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."