Submitted Stories by Mark Lorell RSS Feed Stories Submitted by Mark Lorell
FOCUS ON ISSUES U.S. free-trade deal may leave Israel running behind in pantyhose production
WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (JTA) — Since Israel became a modern state, it has taken its share of blame for troubles in the Middle East and the world. But is the Jewish state also responsible for those annoying runs in women’s pantyhose? Not only is Israel a trailblazer in high-tech industries, the nation is also one of the largest exporters to the United States of nylon yarn used to make pantyhose. But all that could change if Congress expands free-trade benefits to the United States’ southern neighbors. When Congress returns next month, both the House and Senate are slated to debate a controversial move to open U.S. markets to countries that include Venezuela, the Dominican Republic and Haiti in a measure known as the Caribbean Basin Initiative. So what does this have to do with Israel? A lot, officials say, because in 1985, Israel and the United States negotiated a free-trade agreement of their own. The current measures on Capitol Hill would undermine this deal, Israel’s supporters say. In addition, new free-trade zones between Jordan and Israel designed to highlight the economic benefits of peace could fall victim to the agreement if they are not protected. “The bottom line is that what the U.S.-Israel free-trade agreement gives with one hand, the CBI, to a large extent, takes away with the other,” said Harold Luks, a Washington based trade consultant who represents Israel and Nilit, a nylon yarn producer. American companies import more than $40 million of nylon yarn each year from Israel and then ship it south where lower-paid workers weave it into pantyhose. Because of the free-trade agreement, an American company that imports Israeli yarn pays no tarriffs and counts the product as American under trade laws. Even though the pantyhose are made outside of the United States, the finished product returns to America without facing tariffs or quotas. But that would change if the current version of the CBI become law. Under the proposed bill, once Israeli textile goods leave the United States for assembly somewhere else, they once again become Israeli and lose their free-trade privileges. This sets a condition “better not use Israel. And that, we think, is wrong,” Luks said. While Nilit’s $40 million in imports is a mere fraction of Israel’s total exports to the United States, it’s half the company’s business, officials said. But still, the fight for Israel’s free-trade status is not only about one company. “This is not why we have a free-trade agreement with the United States,” said Rachel Hirschler, assistant economics minister at the Israeli Embassy in Washington. “We are worried especially about Nilit, but it’s the whole idea which is really the problem,” said Hirschler, who worries that a precedent will be set for future trade agreements. Because of the agreement, “Israel is seeking a straightforward amendment to the CBI. If the content is Israeli, it should be recognized as if it was originating in the U.S.,” Luks said. This is not the first time that Israeli companies have faced the erosion of its free-trade agreement with the United States. Some Israeli companies already took a hit when the United States, Canada and Mexico extended free-trade benefits to each other in the North American Free Trade Agreement. In the complex world of free-trade agreements, each product has different rules. But for the most part, NAFTA did not respect Israel’s free-trade agreement with the United States. “Israel took a big hit on NAFTA” because the U.S.-Israel free-trade agreement was not acknowledged when NAFTA was concluded, Luks said. “NAFTA had the effect of taking away something from the Israel-U.S. free-trade agreement.” Already some members of Congress are beginning to consider the issue. The Clinton administration has yet to take a position, according to Capitol Hill sources. But for at least one Jewish group, the issue is not on its radar screen. Earlier this year, the American Jewish Committee, unaware of the CBI’s negative consequences for Israel, sent a letter to members of Congress supporting the measure. When asked about the letter, an AJCommittee official said the group would support Israel’s quest for an amendment “if asked by Israel.” The pro-Israel lobby is also gearing up to support Israel’s free-trade agreement. “As a general principle, we oppose any effort to unilaterally change the terms and spirit of the U.S.-Israel free-trade agreement,” an American Israel Public Affairs Committee official said. “We should be finding ways to expand trade with Israel.” For Israel the questions are stark. “What does free-trade agreement with Israel stand for? What does it mean when members of Congress say there is a special relationship with us and Israel? This is where, for members of Congress, it should mean something,” Luks said. Read more »
Barak tells visiting congressmen to cool it on embassy issue for now
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has explicitly asked members of Congress to stop trying to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “We do not want to give the Palestinians any pretext for delaying the peace talks or postponing them,” Barak told Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky) and Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) on Wednesday in Jerusalem, according to sources who were briefed on the meeting. The lawmakers are part of a parade of more than two dozen members of Congress scheduled to visit Israel during the August congressional recess. Barak specifically asked the lawmakers to wait at least six months before taking up any new initiatives on the embassy. A nearly unanimous House and Senate passed a law in 1995 that required the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem by May of this year. Citing national security interests and Israeli-Palestinian agreements to negotiate the final status of Jerusalem, Clinton has postponed the move. Angry at the delay, members of Congress have introduced legislation and drafted letters that seek to force the embassy move. During Barak’s July visit to the United States, he carried a similar message to members of Congress. At the meeting with Jewish lawmakers, Barak asked them to postpone “ill-timed” initiatives, including measures aimed at strengthening Israel’s control over Jerusalem, according to participants in the meeting. “He asked us not to get out in front of him and to let him have the opportunity to bring peace to the Middle East,” according to participants. While Barak did not specifically ask that resolutions not be introduced, he did ask members to consider whether resolutions would be counterproductive to his search for peace. But now that many members of Congress have continued to push the issue, Barak went one step further, asking them to hold their fire on what has been a bread-and-butter issue for lawmakers seeking American Jewish support. And he’s getting support from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has lobbied aggressively on the issue for years. “We will never, ever abandon the push to move the embassy to Jerusalem. We are going to continue our ongoing consultations with Congress,” said Kenneth Bricker, an AIPAC spokesman. But top AIPAC officials have said they will examine each initiative to see whether it “furthers the peace process.” AIPAC’s top leaders met with Barak this week in advance of two trips the group’s educational institute is sponsoring that will bring 11 Republican members of Congress and 20 Democrats to Israel this month. Barak’s move to stop congressional initiatives on Jerusalem could slow the rush of candidates who have staked out positions on the issue in recent weeks. Last week, Republican frontrunner Texas Gov. George W. Bush and former Sen. Bill Bradley, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, both expressed support for moving the embassy. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has launched an all-but-announced Senate bid from New York, has also endorsed the move. Read more »
Iranian Jews could be charged with spying as early as this week
WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (JTA) — The fate of 13 Iranian Jews held on charges of spying for Israel could be decided Thursday when prosecutors are scheduled to present their case in an Iranian court. “The charges will be brought on Thursday,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, citing “official Iranian sources.” But no one knows for sure what will happen on Thursday. Iranian officials said there would be no trial, but did not elaborate on whether charges would be brought. “No trial will take place,” judiciary spokesman Fotovat Nassiri Savadkuhi said, according to Reuters. Jewish officials who have followed the issue closely said the most likely scenario is that the charges will be dropped against some of the prisoners, some could be sentenced to time served and others will face capital espionage charges. Jewish activists have vehemently denied the charges against the 13, who were arrested in March. Iran has executed 17 Jews on espionage charges, including two in 1997. Since Iran publicized the arrests this spring, the Jewish community in the United States and in Israel has worked with European diplomats, United Nations officials, clergy and others for the prisoners’ release. After a period of public protests, the activists decided to lay low and focus on diplomatic efforts. Over the past two months, conditions have improved for the detainees. They have been allowed family visits and kosher meals, according to sources in contact with relatives in the United States. In the wake of reports of the court session later this week, Jewish activists are looking at “contingency plans,” Hoenlein said. For now, Jewish officials are calling on Iran to provide a free trial, with foreign observers, reporters and legal representation for the defendants. “Our feeling is that the correct way of resolving this issue is the conclusion of investigations,” said Sam Kermanian, the secretary-general of the Los Angeles-based American Iranian Jewish Federation. But if Iranian authorities believe that “the investigations support the continuation of the judicial process for some of these people,” Kermanian said, “we would like to see immediately that they are allowed to hire an attorney, that all files be turned over to the attorney and that they are given a reasonable time to prepare a defense.” Any subsequent judicial proceedings, Kermanian said, should be “transparent and open.” (JTA staff writer Julia Goldman in New York contributed to this report.) Read more »
BEHIND THE HEADLINES Will George W. Bush be the candidate to break the Democratic lock on Jews?
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (JTA) — Now that George W. Bush has solidified his position as the front runner for the Republican presidential nomination by winning last weekend’s Iowa straw poll, the Texas governor will try to find support in unconventional places. But can a pro-life governor — who wants church and state to “work together,” thinks schools should display the Ten Commandments and once said that only followers of Jesus can go to heaven — break the Democratic Party’s lock on Jewish voters? Jewish Republicans certainly think so. “He’s somebody who is the perfect model of who the Jewish community is looking for in a candidate,” said Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. For Brooks and other Republicans, Bush’s mantra of “compassionate conservatism” has struck a chord. “A lot of the Jewish community can relate to him because he’s running a campaign that’s not very threatening. You can’t demonize his campaign as being a captive of the religious right,” said Brooks, who stressed that his group officially has no favorite in the race for the nomination. Eager to reclaim the White House Bush’s father lost in 1992 to President Clinton, many Republican governors, members of Congress and big donors have united around Bush’s campaign. The Texas governor’s record fund raising, which has netted almost $40 million, has given Bush the political power to reshape the primary landscape. But Republican unity, of course, does not translate into Jewish support. Clinton and Vice President Al Gore received about 80 percent of the Jewish vote in 1992 and again in 1996. Bush’s supporters hope he can make some headway among Jewish voters with his support for Israel. He traveled there with the Republican Jewish Coalition last year and recently issued a statement from his spokesman that he would move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as soon as he is elected. “That’s a position I’d be happy to take to the Jewish community,” Brooks said. Bush has quietly distanced himself from his father’s legacy of confrontation with the Jewish community. Relations between the United States and Washington soured during President Bush’s term when he attacked Jewish lobbyists and his secretary of state, James Baker, publicly criticized Israel. While George W. Bush’s strong early showing has enabled him to take a more moderate position along the GOP’s political spectrum, he has drawn fire from many in the Jewish community on a host of domestic issues, especially on the church-state front. “In every instance where my administration sees a responsibility to help people, we will look first to faith-based organizations, charities and community groups that have shown their ability to save and change lives,” Bush said last month in a speech in Indianapolis. “We will rally the armies of compassion in our communities to fight a very different war against poverty and hopelessness, a daily battle waged house to house and heart to heart.” Bush went on to promise that if elected he would “allow private and religious groups to compete to provide services in every federal, state and local social program. We will create an advocate position, reporting directly to the president, to ensure that charities are not secularized or slighted.” Bush hopes to fund many of these programs by encouraging “an outpouring of giving” by creating a new charity tax credit “which will allow individuals to give a part of what they owe in state taxes directly to private and religious institutions fighting poverty in their own communities.” Although many Jews oppose using religious institutions to provide government-funded social services, Bush could gain support among Orthodox Jews with positions like this. “Gov. Bush has clearly championed these kind of initiatives in Texas,” said Nathan Diament, director of the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs. “In the Orthodox community, this is one of a set of issues that will help him get support,” he said. While the Orthodox community “is in favor of charitable choice,” as these initiatives are known, Diament said, “we are still waiting for explicit statements on Israel, Jerusalem and church-state.” In June, when Bush called for schools and government buildings to hang the “standard version” of the Ten Commandments, he was quickly attacked by many church-state watchdogs. Bush’s idea “dramatizes again the folly of allowing the heavy hand of government to shape our religious lives,” said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. “The naive assumption that a ‘standard version’ of the Ten Commandments could be easily agreed to ignores the conviction with which different faith groups embrace their teachings and will make those children whose version is not selected feel like outsiders,” Saperstein said. The controversy over the Ten Commandments came shortly after Bush tried to silence criticism for remarks he made six years ago that were interpreted as precluding Jews from going to heaven. After returning from a trip to Israel last November, Bush told reporters, “My faith tells me that acceptance of Jesus Christ as my savior is my salvation, and I believe I made it clear that it is not the governor’s role to decide who goes to heaven.” Around the same time, he sent a letter apologizing for his remarks to the Anti-Defamation League. The letter prompted the group’s national director, Abraham Foxman, to say “the matter of his 1993 statement is now behind us.” But others in the Jewish community continue to press Bush on the issue, which is likely to follow him, if he campaigns actively for Jewish support. Although Bush has faced criticism for many of his pronouncements on religious issues, he has received high marks in Texas for his support for the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which restored protections to religious liberties after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal version of the law in 1997. But more recently Bush has been criticized for not standing up and supporting a hate crimes bill that proponents say died this year after the governor did not lobby for it. While staunchly pro-life, Bush has moved to take the issue off the political table. “Abortion is not going to be an issue he is going to force onto the American political scene,” Brooks said. Bush has committed himself not to have a litmus test on abortion for a running mate — or for judges if elected. As the son of a former president and the self-declared “compassionate conservative” criss-crosses the country seeking support from minorities, Jews and others, he’s attacking critics who charge that his ideas are “crumbs of compassion.” By next year’s primaries, he says he hopes to convince skeptics that they are actually “the bread of life.” Read more »
Iranian Jews could be charged with spying as early as this week
WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (JTA) — The fate of 13 Iranian Jews held on charges of spying for Israel could be decided Thursday when prosecutors are scheduled to present their case in an Iranian court. “The charges will be brought on Thursday,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, citing “official Iranian sources.” But no one knows for sure what will happen on Thursday — whether the hearing marks the start of a trial or only the announcement of indictments. The most likely scenario, according to knowledgeable sources, is that the charges will be dropped against some of the prisoners, some could be sentenced to time served and others will face capital espionage charges. Jewish activists have vehemently denied the charges against the 13, who were arrested in March. Iran has executed 17 Jews on espionage charges, including two in 1997. Since Iran publicized the arrests this spring, the Jewish community in the United States and in Israel has worked with European diplomats, United Nations officials, clergy and others for the prisoners’ release. After a period of public protests, the activists decided to lay low and focus on diplomatic efforts. Over the past two months, conditions have improved for the detainees. They have been allowed family visits and kosher meals, according to sources in contact with relatives in the United States. In the wake of reports of the court session later this week, Jewish activists are looking at “contingency plans,” Hoenlein said. For now, Jewish officials are calling on Iran to provide a free trial, with foreign observers, reporters and legal representation for the defendants. “Our feeling is that the correct way of resolving this issue is the conclusion of investigations,” said Sam Kermanian, the secretary-general of the Los Angeles-based American Iranian Jewish Federation. But if Iranian authorities believe that “the investigations support the continuation of the judicial process for some of these people,” Kermanian said, “we would like to see immediately that they are allowed to hire an attorney, that all files be turned over to the attorney and that they are given a reasonable time to prepare a defense.” Any subsequent judicial proceedings, Kermanian said, should be “transparent and open.” (Staff writer Julia Goldman in New York contributed to this report.) Read more »
Clinton allows more refugees, but ‘too little’ for Jewish group
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (JTA) — The number of refugees allowed to enter the United States has increased for the first time in a decade. President Clinton last week authorized the legal entry of up to 90,000 refugees during fiscal year 2000, up from 78,000 this year. The allocation includes slots for 20,000 from the former Soviet Union, down from 23,000 this year. About 6,000 Jews are expected to arrive during the next fiscal year. While the overall increase is primarily due to refugees from the war in Kosovo, those fleeing Africa and Afghanistan will receive more slots. “We are pleased that the administration has reversed the decline in total admissions,” said Leonard Glickman, the executive vice president of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. “It has been a long time in coming,” said Glickman, whose group oversees Jewish communal refugee programs. Since the 1999 fiscal year began last October, more than 6,100 Jews have come to the United States, mostly from the former Soviet Union, according to Glickman. While HIAS hailed Clinton’s decision, the United Jewish Communities criticized the move as “too little.” “We are extremely disappointed that the refugee numbers are as low as they are, even as we applaud the administration’s response on Kosovo,” said Diana Aviv, vice president for public policy for the UJC, the umbrella fund-raising and social service organization of the Jewish community. Aviv cited a 40 percent drop in refugees allowed to come to the United States during the last six years. “The problem with this administration is that the rhetoric and action has not matched,” she said. Now that Clinton has set the refugee ceiling, the Jewish community’s focus has shifted to Capitol Hill, where Congress is expected to provide funding for refugee programs. At the same time, HIAS and UJC work to secure an extension of the Lautenberg Amendment, under which the historic persecution of Jews in the former Soviet Union is taken into account in the application process for refugee status, which is due to expire at the end of September. Unlike other immigrants, refugees who are deemed to be fleeing a well-founded fear of persecution are eligible for a host of welfare benefits. Read more »
BEHIND THE HEADLINES Stop the presses: Hillary has Jews in her family! Voters ask, ‘So what?
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (JTA) — “OY VEY!” the New York Post blared across its front page in three-inch letters last week. “Hillary’s ALMOST Jewish.” An accompanying column carried the headline, “The First Shiksa wants to be a yenta? Oy!” New York’s supercharged Senate campaign took a distinctly Jewish turn last week when the Forward, a weekly Jewish newspaper, reported that Clinton has some Jews on her family tree. Her step-grandfather was Jewish and her mother’s half-sister later converted. The Forward called Clinton’s grandmother, Della Rosenberg, “the feisty wife of a Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrant” and predicted that the revelation would boost her Senate chances. But even if Clinton were Jewish, her background would not influence Jewish voters, according to pollsters, analysts and politicians. “Ethnicity has very little to do with how Jews vote,” said John Zogby, president of Zogby International, a New York-based polling firm that has conducted many surveys of Jewish voters. “Basically those who really viscerally dislike Hillary will add another notch in the column and ask, ‘What’s she trying to do?’ ” Zogby said. While those who support her will ignore the issue, he said. To be sure, Clinton has made courting Jewish voters a central focus of her campaign. One out of every eight voters in New York is Jewish, making them a key constituency in her campaign. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch tried to put the revelation into perspective. “I think it’s much ado about nothing,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” news show. “I’m a proud member of the Jewish faith, and it would be wonderful if Hillary were Jewish. But she’s not,” Koch said. According to the Forward, Clinton’s maternal grandmother, Della Murray, divorced her husband in 1927 and remarried Max Rosenberg in 1933. Together they had a daughter, Adeline. Like many activists from both parties, Koch said it “means nothing” that Clinton has Jewish relatives. “Jews don’t vote, normally, on the basis of ethnicity,” Koch said. While the impact of the story is not fully known, pollsters are watching the Jewish vote carefully. Zogby predicts that the winner of the Jewish vote will win the election. A compilation of Zogby polls over the last eight months released this week shows New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leading Clinton, 43.9 percent to 41.8 percent, among Jewish voters. The sample of 678 Jewish voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent, has 14.3 percent undecided. Among all voters, Giuliani leads Clinton by 46.9 to 41.7 percent, Zogby said. “Hillary is not doing as well among Jewish voters as a Democrat normally would do,” Zogby said. At the same time, Giuliani does better among Jewish voters than a Republican normally does, he said. Most interesting is the large number of undecided voters, he said. But these voters are unlikely to be more supportive of Clinton because of her step-relatives, analysts said, because Jews don’t vote for Jews just because they are Jewish. In 1996, Republican Party leaders supported the candidacy of Dick Zimmer, a New Jersey Republican, in part because he is Jewish. But when the votes were counted, his opponent, Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), received almost 80 percent of the Jewish vote, according to exit polls conducted by Zogby for the New Jersey Jewish News. New Jersey’s other senator, Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat who is Jewish, received less Jewish support than Toricelli did in his last election, polls showed. In other recent races, Rep. Jon Fox, a Jewish Republican from suburban Philadelphia, received an estimated 25 percent of the Jewish vote in his losing 1998 battle for re-election against Rep. Joe Hoeffel (D-Pa.). And in New York, some 70 percent of Jewish voters supported Giuliani in his last election victory over Ruth Messinger, a Jewish Democrat. With this in mind, Jewish Democrats and Republicans predicted that the revelation that Clinton has Jewish family members will have no impact on Jewish voters. “People do not vote, by and large, on the basis on whether someone has a Jewish grandparent or not. People do not even vote for someone even if they are an active Jew,” said Ira Forman, executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council. Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, agreed. “Because someone married someone Jewish three decades ago is not particularly relevant,” Brooks said, calling the revelation “a humorous one-day anecdotal story.” Being Jewish might “get you a leg up by getting in the door, but like anything else you have to earn votes on a number of issues,” Brooks said. But if Brooks was competing for the Jewish vote, he said, “I’d rather be Jewish than not.” Read more »
Congress moves to reduce Israel aid in plan worked out with Jewish state
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (JTA) — Congress is on its way to reducing foreign aid to Israel for the second year in a row. The cut is part of a plan worked out with the Jewish state to end economic aid by the year 2009. The U.S. House of Representatives voted 385-35 on Tuesday for a $12.6 billion foreign aid bill, which includes $2.88 billion for Israel, $2 billion for Egypt and $325 million for Jordan. As has been the case in the past, aid to the Palestinians was not specified in the bill but is expected to continue at about $100 million a year. The Senate passed a similar bill June 30 by a 97-2 vote. Members of the House and Senate will meet in the coming weeks to hammer out differences between their measures, which will fund U.S. foreign operations for the fiscal year 2000 that begins Oct. 1. The measure could draw a presidential veto because it restricts funding for groups that work in other countries to liberalize abortion laws. Clinton has also threatened a veto because the bill cuts this year’s foreign spending by $715 million and is almost $2 billion less than his request for next year. Even with a veto, however, the foreign aid package would be passed as part of other legislation. The money in the bill for Israel follows through on a deal with the Jewish state to reduce its dependence on U.S. economic aid while increasing military assistance. The agreement, which President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak put into writing last month, phases out economic aid to Israel over a 10-year period by reducing the assistance by $120 million a year. At the same time, military aid will increase by $60 million a year. At the end of the process, military aid to Israel will total $2.4 billion, up from $1.8 billion before the plan went into effect last year. Economic aid to Israel, which amounted to $1.2 billion annually, will no longer exist. The previous economic package was designed to pay off loans provided to Israel after the 1979 Camp David accord. By the end of the 10-year period, those loans will be repaid. In this year’s foreign aid bill, Israel would receive $960 million in economic aid and $1.92 billion in military assistance. The bill also includes $60 million to aid Israel in resettling Jews from the former Soviet Union. As in previous years, the House included a measure known as early disbursal, under which aid to Israel is delivered at the beginning of the fiscal year. In addition to aid to Middle Eastern countries, the bill includes $725 million for former Soviet states, down $76 million. Under U.S. law, Russia cannot receive some of its designated aid if it follows through on a promise to provide $2 billion in arms sales to Syria, which remains on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. The House foreign aid bill also contains policy recommendations on a host of issues that affect the Middle East, including: * a requirement that the secretary of state report by Feb. 1, 2000, on State Department efforts to remove anti-Semitic textbooks from schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees; * a ban on spending money to create a new office or agency to conduct official business with the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem. All U.S. business with the Palestinian Authority should continue to take place in locations other than Jerusalem, except for social contacts and incidental discussions; * a measure allowing the president to provide assistance to the Palestinian Authority if he certifies in writing to Congress that such aid is important to the national security interests of the United States. Currently all U.S. aid to the Palestinians is provided to non-governmental agencies; and * a ban on all assistance to the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, which has come under fire from Congress for anti-Semitic, anti-Israeli and anti-American programming. Read more »
AIPAC accuses ZOA president of endangering U.S., Israeli interests
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 (JTA) — The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is accusing a hard-line Jewish group of endangering American and Israeli interests by lobbying Congress to put conditions on U.S. aid to Jordan. AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, has urged the Zionist Organization of America to end its campaign against aid to Jordan, according to a letter obtained by JTA. ZOA has urged lawmakers to condition aid to Jordan — which is expected to total more than $300 million this year — on the arrest and extradition of Abu Daoud, a Palestinian who admitted in a recent book that he planned the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, which killed 11 Israeli athletes. ZOA President Morton Klein says he will not back down and is accusing AIPAC of being soft on terrorism. “Linking aid is a very good way” to convince countries to fight terrorism, Klein said. The exchange is the latest is a string of conflicts between Klein and AIPAC, which has been entrusted by the organized Jewish community to be its voice on Capitol Hill on Israeli matters. Abu Daoud had lived in the West Bank for three years until June, when Israel barred his return from Jordan. The move came after his book was published and Germany filed an international arrest warrant for him. Despite reports that Abu Daoud has left Jordan for an unspecified destination, Klein said that when he started his campaign, he had information that Abu Daoud was still there. In any case, he said he still holds Jordan responsible for not arresting him while he was living there. Klein’s successful campaign convinced 42 members of Congress to send a letter to President Clinton threatening U.S. aid to Jordan. “We call upon you, Mr. President, to demand that King Abdullah of Jordan honor the Interpol arrest warrant and immediately turn over Daoud to Germany for prosecution,” the lawmakers wrote in a June 30 letter to Clinton. “Failure to do so could adversely affect future aid to Jordan,” the lawmakers wrote. It was the success of the ZOA campaign that led AIPAC to urge Klein to call off his lobbying efforts. “The gratuitous attack on Jordan’s eligibility for U.S. assistance intimated in your campaign is damaging not only to Jordan itself, but also to important American and Israeli interests,” AIPAC President Lionel Kaplan and Executive Director Howard Kohr wrote in their July 28 letter to Klein. “Jordan is a valued U.S. ally and a vital strategic partner of Israel; it works closely with Israel’s security forces to combat terrorism,” the AIPAC letter said. U.S. aid is critical for Jordan’s “integrity and stability,” said AIPAC, noting that both Labor and Likud governments have strongly supported this assistance. AIPAC believes that Abu Daoud “needs to be brought to justice and punished for his heinous crime, but harmful pressure on Jordan is not the way to achieve this goal,” the letter said. This is not the first time that ZOA has tangled with AIPAC. In 1994, the pro-Israel lobby accused ZOA of putting U.S. aid to Israel in jeopardy by lobbying in an inappropriate manner during a congressional committee vote on foreign aid. Klein maintained at the time that he had done nothing inappropriate. Concerned about such unilateral efforts, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organization, an umbrella organization, directed ZOA and all other member organizations to coordinate all future lobbying efforts with AIPAC. Since that time, AIPAC has opposed several ZOA-led efforts on Capitol Hill, including a campaign against aid to the Palestinian Authority, one to press for Palestinian compliance with peace accords with Israel and recently, an effort to force the Palestinian Authority to extradite suspected terrorists to the United States. AIPAC officials refused to comment on their letter to Klein, but congressional aides said it would likely be heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. One longtime congressional aide said the letter to ZOA shows that AIPAC is trying to reclaim turf lost on Capitol Hill, where it has faced increasing competition in recent years. AIPAC joined the fray over aid to Jordan after Jordan’s ambassador to the United States failed in his own effort to address congressional concerns expressed in the letter to Clinton. “I also would like to express deep regret and dismay over attempts by groups such as the Zionist Organization of America to tarnish Jordan’s record and even to question its commitment to peace,” Marwan Muasher wrote in a letter last month to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “In fact, it is we who call into question ZOA’s motives behind such actions, particularly when considering the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans and members of the American Jewish community recognize the Kingdom’s record in fighting terrorist and in spearheading efforts to bring about peace in the region.” Muasher reiterated in the letter a promise to arrest Abu Daoud if he tries to re-enter Jordan. In a three-page letter responding to AIPAC’s charges, Klein said the Jordanian pledge “demonstrates that the ZOA’s methods are effective.” He also appeared in his letter this week to be on a new collision course with AIPAC, raising new concerns about the presence of Hamas in Jordan. Klein asked whether the continued presence of Hamas offices there is not a matter “of legitimate concern for an American Jewish organization to raise.” AIPAC responded to the question, saying that Israeli governments have supported U.S. aid to Jordan with “full knowledge” of the Hamas office. Read more »
Hillary Clinton outlines Mideast views in separate speeches to Jewish groups
WASHINGTON, July 28 (JTA) — As Hillary Rodham Clinton proceeds with her all-but-certain bid for the Senate, the first lady is continuing to distance herself from controversial statements supporting Palestinian statehood. In back-to-back speeches to Jewish groups on Tuesday, Clinton, who had drawn fire from any in the Jewish community, sought to stake out pro-Israel positions. She reiterated her support for Jerusalem as Israel’s “eternal and indivisible capital” and announced her opposition to “any unilateral action that circumvents the negotiating table.” In her most extensive remarks on the Middle East since she began campaigning for a Senate seat from New York, Clinton spoke here to the annual convention of Hadassah and the National Jewish Democratic Council. Together she spent about five hours at the two events, addressing nearly 3,000 Jewish activists. To a muted chant of “Run, Hillary, Run,” the first lady took the podium at NJDC’s annual Hubert H. Humphrey awards event. The United States must continue to support Israel as the Jewish state takes risks for peace, Clinton said. Pledging continued support for the peace process, Clinton said, “We can never give up” until Israel is “safe, secure and at peace.” Expanding on her views in a 40-minute speech warmly received by some 2,100 Hadassah activists crammed into a hotel ballroom, Clinton listened as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, in a videotaped message, offered his “sincere congratulations to the first lady on the Henrietta Szold award,” which she received from the women’s Zionist movement in recognition of her humanitarian work for children. Hadassah had drawn protests from a small-but-vocal group of hard-line activists opposed to the award for the first lady because of her remarks last year that it would be in the long-term interest of the Middle East for Palestine to be a state. The award presented to Clinton detailed much of the first lady’s work on behalf of children, women and the underprivileged, but did not mention Israel or the Middle East. But from the podium, the Israeli soldier whose jeep intercepted a suicide bomber trying to ram a busload of Israeli children on Oct. 29, 1998, hailed Clinton for her support for Middle East peace as he presented her with a silver dove. “Your efforts for peace in the Middle East are appreciated by those of us whose lives are at stake,” he said. In a speech heavy on Democratic themes — pro-choice, opposition to a tax cut, support for Medicare — Clinton poked fun at herself for media reports that she speaks to former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the first recipient of the award named 50 years ago for Hadassah’s founder. “I did not think I could give a speech tonight without talking it over with Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Szold,” Clinton said, drawing laugher and applause from the delegates. She turned serious when talking about Jerusalem. “Just as Jerusalem is home to your hospital, we all look forward to the day Jerusalem will be home to the embassy of the United States and all other embassies,” she said. Last month Clinton publicly adopted Israel’s position that Jerusalem is its “eternal and indivisible” capital and expressed support for eventually moving the embassy. While short on specifics, Clinton called on Congress to “make good on the promises the president made” during the Wye River accords last fall, to provide more than $2 billion in U.S. aid to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians. “The people of Israel have lived for too long with bombs, they have lived with the awful fear that their children will not come home from school alive,” she said, vowing to “do everything in our power to facilitate, not dictate, the peace process.” Read more »
RSS Feed Breaking News
Updated 05/24/12 @ 04:11PM EST
- Jewish groups called on Israel to protect African migrants in Israel after riots in Tel Aviv.
- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel is returning campaign donations under investigation by federal authorities.
- A new survey suggests that Germans have lost some love for Israel over the past three years.
- An Arab-Israeli immigrant to the United States was found guilty of murder in Michigan.
- Israel's Arava Power Company has closed on financing for eight solar power projects worth $204 million.
- U.S. Jewish groups condemn anti-African violence in Tel Aviv
- Mandel returns funds under investigation
- Obama’s same-sex marriage nod echoes historic Catholic-Jewish debate
- Survey: Israel losing ground with Germans
- Israeli Arab guilty of murder in Michigan
- Israel’s Arava firm finances $204 million for solar projects
- Israel will solve African migrant problem, Netanyahu assures
- Senate distinguishes between Palestinian refugees and descendants
