'US lawmakers forced to support Israel'

Former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

Former US lawmaker Cynthia McKinney says every candidate for Congress has to sign a pledge to vote for supporting the military superiority of Israel.

“Every candidate for Congress at that time had a pledge. They were given a pledge to sign ... that had Jerusalem as the capital city,” McKinney said in an interview with Press TV on Sunday.

“You make a commitment that you would vote to support the military superiority of Israel that the economic assistant that Israel wants that you would vote to provide that,” she added.

McKinney said that if a candidate does not sign the pledge or perform accordingly, “then you do not get money to run your campaign.”

The former Congresswoman said that after she made the pledge issue public “the tactic changed.”

“But this is what is done for 535 members of the United States Congress, 100 senators and 435 members of the House of Representatives have to now write a paragraph which basically says the same thing.”

He comments came as US President Barack Obama vowed to sustain Israel's military superiority over its neighbors at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's (AIPAC) annual gathering on Sunday.

“We (the US) will maintain Israel's qualitative military edge”... “We have increased military financing to record levels,” Obama said.