With Notable Exceptions, Congress Rushes To Support Israel’s Attack on Lebanon

By Shirl McArthur

When Israel invaded Lebanon, ostensibly to recover two soldiers captured by Hezbollah, most members of the U.S. Congress were quick to go on record backing Israel’s actions. Nine resolutions were introduced in the House and Senate—but not all of them were so one-sided in support of Israel’s aggression.

Three of the nine resolutions were passed. The first two were both introduced on July 18, less than a week after Israel began bombarding its northern neighbor. H.Res. 921, introduced in the House by Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) with two co-sponsors, and S.Res. 534, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) with 61 co-sponsors, both support “Israel’s right to defend itself” and condemn Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and Hamas for good measure. Neither even implies criticism of Israel—although, almost as an aside, S.Res. 534 “urges all sides to protect innocent civilian life and infrastructure.” H.Res. 921 sanctimoniously “recognizes Israel’s commitment to minimizing civilian loss and welcomes Israel’s efforts to prevent civilian casualties.”

The third resolution, S.Res. 548, introduced and passed on Aug. 3, finally showed some balance. Introduced by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT), with Sens. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Sununu (R-NH) as co-sponsors, it calls on the U.S. and the international community to take actions to stop the fighting, ensure the safe return of the captured Israeli soldiers, replace Hezbollah forces with the Lebanese army, and establish an international military force in southern Lebanon. While it, too, says that Israel has the right to defend itself, it also recognizes the damage done to Lebanon. The resolution calls for a donors conference to provide the resources to rebuild Lebanon’s infrastructure, and calls on the U.S. to remain engaged in promoting peace in the Middle East. It also says that Syria and Iran should stop providing weapons and support to Hezbollah and try to use their influence to get Hezbollah to disarm.

Of the remaining six resolutions, H.Res. 922, introduced on July 18 by Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) with five co-sponsors, and H.Res. 923, introduced on July 18 by Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) with no co-sponsors, both condemn attacks on Israel. H.Res. 945, introduced on July 25 by Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) with 16 co-sponsors, simply expresses concern at “the ongoing violence.” H.Res. 955, introduced July 26 by Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) with one co-sponsor, simply calls for “sustainable peace in the Middle East,” while H.Res. 954, introduced July 26 by Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) with two co-sponsors, calls on the president to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East. H.Res. 926, introduced on July 19 by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) with four co-sponsors, shows more balance. It condemns the kidnappings, but also urges “all parties to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure.” The most balanced resolution, H.Con.Res. 450, was introduced July 19 by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) with 33 co-sponsors. It calls for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and “to commit U.S. diplomats to multi-party negotiations with no preconditions.”

A Flurry of Letters, Some Reasonable, Some Not So

The violence also inspired several congressional letters, some being knee-jerk support for Israel, but several being more reasonable in support of real U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Predictably, the letters gaining the most co-signers were those promoting Israel’s interests. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Eliot Engel (D-NY), joined by 113 other representatives, wrote to President George W. Bush urging him to impose the full range of sanctions on Syria called for in the 2003 Syria Accountability Act. In addition, Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) and Robert Wexler (D-FL) and 207 other representatives wrote to European Union (EU) foreign policy head Javier Solana urging that the EU designate Hezbollah a terrorist organization. In the Senate, Sens. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) were joined by 86 other senators in sending a similar letter to Solana.

The 12 senators who did not sign the Nelson/Smith letter were Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Max Baucus (D-MT), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Chafee, Tom Coburn (R-OK), Larry Craig (R-ID), Pete Domenici (R-NM), Michael Enzi (R-WY), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Richard Lugar (R-IN) and John Warner (R-VA).

More positively, Rep. David Price (D-NC), joined by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA), Bob Filner (D-CA) and Leach, wrote to Bush on July 28 urging him to “join our allies in seeking an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.” Also on July 28, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) was joined by 17 other representatives in writing to Bush urging him to call for “an immediate cease-fire in the Israeli-Lebanese war,” and to “rekindle the type of negotiations that resulted in successful long-term resolutions between Israel and Egypt and Jordan.” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) wrote to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticizing her for “the lack of American leadership in the current crisis,” and pointing out that the Israeli bombing campaign was against the interests of both Israel and the U.S.

In the Senate, Sens. Chafee, James Jeffords (I-VT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Stabenow and Sununu wrote to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora pledging support for Lebanon’s reconstruction and to “working with your government to restore its sovereignty, [and] your security forces to re-establish control over all Lebanese territory.”

No Movement on Palestinian Punishment, “Iran Freedom Support” Bills

The August 2006 issue of the Washington Report reported that both the House and the Senate had passed their versions of the so-called “Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act,” and that the normal next step would be for the Senate to insert its bill into H.R. 4681 and call for a conference to reconcile the two versions. As Congress left for its August recess, however, this had not happened, and H.R. 4681 languishes in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC). As suggested in the August issue, it is possible, since the Emergency Supplemental Bill as passed includes restrictions on aid to the Palestinian Authority for FY ’06 and previous foreign aid appropriations, that the SFRC will do nothing, and just let the measure die.

Similarly, as also reported in the August Washington Report, H.R. 282, the “Iran Freedom Support” bill, was passed by the House on April 26 and sent to the Senate. It, too, was referred to the SFRC, where no further action has been taken. The Senate companion bill, S. 333, has made no progress and gained no co-sponsors.

Both houses of Congress passed H.R. 5877 to extend the “Iran and Libya Sanctions Act” regarding Iran until September 29, 2006. S. 2657, the bill extending the act for another five years, is still in the Senate Banking committee.

Jerusalem, “Refugee” Bills Also Make Little Progress

H.Con.Res. 412 and S.Con.Res. 98, the two bills stating a “matter of policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel,” and that the president should “begin the process of relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel,” also have stalled. H.Con.Res. 412 has gained one co-sponsor and now has 32, including its author, Ros-Lehtinen. S.Con.Res. 98 still has only 13 co-sponsors, including its author, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS).

Similarly, H.Res. 848 and S.Res. 494 have also stalled. The bills, also described in the August issue of this magazine, concern “the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf as a result of human rights violations,” and focus on making sure that Jewish refugees from Arab and Muslim countries get the same importance as Palestinian refugees. H.Res. 848 has gained 12 co-sponsors and now has 16, including its author, Ros-Lehtinen. S.Res. 494 has gained seven co-sponsors and now has 11, including its author, Brownback.

House Passes Bill Authorizing Energy Department to Subsidize Israel

Since it apparently isn’t enough that the foreign aid and defense appropriations heavily subsidize Israel, the House has passed H.R. 2730, the “U.S.-Israel Energy Cooperation” bill, introduced May 26 by Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ). Among other goodies, it would create a $20 million annual grant program “to fund eligible joint ventures between U.S. and Israeli businesses and academic persons.” When passed it had 101 co-sponsors, including Shadegg. A similar bill, S. 1862, was introduced in the Senate last October by Smith and referred to the SFRC, where it remains, with only 15 co-sponsors.

Shirl McArthur is a retired U.S. foreign service officer based in the Washington, DC area.