Conflicting Views on Obama Middle East Policy; War Funding Passes (May 22, 2009)

Take Action: Urge Your Representative to Support, not Undermine, Obama Middle East Diplomacy

Welcome to FCNL's Greater Middle East Diplomacy Update for May 22, 2009

"To put it simply, all key issues in the Middle East… are inextricably linked." Iraq Study Group, December 2006

Israel/Palestine: Competing Letters Circulate in Congress to Undermine, Support, Obama Middle East Diplomacy

As President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met this week, and Obama prepares for upcoming meetings with Arab leaders and an address to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4, members of Congress circulated sign-on letters to colleagues that expressed opposing views of the U.S. role in achieving Middle East peace.

A letter sponsored by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD) and Rep. Eric Cantor (VA) urged President Obama to: work closely with "our democratic ally Israel," insist on "absolute Palestinian commitment to end violence, terror, and incitement," and accept that "the parties themselves must negotiate the details of any agreement."

In contrast, a sign-on letter circulated by Reps. Steve Cohen (TN), Charles Boustany (LA), and Russ Carnahan (MO), stressed that solving the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict and achieving a two-state solution, "is essential for American interests in the Middle East and around the world." Middle East peace, the letter said, would help the United States deal with issues from "Iran and withdrawing from Iraq to defeating Al-Qaeda and pushing back against extremism." "As friends of Israel," the letter said, "we believe that an end to the conflict is critical to Israel's long-term security and survival…"

FCNL, Churches for Middle East Peace, and "pro-Israel, pro-peace" organizations such as J Street, Americans for Peace Now, and the Israel Policy Forum support this Cohen-Boustany-Carnahan letter. If you have not already urged your representative to sign this letter, you can do so now.

The Hoyer-Cantor letter is supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), whose members urged Congress to endorse principles cited in the letter during visits to over 500 Capitol Hill offices in early May. The letter may have caused some embarrassment to Rep. Hoyer when a Washington Post columnist reported May 15 that the pdf file version of the letter circulated by Hoyer's office was named "AIPAC Letter Hoyer Cantor May 2009.pdf," suggesting that the letter was drafted for the House Majority Leader by the lobby group.

The Israel Policy Forum's M.J. Rosenberg termed the Hoyer-Cantor letter "a disgrace" and said that the letter's purpose is "to thwart the president's efforts to ameliorate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to send a clear message to Obama: 'When it comes to the Middle East, our guy is Netanyahu, not you.'"

Afghanistan: Congress Passes War Funding Bill with 60 No Votes in House; 73 Representatives Cosponsor Bill Requiring Exit Strategy from Afghanistan

The House voted overwhelmingly May 14 to approve the 2009 supplemental funding bill that included over $77 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate approved its version of the bill May 21 by a vote of 86 to 3 (Coburn [OK], Feingold [WI], and Sanders [VT] voted no). A conference to resolve differences and final House and Senate action is expected in early June.

The good news is that 51 House Democrats and 9 Republicans voted against the bill, most citing opposition to the U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan. The 60 no votes in the House were more than FCNL expected based on the little visible opposition to President Obama's Afghanistan strategy in the weeks before the vote.

The supplemental produced other signs of emerging congressional skepticism and opposition to continued war in Afghanistan. The signs include:

  • Rep. Jim McGovern's (MA) success in garnering 72 original cosponsors for a bill to require the president to submit a report to Congress by the end of the year outlining a U.S. exit strategy from Afghanistan. McGovern failed to persuade the House leadership to allow a vote on his bill as an amendment to the supplemental, but it could be attached to future legislation or voted on separately in coming weeks.

  • Rep. Barbara Lee's (CA) success in adding a provision to the funding bill prohibiting permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. (Lee also was able for the fourth year in a row to add a ban on permanent bases in Iraq. FCNL lobbied for the Iraq ban and for the new ban on permanent bases in Afghanistan.)

  • Floor statements by House members focusing on the need for an exit strategy from Iraq and arguing that a higher proportion of funds should be allocated for development and other non-military purposes.

  • A floor statement by Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (WI) expressing deep skepticism that the administration's strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan will succeed. Obey said he would not support funding for the administration's policy for more than one year.

  • Recommendations on Afghanistan by the House Progressive Caucus, which opposed the Iraq war but had previously been largely silent on Afghanistan. The recommendations for caucus members to consider included a ban on Predator drone bombing attacks; use of additional U.S. troops for training, not combat; shifting funding from military operations to development aid; and promotion of political dialogue among Afghan factions.

    Iran/Israel-Palestine: President Obama Asserts His Regional Diplomatic Agenda at Netanyahu Meeting

    President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a half-hour meeting with the press May 18 after nearly four hours of meetings, including a 45 minute session in which Obama and Netanyahu met alone. Judging from the public session, FCNL's assesses that President Obama's Iran and Israel-Palestine diplomacy is on track, though on the Israel-Palestine front there is as yet no decisive signal that the administration will move from words to deeds.

    Iran: President Stakes Out Time to Talk
    President Obama spoke positively about Iran in his opening remarks. "Iran is a country of extraordinary history and extraordinary potential that we want to be a full-fledged member of the international community";

    In response to questions Obama carved out a six to eight-month period for talks to achieve some kind of progress, blunting Israeli and congressional calls to limit negotiations to two or three months. "We should have a fairly good sense by the end of the year as to whether they are moving in the right direction and whether the parties involved are making progress," he said. While asserting that "I don't want to set an artificial deadline," he also said that "the important thing is to make sure that there is a clear timetable at which point we say these talks don't seem to be making any serious progress."

    We at FCNL and at least one Israeli commentator noted what may have been Israeli movement toward acceptance of a realistic goal for U.S. negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue. Iran hawks in the United States and Israel speak of preventing Iran from acquiring an undefined "nuclear weapons capacity." The Obama administration, in contrast, has been careful to speak of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Netanyahu referred in the press conference to Iranian "nuclear military capabilities" and the regional and global threat that would exist "if Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons." This could represent a shift in Israeli opposition to an Iranian civilian nuclear program, and indicate movement toward a compromise in which Israeli and international concerns over Iranian nuclear weapons could be allayed and Iranian rights under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty respected.

    Israel-Palestine: Obama Talks, Israel Acts
    A day before President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu met in the Oval Office, Israeli officials announced they were proceeding with plans for a new settlement in the West Bank that the Bush administration had successfully blocked. The new settlement, Maskiot, in the northern Jordan Valley is in an area that previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations indicated would be part of a Palestinian state.

    At the Obama-Netanyahu press conference President Obama said, "I shared with the prime minister the fact that, under the road map and under Annapolis, there is clear understanding that we have to make progress on settlements; that settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward. That's a difficult issue. I recognize that. But it's an important one, and it has to be addressed."

    The president also said that he thought the humanitarian situation in Gaza had to be addressed. He noted that if the people of Gaza "can't even get clean water at this point, if the border closures are so tight that it is impossible for reconstruction and humanitarian efforts to take place, then that is not going to be a recipe for Israel's long-term security or a constructive peace track to move forward."

    The president reaffirmed his intention to work for a two state solution to the conflict and said that "it is in U.S. national security interests to assure that Israel's security as an independent, Jewish state is maintained." Prime Minister Netanyahu maintained his refusal to endorse a two state solution but said if "the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, if they fight terror, they educate their children for peace and to a better future, then I think we can come at a substantive solution that allows the two peoples to live side by side in security and peace… So I think the terminology will take care of itself."

    Take Action: Urge Your Representative to Support, Not Undermine, President Obama's Diplomacy for Israeli-Palestinian Peace

    Two letters addressing Middle East peace are circulating in the House (see description above). One supports the Israeli-Palestinian status quo and undermines President Obama's declared determination to change it. The other, sponsored by Reps. Steve Cohen (TN), Charles Boustany (LA), and Russ Carnahan (MO), supports the president's efforts. Urge your representative to sign on to the Cohen-Boustany-Carnahan letter via the Churches for Middle East Peace website.