Dole Stands by Criticism of Israel, Despite Objections from Colleagues

Despite criticism from fellow Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) stood by statements he made on the Senate floor last week chiding Israel for its capture of Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid.

Dole, who appeared Sunday on the ABC-TV program “This Week With David Brinkley,” said Israel was “irresponsible” in seizing the Shiite fundamentalist leader from his home in southern Lebanon without taking into consideration that it could endanger the lives of American hostages.

In his comments on the Senate floor last Monday, Dole said “a little more restraint on the part of the Israelis one of these days would be refreshing.”

But Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Israel took the action knowing that not only American hostages could be killed, but also three Israeli soldiers held prisoner in southern Lebanon.

“We cannot let Israeli soldiers be in captivity without any sign of life for three years without doing anything,” Rabin said on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation.” He said Israel would continue to use every means, both military and diplomatic, to get the soldiers back.

He said this is the reason behind Israel’s offer to free Obeid and 150 other Shiites it holds, in return for the three Israelis, as well as American and other foreign hostages.

Dole was criticized at a Republican Party meeting last week by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Jack Kemp, for displaying “a blame-Israel-first mentality.”

“I think Kemp ought to be worried about HUD,” Dole responded when asked about the criticism Sunday. “He has plenty of problems there.”

‘ANGER WAS MISDIRECTED’

But Dole’s Democratic counterpart in the Senate, as well as a Republican colleague, took issue with the views of the senator, who in the past has been regarded as a friend of Israel.

“I think that we have to recognize that each nation ultimately acts on what it defines as its self-interest,” Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-Maine) said on the ABC program. “We do that.”

Sen. William Cohen (R-Maine) said Dole was speaking out of grief and anger last Monday, when a faction of the Islamic fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God, said it had killed Lt. Col. William Higgins in retaliation for the capture of its leader.

“The anger was misdirected,” Cohen said on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press.” “The anger should have been directed at the people who murdered Col. Higgins and not at the Israelis.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Arens, who called Dole an “old friend of Israel,” said he understands Dole’s anger and pain.

But the anger should have been “vented against the terrorists and not against the people who fight against terrorism,” Arens said on the ABC program.

Both the Israelis and the Americans appearing on the programs Sunday said that Iran was the country that had the main influence over Hezbollah. Arens said the hostages would be released if Iran ordered it.

But Mitchell said that Syria is “ultimately as responsible as Iran for the hostage situation, since it has 40,000 troops in Lebanon, which has contributed to the instability of that country.”

He said the Syrians allow these various groups to operate with impunity.

A CBS report Sunday claimed that Obeid has very little influence in southern Lebanon and is not considered important by Hezbollah.

When asked about the report, Rabin replied that Obeid is the Hezbollah leader in southern Lebanon. If Obeid was not important, there would not be such an uproar over his capture, he said.