Perry Blasts Obama for 'Dangerous' Mideast Policy

Texas Governor Rick Perry slammed President Barack Obama's "appeasement" of Palestinians as dangerous and naive on Tuesday, in his first major foreign policy address since emerging as the top Republican White House hopeful.

Seizing on the diplomatic conflagration over U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood, Perry blasted Obama for not being strong enough in his support of Israel and allowing the Palestinian bid to proceed.

"We would not be here at this very precipice of such a dangerous move if the Obama policy in the Middle East wasn't naive, arrogant, misguided and dangerous," Perry told pro-Israel activists in New York.

"The Obama policy of moral equivalency, which gives equal standing to the grievances of Israelis and Palestinians, including the orchestrators of terrorism, is a dangerous insult," he said.

Making his foreign-policy debut, Perry seemed stiff and awkward as he read from a prepared statement about the nuances of Mideast politics, in a sharp contrast to his usually relaxed speaking style.

But he made an impassioned appeal to Jewish voters, vowing to be a stalwart supporter of Israel if he succeeds in unseating Obama, who has had a rockier relationship with Israel than other recent U.S. presidents.

"As a Christian, I have a clear directive to support Israel," Perry told his audience, who included a number of bearded Orthodox Jews.

Besieged with questions after his speech, Perry even endorsed Israel's controversial policy of building Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

When asked whether he supported the settlements, Perry said, "I think so," drawing a burst of applause from the audience.

Washington has considered the Israeli settlements illegal for more than 40 years, maintaining that position through both Democratic and Republican administrations, including that of George W. Bush.

Tensions over Mideast politics have flared this week as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is preparing to submit a bid for United Nations recognition of Palestinian statehood.

U.S. and other Western diplomats have been scrambling to avert a vote on the issue, and the Obama administration has pledged to block the Palestinian bid with a veto in the U.N. Security Council.

Perry said the U.S. government should cut funding to the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority and close the Washington offices of the Palestine Liberation Organization if its U.N. bid succeeds.

His rival Mitt Romney, who is second in the polls to win the Republican nomination to challenge Obama in 2012, also called for a cut-off of U.S. funding to the Palestinians should they win U.N. recognition.

"What we are watching unfold at the United Nations is an unmitigated diplomatic disaster," Romney said in a statement.

"It is the culmination of President Obama's repeated efforts over three years to throw Israel under the bus and undermine its negotiating position. That policy must stop now."

Obama aides defended the president's stance on Israel, noting that the White House had supported the Jewish state through events such as the controversy that erupted last year after Israel's deadly raid on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for Gaza.

"I think that anybody who examines the record of the Obama administration on Israel will see that we have been unshakeable in our support," deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters.

Another top Obama aide, Antony Blinken, shot back at Republican "falsehoods" over Israel in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal.

"What could actually harm U.S.-Israeli relations, and the security of the Jewish state, is subjecting either to the vagaries of partisan politics or turning them into election-year talking points," Blinken wrote.

Republicans like Perry are hoping to make inroads among Jewish voters, who have traditionally supported the Democratic Party.

The Jewish activists at the event welcomed Perry's speech, despite the sharp contrast between the governor's Texas cowboy swagger and their own religious background.

"Texas is not a place where a lot of Jewish people live," said Alan Klein, an Orthodox Jewish community activist dressed in black with a dark beard and side curls.

But if Perry proves to be a stronger supporter of Israel than Obama, "we're ready to support him," Klein said.