Palin meets with AIPAC leaders

By · September 2, 2008

Sarah Palin met with pro-Israel lobbyists to express her support for U.S.-Israel ties.

Palin, the Alaska governor who was tapped last week by Sen. John McCain to be his vice-presidential running mate, met for 45 minutes Tuesday in the Minneapolis area with several leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Also in attendance at the AIPAC meeting was U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), the McCain campaign’s most prominent Jewish backer.

McCain campaign spokesman Michael Goldfarb said Palin spoke about “the relationship between Israel and American national security, and the threats to Israel from Iran and others.”

“She was extremely well received,” Goldfarb said, noting that Palin was interrupted by applause twice.

AIPAC also praised the meeting.

” We had a good, productive discussion on the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and we were pleased that Gov. Palin expressed her deep, personal and lifelong commitment to the safety and well-being of Israel,” the group’s spokesman, Josh Block, said in a statement. “She expressed her support for the special friendship between the two democracies and said she would work to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the U.S. and Israel.”

Block also praised the Democratic ticket.

“Now that both the Democrats and the Republicans have determined their respective tickets, AIPAC is pleased that both parties have selected four pro-Israel candidates,” he said. “In so doing, they have reaffirmed the broad bipartisan support that exists in our country for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.”