President Clinton’s nominee for ambassador to Israel has cautioned senators not to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to avoid action that would prevent sending U.S. troops to the Golan Heights.
Testifying at his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Martin Indyk used the forum to press for continued support for the peace process.
Indyk, who would be the first Jewish ambassador to Israel, fielded a wide range of questions from Sens. Hank Brown (R-Colo.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.) during one and a half hours of testimony.
Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the committee, was not present at the hearing, but many pro-Israel activists were.
Brown, who chaired the hearing in Helms’ absence, said the committee would vote on the nomination at its next business session, as early as next week.
If the committee, as is widely expected, votes to confirm Indyk, the entire Senate will take up the nomination as a formality.
Indyk would replace Ambassador Edward Djerejian, who resigned his post last summer.
The Australian-born Indyk currently serves as a special assistant to Clinton for the Middle East. A former consultant for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Indyk was the founding executive director of the influential Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an pro-Israel think tank.
“We do not seek a fraudulent peace,” Indyk said, appearing relaxed during the hearings. “It must be secure, lasting, comprehensive and warm.”
Indyk also cautioned Congress against moving the U.S. Embassy-which he would head-from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. While both the Israeli and U.S. administrations are opposed to the move, there is growing support for it on Capitol Hill.
“That would put us out of the business of facilitator” of peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Indyk said.
“we must do nothing to undermine the negotiations,” Indyk added, reminding the senators that Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization agreed to negotiate Jerusalem’s final status beginning next year.
Indyk said another controversial final-status issue, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, should not be addressed by American policymakers.
However, he said, “settlement activity is a problem that complicates the negotiations.”
Settlements “certainly have a very negative impact on the Palestinians and in the wider Arab world,” he said.
Indyk also sounded a stern warning against debating the merits of stationing U.S. troops on the Golan Heights as part of a presumed Israel-Syria peace accord.
The issue has become a much-debated one in the wake of statements by Clinton and Rabin that they would seek U.S. monitoring forces in the event of an agreement.
“It is important that Congress does not do anything to tie the administration’s Indyk said.
Indyk reiterated the president’s promise to consult Congress before the issue becomes a “fait accompli.”
Indyk told the senators that he understands their concerns that they might be presented with a peace treaty and put in the position that a vote against troops on the Golan would be a vote against peace in the Middle East.
“Because we have that understanding, we will act accordingly,” he said, pledging congressional consultation before the end of the peace process.
Indyk also called on PLO chairman Yasser Arafat to give a “100 percent effort” to live up to his commitments.
As for the PLO’s commitment to amend its covenant, which calls for the destruction of Israel, Indyk said he would continue to “encourage” Arafat to call a meeting of the Palestine National Council.
According to the Palestinians, the PNC is required to amend the covenant.
But Indyk said he fears that opponents of the peace process “would love an opportunity” to try to embarrass Arafat if he convened the PNC and it failed to amend the covenant.
Indyk had some harsh words for Syria. HE called its continued sponsorship of terrorism “unacceptable.”
Although the committee members were filled with warm praise for Indyk, outside controversy over the nomination found its way into the hearing.
On the night prior to the hearing, anonymous activists opposed to Indyk’s nomination began circulating an alleged transcript of statements attributed to Indyk. The statements quoted him making anti-Israel remarks and denigrating Jews.
A one-page anonymous fax that was later circulated by Rabbi Avi Weiss, president of Amcha, claimed that in 1989, Indyk criticized now Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
“Guys like Rabin, who was actually an ambassador to the U.S., think they know all about Americans but he actually doesn’t have a clue about Americans,” Indyk allegedly said.
In his opening statements, Sen. Brown called the statements “unsubstantiated” and said they had “no credibility and cannot be verified.”
Although the issue was not raised at the hearings beyond Brown’s statement, Indyk earlier in the day had told staff members of the Senate committee that he never made such comments and that they are a “fraud.”
Concerned that his nomination would run into trouble from other Jewish organizations, Indyk called the leader of at least one Jewish group to head off potential opposition.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, said Indyk called him at Indyk’s won initiative on Wednesday to address any concerns that he might have over the transcript.
Indyk told Klein, according to Klein: “Certainly this is not the kind of thing I would say and I don’t hold these views today.”
Klein he does not remember making them.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
