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October 22, 2004/Cheshvan 7 5765, Vol. 57, No. 8
Constant supporterSen. Jon Kyl lauded as longtime friend to Israel
STEPHANIE N. HENSCHEL
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| ADL recognizes Kyls |
That's the word from Bill Straus, Anti-Defamation League regional director in Phoenix.
ADL is honoring Kyl and his wife Caryll at a dinner Oct. 28.
The group even invited Benjamin Netanyahu, finance minister of Israel, to attend. The former prime minister and Kyl are "like brothers. They have a very close relationship," Straus said.
But Netanyahu is unable to be there, Straus said.
Kyl has visited Israel several times, both as a private citizen and an elected official. He went first in 1986, on a trip sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, before he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
That experience was a "great initiation to Israel and issues related to our relationship and I've been back many times," Kyl told Jewish News.
In 1998, Kyl co-founded and chaired the U.S.-Israeli Joint Parliamentary Committee, the first joint institution of the U.S. Congress and Israeli Knesset. On his most recent visit to Israel, in December 2003, he participated in a meeting of the conference, where bipartisan Senate and House members met with Knesset members.
Predictably, the Republican senator is backing George W. Bush's candidacy for a second presidential term and considers Bush the best choice to bolster America's relationship with Israel.
"I don't think that Israel has ever had as good a friend in the White House - at least not in recent memory - as George Bush," Kyl said the morning before the third presidential debate, held in Tempe on Oct. 13. "His administration has been steadfast. It has not tried to put undue pressure on the Israeli leadership and has withdrawn contact from the Palestinian leadership, which we don't think represents a good opportunity for peacemaking.
"What you'll see in a new Bush administration is a renewed effort to try to be of assistance, but not to act as the referee between the two, but rather as somebody who comes into the issue as a strong ally of Israel, an opponent of terrorism (and) a friend of Palestinians who want peace."
Kyl views militant Islam as the main threat to harmony in the Middle East.
"The most important thing (the United States) can do is to continue the war against militant Islam and not force Israel into concessions in its war," he said. "If we can eventually eliminate the support for the terrorists, including the financial support, that will also diminish the support for those who are attacking Israel. Until (then), not only will we continue to have a problem, but Israel will as well."
In 1998, Kyl played a pivotal role in enabling U.S. funding of Israel's Arrow defense system, considered by many to be the Jewish state's strongest defense. He successfully promoted an amendment to a Senate bill allocating $50 million for the development of a third Arrow battery in Israel, in response to the imminent threat of Iran and its Shihab-3 missile.
Kyl rallied support again for the defense system in 2003, and Congress agreed to give $75-80 million for accelerated production. The funding was withheld for a time due to rising costs of the war in Iraq, he said. The House Armed Services Committee reconsidered, and Congress allocated $88 million to the project.
The threat of Iran is another issue Kyl has tackled. Most recently, he partnered with Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) to push for a resolution condemning the nuclear program of Iran's current regime, which many observers believe is a hotbed of terrorist activity.
As recently as Oct. 7, Iran reported that it had prepared several tons of uranium for enrichment, bringing the nation a step closer to developing atomic weapons.
"It is time for the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran's noncompliance to the U.N. Security Council and for that body to consider all options, including diplomatic and economic sanctions," Kyl said in a press release issued July 23. "We must not allow Iran to become a nuclear state."
The resolution, which passed July 22, calls for all nations participating in the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and for all member states of the United Nations to stop Iran from further developing its program.
Israel feels threatened by Iran's growing nuclear capability, Kyl said. "Another thing we have to be worried about in helping Israel is how we can ensure that there is no existential threat to Israel through that nuclear development married up with missiles that can reach Israel."
Kyl has also spoken out recently on another, more personal, matter in his concern for Israel.
When he heard that the 2004 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) passed a resolution to divest from companies that do business with Israel, he sent a letter dated Aug. 20 to the clerk of the Grand Canyon Presbytery, of which he is a member.
His correspondence registered his "profound opposition" to the resolution: "Whatever the intentions behind the resolution, the fact that it singles out the Middle East's only democracy - in a world blighted by real tyrannies like Iran and North Korea - belies a breathtaking lack of historical perspective and a narrow political activism wholly inappropriate for a broad religious denomination like the PC (USA)."
He also signed onto a letter penned by Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) from Presbyterians in the Senate opposing the church's position.
The security and support of Israel remain at the forefront of Kyl's agenda. In addition to his longtime support of foreign aid to Israel, he is a cosponsor of a Senate resolution backing the construction of Israel's security fence.
"Our government should not be critical of Israel defending itself," Kyl said. "If you're critical of somebody conducting offensive operations, you at least have to be willing to support defensive operations - you can't deny them both the offense and defense."
Kyl said he prefers not to criticize Israelis for conducting the same kind of offensive operations against terrorists that America does - and that he also understands Israel's need for defense.
"We have our own homeland security, which is our version of the fence."
Contact the writers: Stephanie N. Henschel and Leisah Namm