CLEVELAND, Ohio, Oct 5 (AFP) - Vice President Dick Cheney and his Democratic rival John Edwards found little to agree on in their televised debate Tuesday, but they both supported Israel's right to defend itself from Palestinian attacks.
The two men also steered clear of a moderator's question on whether the United States had kept its distance from the Middle East peace process while the violence continued.
"I do agree that we've been largely absent," said Edwards, a freshman senator from the southern state of North Carolina. "Not entirely absent, but largely absent from the peacemaking process over the last four years."
But he did not call for greater US involvement and instead launched into a ringing defense of Israel.
"The Israeli people not only have the right to defend themselves, they should defend themselves," Edwards said. "They have an obligation to defend themselves."
Edwards supported what he called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's "historic decision to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza" and said "it is important for America to participate in helping with that process."
He also criticized Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, saying the Israelis need a legitimate partner in the peace process and they "certainly don't have a partner in Arafat."
Cheney also backed Israel and said the Iraq war had helped cut down the suicide bombings since the ousted Saddam Hussein was a main sponsor of the Palestinians and paid 25,000 dollars to the bombers' families.
"I personally think one of the reasons that we don't have as many suicide attacks today in Israel as we had in the past is because Saddam's no longer in business," he said.
Cheney also praised President George W. Bush as the first president to say he would support the establishment of a Palestinian state.
But he also had critical words for the Palestinians, saying "there has to be an interlocutor that we can trust and deal with, we don't have that and we have to have that."