Many important foreign policy topics went unexplored during the first debate of the 2004 US presidential campaign but perhaps most unusual was the lack of attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
President George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry gave the Jewish state - America's key Middle East ally - only one mention each during their 90-minute debate on Thursday night at the University of Miami.
And in both cases, the references came in the context of achieving peace in Iraq, not the conflict between Israel and Palestinians that roils the region with no end in sight.
"A free Iraq will be an ally in the war on terror, and that's essential. A free Iraq will set a powerful example in the part of the world that is desperate for freedom. A free Iraq will help secure Israel," Bush said.
Later, defending his plan for handling Iraq, Kerry vowed: "I'm going to get it right for those soldiers, because it's important to Israel, it's important to America, it's important to the world, it's important to the fight on terror."
Jon Alterman, who heads the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the cursory reference reflects the fact that Israel is not a source of contention between the candidates.
But other analysts see a more worrisome trend, evidence that the United States is unable to have a serious national debate about policy toward its long-time, complicated ally.
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