of context.
Recent national polls show McCain, once seen as the front-runner, trailing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson in the Republican primary race. In Iowa and New Hampshire, polls have former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney ahead.