Members of Congress have joined the Zionist Organization of America in forming a bipartisan group to monitor the Palestine Liberation Organization’s compliance with the Middle East peace accord.
The Peace Accord Monitoring Group will evaluate the PLO’s progress in honoring the commitments it made to Israel in the declaration of principles signed at the White House last fall.
The declaration of principles, which grants self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho, was put into effect this week with the signing of an implementation agreement in Cairo on Wednesday.
In its agreements, the PLO committed itself to renouncing terrorism and deleting provisions in its covenant calling for the destruction of Israel.
“The PLO must condemn each and every act of terrorism carried out in the Palestinian community, in Arabic as well as English,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) said at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday announcing creation of the group.
If the PLO does not honor that and other commitments made to the Israelis, Engel said, the group will pressure Congress to withhold the $500 million in aid that the United States has pledged to the West Bank and Gaza over the next five years.
The group, which had received the endorsement of over 15 members of Congress by Wednesday, was formed without the consultation of the White House or the Israeli government.
An Israeli Embassy spokesman on Tuesday declined to comment on the group’s formation.
AID ‘MUST NOT BE USED’ FOR TERROR HAVEN
“Aid from the United States must not be used to build the foundation of a terrorist haven,” Engel, co-chair of the group with Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.), said in a statement.
“The PLO leadership has to understand this from the outset and take specific steps to prove their deeds will match their words,” Engel said.
Members of the group are particularly concerned that the PLO has failed to renounce individual acts of terrorism and to change the Palestinian National Covenant that calls for the destruction of Israel since the declaration of principles was signed last September.
The group vows to make efforts to halt the flow of U.S. aid to the West Bank and Gaza if these commitments are not satisfied.
The creation of the group “provides an independent means for Congress to analyze PLO behavior to determine if the PLO should receive” American aid, ZOA President Morton Klein said.
A provision in the State Department Authorization Act prohibits the PLO from receiving U.S.-backed international aid from organizations such as the World Bank if the PLO does not meet its commitments under the accord.
The group will also monitor the Clinton administration’s periodic report on PLO compliance with the accord. The State Department is legally required to issue a report every 180 days.
Also attending the news conference were Reps. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.), Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), L. William Paxon (R-N.Y.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).
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