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February 11, 2005/Adar 12 5765, Volume 57, No. 24
Pro-Israel groups slow to react to Bush policy
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Like any first-born confronted with the end of only-child status, the pro-Israel community in Washington is learning to deal with the Bush administration's new baby: a plan for a viable Palestinian state.
Many of Israel's friends on Capitol Hill maintained a sullen silence last week when Congress passed two resolutions essentially welcoming the prospect of Palestinian statehood, and when President Bush almost quintupled aid to the Palestinians in hopes of achieving that state.
Most conspicuous in its silence was the pro-Israel powerhouse, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which issued a tepid commendation of the resolutions after the fact, and only when reporters asked.
"This is not in AIPAC's comfort zone," one senior House staffer said. "Many of us on the Hill think they lost here."
AIPAC officials say privately that the initiatives are par for the course and that there was little point in opposing them, given their origin in the White House. They would have preferred to wait a month or so to see if new Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas makes good on his pledge to stop terrorism and end anti-Israel incitement - but otherwise, the pro-Israel community is on board, they say.
It might not have a choice. Bush is making renewed talks between Israel and the Palestinians a centerpiece of his second-term foreign policy. As a result, the man many in the Jewish community last year lauded as the most pro-Israel president in history is marching into uncharted territory, unabashedly advocating a Palestinian state.
"We are working to achieve new successes, particularly in Arab-Israeli diplomacy," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Feb. 8 in a keynote policy speech in Paris, where Bush hopes to repair alliances frayed by the Iraq war. "America and Europe both support a two-state solution - an independent and democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with the Jewish state of Israel."
To be sure, every time Bush or an aide mentions hope for a Palestinian state, it is conditioned on an end to terrorism and the introduction of democratic reforms, items Rice dutifully listed.
Rice also emphasized "the need for Israel to meet its own obligations and make the difficult choices before it," references to Israel's pledge to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank.
Many pro-Israel groups, chief among them AIPAC, have become accustomed to extracting the best deal possible for Israel from Congress and the administration, and to encountering skepticism about the Palestinians.
That may have hobbled them last week, said Seymour Reich, new president of the Israel Policy Forum and a past chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
"I have no doubt that AIPAC's skepticism of Palestinian efforts in the past has been justified, but AIPAC, like others, has to take another look and give Mahmoud Abbas a chance to encourage him to stop terrorism and to be a full-fledged partner of Sharon," Reich said. "Things are moving fast. Jewish organizations have to catch up and begin to express support for the initiative."
AIPAC officials say they helped draft both resolutions.
Reich noted that Israel isn't exactly opposing the initiatives.
"If anyone needs a signal from Jerusalem, it's clear that Sharon is not unhappy with the steps the Palestinians have taken. Obviously they could do more, but it's a very good beginning," he said.
Americans for Peace Now, which enthusiastically endorsed the congressional resolutions and the proposal for $350 million in aid to the Palestinians, said there was a new game in town.
"This is Bush driving the policy, having a Senate leadership that is willing to allow him to take the lead, and a White House that is capable of overcoming resistance in the House of Representatives, where many are far from supportive of the peace process," said Lewis Roth, APN's executive director.
"Tremendous changes took place over a couple of days."
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