New York City's former Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani is on a visit to Israel. He arrived on Monday for a convention in Tel Aviv but has held a press conference and been interviewed by several news channels.
Guiliani, in an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 Monday night, said “It would be the best for all of us if Saddam Hussein were tried in Iraq for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.” He commended U.S. President Bush President and said he believes that Bush deserves reelection. "He got us through the worst attack in our history," he said.
Giuliani arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport Monday afternoon and will attend the ‘Or Yarok’ (‘Green Light’) convention at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv, which will take place Tuesday evening and Wednesday.
The convention was called to explore proposed solutions to reduce the number of car accidents and reshape driving culture in Israel. Giuliani will speak about the changes he enacted as the Mayor of New York City and give insight on how the Israeli Government could implement such changes in Israel to promote safer driving.
Giuliani arrives a week after a criminally motivated bombing in Tel Aviv targeting a crime boss killed three bystanders. Prime Minster Ariel Sharon devoted Sunday's Cabinet meeting to the problem of organized crime.
The former New York mayor said that Israel can stop its growing wave of organized crime by freezing criminal organizations' assets, adding that similar means can be used to fight terrorism.
Giuliani made his mark and gained his tough-on-crime reputation as a U.S. Justice Department official in the 1980s, when he successfully used a landmark anti-racketeering law to crack down on New York's organized crime syndicates.
“Terror groups as well as organized crime syndicates depend on money more than individual leadership,” Giuliani said. "The two organizations are different, but the approaches are very much the same: You have to arrest the people that are responsible. You have to take away their money. And you have to take away the organizations that support them," he said at an airport news conference upon arrival at Ben-Gurion airport.
While working for the Justice Department, Giuliani investigated Yassir Arafat’s role in the fatal PLO hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and on one occasion had Arafat thrown out of New York’s Lincoln Center. "Arafat has been romanticized, Giuliani said, answering a question regarding his opinion of the arch-terrorist. “We hoped he would turn out to be the person we hoped he would be, but he didn't. I had a more realistic sense of who he was through working as District Attorney where I found out he ordered the murder of Leon Klinghofer and was responsible for the murder of 23 people…he didn't change."
“Saddam Hussein's capture was an example of fighting terror at its roots,” Giuliani said. The former mayor said Saddam was a source of revenue to terror groups, and that his overthrow and capture would help secure peace in the region. "You've taken him out as a player in the terrorist movement worldwide, and that's the way you destabilize and reduce world terror," Giuliani said.
Guiliani, in an interview on Israel’s Channel 2 Monday night, said “It would be the best for all of us if Saddam Hussein were tried in Iraq for the crimes he committed against the Iraqi people.” He commended U.S. President Bush President and said he believes that Bush deserves reelection. "He got us through the worst attack in our history," he said.
Giuliani arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport Monday afternoon and will attend the ‘Or Yarok’ (‘Green Light’) convention at the Hilton Hotel in Tel Aviv, which will take place Tuesday evening and Wednesday.
The convention was called to explore proposed solutions to reduce the number of car accidents and reshape driving culture in Israel. Giuliani will speak about the changes he enacted as the Mayor of New York City and give insight on how the Israeli Government could implement such changes in Israel to promote safer driving.
Giuliani arrives a week after a criminally motivated bombing in Tel Aviv targeting a crime boss killed three bystanders. Prime Minster Ariel Sharon devoted Sunday's Cabinet meeting to the problem of organized crime.
The former New York mayor said that Israel can stop its growing wave of organized crime by freezing criminal organizations' assets, adding that similar means can be used to fight terrorism.
Giuliani made his mark and gained his tough-on-crime reputation as a U.S. Justice Department official in the 1980s, when he successfully used a landmark anti-racketeering law to crack down on New York's organized crime syndicates.
“Terror groups as well as organized crime syndicates depend on money more than individual leadership,” Giuliani said. "The two organizations are different, but the approaches are very much the same: You have to arrest the people that are responsible. You have to take away their money. And you have to take away the organizations that support them," he said at an airport news conference upon arrival at Ben-Gurion airport.
While working for the Justice Department, Giuliani investigated Yassir Arafat’s role in the fatal PLO hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and on one occasion had Arafat thrown out of New York’s Lincoln Center. "Arafat has been romanticized, Giuliani said, answering a question regarding his opinion of the arch-terrorist. “We hoped he would turn out to be the person we hoped he would be, but he didn't. I had a more realistic sense of who he was through working as District Attorney where I found out he ordered the murder of Leon Klinghofer and was responsible for the murder of 23 people…he didn't change."
“Saddam Hussein's capture was an example of fighting terror at its roots,” Giuliani said. The former mayor said Saddam was a source of revenue to terror groups, and that his overthrow and capture would help secure peace in the region. "You've taken him out as a player in the terrorist movement worldwide, and that's the way you destabilize and reduce world terror," Giuliani said.