- (Reuters) --The brother of Democratic presidential candidate
John Kerry met Israeli leaders on Wednesday in an apparent attempt to ease
any concerns about the U.S. senator's commitment to the Jewish state.
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- Some Israeli officials have fretted privately that a
Kerry victory in November's election could lead to a shift away from Middle
East policies of President George W. Bush, whom they see as more staunchly
pro-Israel than any U.S. leader in decades.
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- A Jewish convert and adviser to his brother, Cameron
Kerry was sent as a "surrogate" to reassure Israelis that the
Democratic candidate was as strong a supporter as Bush, a source who helped
arrange the trip said.
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- Kerry, who described his four-day trip as a "personal
visit," met Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and opposition leader Shimon
Peres in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
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- "My brother has been here many times and told me
of his trips and has a very deep, personal connection to Israel,"
Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem. "I finally had the opportunity
to make a visit and I jumped at the chance."
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- He also planned to tour Israel's controversial West Bank
barrier, which the World Court declared illegal in a non-binding decision
last week.
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- While campaigning for his party's nomination, Kerry angered
Israel supporters last October when he told an Arab-American group the
vast array of walls and fences being built through occupied land was a
"barrier to peace".
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- Kerry's campaign has since taken pains to stress his
pro-Israel voting record in the Senate, and Israeli government analysts
have concluded there is nothing to fear if he is elected to the White House.
But some Sharon aides worry that a change of U.S. administrations could
jeopardize unprecedented commitments that Bush gave the prime minister
in April to allow Israel to keep some West Bank land captured in the 1967
Middle East war.
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- "There are concerns in the government that Kerry
won't be as pro-Israel as Bush has been," a Sharon confidant said.
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- Sharon had cited a scheduling conflict for his failure
to meet the Democratic candidate while visiting Washington in April. Mindful
of maintaining good relations with Bush, Sharon kept a low profile for
his brief meeting with Kerry's brother.
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- Cameron Kerry - who converted to Judaism in the 1980s
before marrying his Jewish wife - was accompanied on the trip by Jay Footlik,
the campaign's senior adviser on the Middle East and Jewish affairs.
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- The visit was sponsored by the American Israel Education
Fund, affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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