[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 149 (Thursday, October 6, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H6665]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MIDDLE EAST PEACE

  (Mr. SARBANES asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, the recent Palestinian bid for U.N. 
recognition effectively abandons direct negotiations as the structure 
for pursuing peace in the Middle East. To those who question the United 
States' solidarity with Israel in the face of this bid, the answer is 
that it is in America's interest to stand strong with its friend and 
ally.
  The Arab Spring is dramatically altering the dynamics of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict and the wider region. Familiar antagonists are 
seizing on a new populism to stir up anti-Israel sentiment.
  It's no surprise that countries like Iran would seek to hijack the 
sentiment of the Arab Spring, but who would have predicted that NATO 
member Turkey would turn against its former ally, Israel, with such 
ferocity? Among other things, Turkey's behavior appears calculated to 
establish strategic dominance of the eastern Mediterranean by putting 
pressure on the Israeli-American alliance.
  One critical way for the United States to discourage this kind of 
adventurism in the region is to continue to affirm its unbreakable bond 
with the State of Israel.

                          ____________________