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Group: U.S. backing of pullout should have been debated

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, August 15, 2005

Several Jewish groups have been lobbying Congress to prevent U.S. financing of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank.

Members of the Zionist Organization of America have also criticized the absence of a public debate over U.S. backing for the pullout.

"The ZOA's position is that a full, open, and thorough public dialogue about the nature and details of the Gaza expulsion plan is necessary, and should have occurred before any such plan was implemented," ZOA president Morton Klein said. "This pressure by the Bush administration to stop the Jewish state of Israel from appropriately responding to Palestinian Arab terror has repeatedly occurred throughout his administration."

A poll of 1,000 Americans conducted by McLaughlin & Associates and sponsored by ZOA asserted that 63 percent of Americans opposed the Israeli withdrawal plan, Middle East Newsline reported. About 75 percent of those surveyed said the goal of any Palestinian state would be to destroy Israel.

The groups have lobbied pro-Israeli members of the House and Senate to reject Israel's request for $2.2 billion for the withdrawal. They have argued that the withdrawal would encourage Islamic terrorism and undermine U.S. interests.

"U.S. taxpayer funding of the [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon government's unilateral disengagement scheme would be a flat-out subsidy for the creation of a sovereign terrorist beachhead in the southwestern portion of Israel, a magnet for terrorists throughout the world, a permanent threat to Israel, Jordan and all efforts to democratize the region," Americans For A Safe Israel chairman Herbert Zweibon said.

Zweibon acknowledged that the Bush administration was highly supportive of the Israeli withdrawal plan. But he termed Congress the "last barrier to the implementation of a policy that would reward terrorism and embolden its radical Islamic perpetrators around the globe."

On Aug. 12, President George Bush issued a last-minute appeal to Israel to support the Sharon withdrawal plan. Bush said the withdrawal and eviction of Jewish residents were part of his plan for democracy in the Middle East.

"I think this will create an opportunity for democracy to emerge and democracies are peaceful," Bush said in an interview with Israel state television.

Most Jewish organizations, including the umbrella Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, have expressed support for the Israeli plan. But over the last few weeks, mainstream Jewish groups have expressed concern that Israel has lost control over the withdrawal process and was being pressured by the United States to implement the Sharon plan.

The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs said in a report last week that the assurances by Israel's military that the withdrawal process could be halted at any time were baseless. The organization expected the Bush administration and the international community to press Israel to withdraw while allowing the Palestinian Authority to violate its pledge to end violence.

"An Israeli general told JINSA that Israel wouldn't 'permit' the Palestinians to do this or that or some other thing," the JINSA report, recalling a recent meeting with Israeli military representatives, said.

"Someone said, 'The Palestinians won't ask permission. What are you going to do when they've done what they 'aren't permitted' to do?' He replied, 'Then no one would fault us if we stop the process.' Yeah, right."


Copyright © 2005 East West Services, Inc.

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