Spy-scandal Lobby Blitz: AIPAC Secures Wide Backing After Secrets Charges
Spy-scandal lobby blitz
AIPAC secures wide backing after secrets charges
By Hans Nichols
Lobbyists for an influential pro-Israel group launched into congressional overdrive when trails of a Pentagon spy scandal led to their Washington office.
Soon after media outlets reported on the scandal late last month, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists and their political liaisons across the country asked Democratic and Republican lawmakers to issue public statements in support of America’s premier pro-Israel group.
File photo
The House will start its probe “with a record of confidence” in AIPAC, said Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That intense and frantic lobbying effort, which began on the eve of the GOP convention and continued unabated in New York, led dozens of lawmakers of both parties to testify to AIPAC’s integrity before they had been briefed by the FBI investigators on the details of the case. Some lawmakers, however, stressed that they rose to AIPAC’s defense without any prompting from the group.
The FBI is reportedly investigating whether Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin passed sensitive intelligence to Israel and the role of two AIPAC employees in the matter.
AIPAC had deployed bipartisan statements in a successful campaign to quell the potentially disastrous flow of negative articles in the first cycle of an espionage scandal that FBI investigators say is expanding.
That bipartisan support has also immunized AIPAC from political attacks that question the pro-Israel group’s patriotism and has shielded it from the crossfire of a
presidential campaign.
“As much as we’ve reached out to members of Congress, they are reaching out to us,” said Josh Block, a spokesman for AIPAC.
“Clearly, expressions of support from leaders of both parties in both chambers are extremely important and reflect the deep and abiding relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and the strong relationship between AIPAC and members of Congress,” Block said.
Dozens of key lawmakers from both parties have been briefed by AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr, say numerous congressional aides. In addition, prominent Jewish community leaders across the country — many of whom are serious donors — have been phoning their friends on Capitol Hill, denouncing the allegation that a Pentagon mole slipped classified documents to AIPAC as the scurrilous work of an FBI zealot.
The briefings from the Washington office have been limited to a detailed rebuttal of AIPAC’s alleged role in receiving classified material from Franklin, followed by a pitch for statements of support, say aides.
AIPAC’s Washington briefers have shied away from addressing the broader charges against Franklin, or any other possible allegation about the Pentagon leaking drafts of its Iran policy.
But Kohr has made himself very clear that a public statement about AIPAC’s integrity would be appreciated, while a more forceful, if less tactful, play for congressional support has come in phone calls from Jewish political leaders across the country, say congressional aides for members contacted by AIPAC.
In many cases, AIPAC lobbyists have been very specific about how they wanted the lawmakers’ statements to be phrased. But in other instances, requests have been made in general terms, asking only for a public expression of support.
AIPAC, which does not give political donations but spends roughly $1 million a year on lobbying, has received supportive statements from nearly every key congressional leader.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), said, “I know AIPAC. I know the AIPAC leadership. It is an outstanding organization.”
Those comments were similar to Sen. Arlen Specter’s (R-Pa.) words: “I know AIPAC. I know its integrity. It’s a smear.”
Democrats were no less effusive in their backing of the embattled group. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said, “For more than five decades, America as a country and Americans as individuals have stood by Israel. AIPAC and its members have tirelessly led that effort, and America is better and stronger for it. It is vital work — work I know AIPAC will continue to lead effectively.”
Over on the House side, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) offered a general statement of support. “AIPAC has played a pivotal role in ensuring the strength of the special relationship between the United States and Israel,” she said. “AIPAC is a dedicated advocate for Israel, educating our nation’s leaders about opportunities to assist our democratic ally in the Middle East. I am proud to have worked closely with AIPAC and its leaders to support Israel as it works to defeat terrorism and strives toward a just and lasting peace.”
Most of lawmakers’ statements avoided the specific charges. Rather, they framed their support for AIPAC in general terms.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) was one of the few Republican lawmakers to mention the charges. “While the House will want to look carefully at any allegations that might endanger our national security, it will begin that look with a record of great confidence in our relationship with AIPAC and our strongest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel,” Blunt said.
But Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, gave an indication of how the FBI probe might be politicized on Capitol Hill. In a letter to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the committee, Conyers asked for a formal congressional investigation.
“It now appears that these allegations may be only the tip of the iceberg of a broader effort of the Pentagon employees working in the office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith, to conduct unauthorized covert activities, without the knowledge of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Conyers wrote.
Republicans, however, cautioned that Democrats would suffer political consequences if they sought to demonize or slur AIPAC, especially in conjunction with the Iraq war
Hans Nichols
AIPAC secures wide backing after secrets charges
By Hans Nichols
Lobbyists for an influential pro-Israel group launched into congressional overdrive when trails of a Pentagon spy scandal led to their Washington office.
Soon after media outlets reported on the scandal late last month, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobbyists and their political liaisons across the country asked Democratic and Republican lawmakers to issue public statements in support of America’s premier pro-Israel group.
File photo
The House will start its probe “with a record of confidence” in AIPAC, said Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That intense and frantic lobbying effort, which began on the eve of the GOP convention and continued unabated in New York, led dozens of lawmakers of both parties to testify to AIPAC’s integrity before they had been briefed by the FBI investigators on the details of the case. Some lawmakers, however, stressed that they rose to AIPAC’s defense without any prompting from the group.
The FBI is reportedly investigating whether Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin passed sensitive intelligence to Israel and the role of two AIPAC employees in the matter.
AIPAC had deployed bipartisan statements in a successful campaign to quell the potentially disastrous flow of negative articles in the first cycle of an espionage scandal that FBI investigators say is expanding.
That bipartisan support has also immunized AIPAC from political attacks that question the pro-Israel group’s patriotism and has shielded it from the crossfire of a
presidential campaign.
“As much as we’ve reached out to members of Congress, they are reaching out to us,” said Josh Block, a spokesman for AIPAC.
“Clearly, expressions of support from leaders of both parties in both chambers are extremely important and reflect the deep and abiding relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and the strong relationship between AIPAC and members of Congress,” Block said.
Dozens of key lawmakers from both parties have been briefed by AIPAC Executive Director Howard Kohr, say numerous congressional aides. In addition, prominent Jewish community leaders across the country — many of whom are serious donors — have been phoning their friends on Capitol Hill, denouncing the allegation that a Pentagon mole slipped classified documents to AIPAC as the scurrilous work of an FBI zealot.
The briefings from the Washington office have been limited to a detailed rebuttal of AIPAC’s alleged role in receiving classified material from Franklin, followed by a pitch for statements of support, say aides.
AIPAC’s Washington briefers have shied away from addressing the broader charges against Franklin, or any other possible allegation about the Pentagon leaking drafts of its Iran policy.
But Kohr has made himself very clear that a public statement about AIPAC’s integrity would be appreciated, while a more forceful, if less tactful, play for congressional support has come in phone calls from Jewish political leaders across the country, say congressional aides for members contacted by AIPAC.
In many cases, AIPAC lobbyists have been very specific about how they wanted the lawmakers’ statements to be phrased. But in other instances, requests have been made in general terms, asking only for a public expression of support.
AIPAC, which does not give political donations but spends roughly $1 million a year on lobbying, has received supportive statements from nearly every key congressional leader.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), said, “I know AIPAC. I know the AIPAC leadership. It is an outstanding organization.”
Those comments were similar to Sen. Arlen Specter’s (R-Pa.) words: “I know AIPAC. I know its integrity. It’s a smear.”
Democrats were no less effusive in their backing of the embattled group. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said, “For more than five decades, America as a country and Americans as individuals have stood by Israel. AIPAC and its members have tirelessly led that effort, and America is better and stronger for it. It is vital work — work I know AIPAC will continue to lead effectively.”
Over on the House side, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) offered a general statement of support. “AIPAC has played a pivotal role in ensuring the strength of the special relationship between the United States and Israel,” she said. “AIPAC is a dedicated advocate for Israel, educating our nation’s leaders about opportunities to assist our democratic ally in the Middle East. I am proud to have worked closely with AIPAC and its leaders to support Israel as it works to defeat terrorism and strives toward a just and lasting peace.”
Most of lawmakers’ statements avoided the specific charges. Rather, they framed their support for AIPAC in general terms.
House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) was one of the few Republican lawmakers to mention the charges. “While the House will want to look carefully at any allegations that might endanger our national security, it will begin that look with a record of great confidence in our relationship with AIPAC and our strongest ally and the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel,” Blunt said.
But Rep. John Conyers (Mich.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, gave an indication of how the FBI probe might be politicized on Capitol Hill. In a letter to Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the committee, Conyers asked for a formal congressional investigation.
“It now appears that these allegations may be only the tip of the iceberg of a broader effort of the Pentagon employees working in the office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith, to conduct unauthorized covert activities, without the knowledge of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Conyers wrote.
Republicans, however, cautioned that Democrats would suffer political consequences if they sought to demonize or slur AIPAC, especially in conjunction with the Iraq war
Hans Nichols
posted by R7 | 9/09/2004 12:49:00 AM
1 Comments:
10 ways the Pentagon spy case may damage Israel (Ha'aretz) Effects of the current spy scandal on Israel and on American Jews
[JPN Commentary: The recent revelation that the FBI was investigating not only a Defense Department employee, but also AIPAC for allegedly passing a draft of a new American policy on Iran to Israel has caused quite a stir. At this stage, very little is known for certain, but AIPAC's generally skillful but highly aggressive lobbying tactics have its opponents chomping at the bit to discredit them.
The allegations have stirred up, once again, the accusation that the war on Iraq is being waged solely for the benefit of Israel. This is a notion that has been promoted by congresspeople, Senators, and people with a good deal of history in high-level decision making positions. Yet none of these people have been able to realistically demonstrate the great benefit for Israel this war has brought. The line has generally been that Iraq was a threat to Israel, but the Iraqi military has not had the might to offer any significant threat to Israel since the first Gulf War 13 years ago.
The neoconservative influence over Middle East policy, very much supported and abetted by AIPAC, is a major factor in this perception of the Iraq invasion. There is no doubt that the neocons are strong supporters of Israel and have an almost fanatical devotion to the "Israel-centric" basis of American Middle East policy that has been a staple of that policy since 1967. Indeed, many have speculated that the Franklin affair and its fallout are part of an attempt by others in the Pentagon and the government to combat the neocon control of US Mideast policy.
Jewish Voice for Peace will soon be publishing a much broader and deeper analysis of this scandal and its implications, including many of the concerns and issues laid out in the Ha'aretz article below.
If indeed this investigation yields some evidence against AIPAC, the peace forces in America must seize the opportunity to concentrate its efforts on diminishing AIPAC's and the neocons' influence on American policy. Opportunities like this will not come often, and they need to be maximized when they do. – MP]
Focus / 10 ways the Pentagon spy case may damage Israel
By Bradley Burston, Ha'aretz Correspondent
http://ga3.org/ct/A1aCgtM1UjJW/?itemNo=474807&displayTypeCd=1&sideCd=1&contrassID=2
The dread felt by Israeli and American Jewish officials was as rooted as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as fresh as the headline that they feared could break any minute.
Could Israel have used its client American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbying group as a conduit to receive classified information from a Pentagon analyst or the National Security Agency?
Such was the implication of a flurry of media reports which emerged last month.
Stated differently, could an Israeli agency have been so unwise as to have, in a single stroke, risked blunting the efficacy of AIPAC, casting American Jews in the shadow of accusations of dual loyalty and undue influence on U.S. policymaking, and endangering the Jewish state's only indispensable alliance, its lifeblood tie to Washington.
Israel says no. AIPAC says the same.
And although from the start the reports have offered much smoke and little actual fire, the case surrounding Pentagon analyst Lawrence Franklin presented Israel and AIPAC with the diplomatic equivalent of an unexploded cluster bomb.
Even as the case recedes from the headlines, it could do significant harm to Israel in a large number of ways ? whether the allegations are true or not.
1. Conspiracy Theory and anti-Semitism
"Even if the present affair pales, shrinks and fades away, it can supply fuel to the conspiracy theory, one that is widespread in certain sectors of the American media," said political scientist Avi Ben-Zvi, citing maverick Republican rightist Pat Buchanan and other strident right and left-wing critics of Israeli influence on American policymaking.
According to the theory, Ben-Zvi said, Jews in key positions in the administration, among them suspect analyst Franklin's neo-conservative - and Jewish - superiors, Deputy Defense Minister Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith, a senior aide to Donald Rumsfeld on Iran and Iraq policy, represent "an enthusiastically pro-Israeli group diverting American policy to a direction which serves non-American goals - manipulating and directing policy."
"It sounds almost like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion," Ben-Zvi said.
The post-Saddam quagmire in Iraq has only intensified the sensitivity of the issue, as some leftists have argued that only Israel has benefited from a war which a "cabal" of Jewish neo-conservatives drove into being.
2. Closing off sources of shared intelligence
Well-placed former members of the Israeli intelligence community have said that there are as many as thousands of contacts a year between American and Israeli figures, colleagues in a number of fields, in which non-classified but potentially valuable information is exchanged.
In the wake of the Franklin case, American officials, it is feared, will now shy away from contacts with Israelis, long a key source of information-sharing.
Moreover, the allegations tying Franklin, AIPAC, and Israel come at a time of strained relations between the Central Intelligence Agency and the Mossad, a tension that may have scaled down CIA cooperation with Israel of late.
The sharing of information is vital to both sides, as the United States has long received from Israel clues gleaned from the Middle East, while the Jewish state has relied on American sources for early warnings of potential attacks on Israel or Israeli or Jewish-linked interests abroad.
3. Undermining AIPAC
Of all the weapons in Israel's policy arsenal, few have been more consistently potent and reliable than the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
"Apart from our direct military strength, our relations with the United States, in which AIPAC plays a very strong part, are our second-ranking strategic asset," said former Israeli ambassador to Washington Itamar Rabinovich.
It has been suggested that a key source of AIPAC's strength is its widespread image of unparalleled clout in affecting foreign policy regarding Israel, an image that the affair could sap.
In fact, AIPAC's very success in lobbying for Israel's interests has also rendered the group, which boasts 65,000 members in all 50 states, vulnerable to charges of undue influence in Washington decision making.
Late last month, FBI agents probing the Franklin case are said to have questioned two senior AIPAC officials, its foreign policy affairs director and its specialist on Iran, the Gulf area and oil-related issues.
4. Compromising efforts to curb Iran
According to press reports, Franklin, a lead Iran hand in the Pentagon's policy planning office, is alleged to have given two AIPAC officials a draft of a presidential order on U.S.-Iran policy, a draft which then allegedly reached an Israeli diplomat.
The accounts said that FBI agents , using wiretaps and other surveillance methods, were monitoring a meeting between AIPAC officials and Naor Gilon, chief of political affairs at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, when Franklin unexpectedly appeared and joined the group.
Unnamed U.S. officials were quoted as saying that the alleged document contained a range of proposals aimed at destabilizing the regime in Tehran.
Now, in the wake of shadowy reports on Franklin - a key Pentagon advocate of regime change in Tehran - there is a sense that the case could swing Washington's post-election policy balance, in favor of those officials who argue for a softer approach toward Iran.
"Coming after Iraq, this could take away momentum for a regime-change policy in a second Bush term," Middle East affairs expert Kenneth Katzman told the Forward newspaper last week.
The affair could also blunt a longtime Israeli campaign to persuade Washington to marshal its clout to counter Iran's widely suspected efforts to build nuclear weapons.
5. Estranging American Jewry
A major figure in the U.S. Jewish community responded last month with an explicit sense of relief on hearing that analyst Franklin was not Jewish.
Nonetheless, the affair has already stirred implied questions of dual loyalty and divided allegiance among American Jews, until recently a long-buried staple of native U.S. anti-Semitism.
The implied allegations of dual loyalty could have an effect on how American Jews themselves make career choices, persuading them to steer clear of government work for fear of falling prey to suspicions.
"Even if the story evaporates away, its unpleasant 'deposits' will not," Rabinovich argued. "Every affair of this type which fosters the murky atmosphere [of suspicions of divided allegiance] makes more people ask themselves if they really want to hire a Jewish analyst or other professional."
6. Souring ties with Washington
George W. Bush has often been expansive on matters related to Israel, lauding Ariel Sharon as a man of peace, inviting the prime minister to the White House again and again.
But the administration's silence over the FBI probe - reports of which threatened for a time to shadow what turned out to be a Bush victory lap at the Republican Convention - registered loud and clear in Israel, which fervently hopes that the alleged spying affair will not render administration officials reluctant to appear overly pro-Israel.
"The most important connection is that of the war in Iraq, in which Israel is viewed as having dragged the United States into the war," Rabinovich said.
"At the same time, there are figures in the American intelligence community, or on its margins, who for years have disliked the intimacy of the ties, and disliked the fact that Israel both receives U.S. aid to develop weapons systems and sells weapons systems, which may compete with American systems."
7. Restirring the Pollard affair
In a nadir of U.S.-Israel relations. Jonathan Pollard, a naval analyst, passed highly classified American material to Israeli intelligence agents until he was seized in the mid-80s.
"Although all of the information currently available shows that this isn't a new Pollard affair, in certain respects 'the Franklin affair' could prove more dangerous for the organized Jewish community," Haaretz Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman said.
"When the case of Jonathan Pollard erupted 19 years ago, it was easier for Jews to distance themselves from him and to claim that the man was a lone operative, not someone who could tarnish the entire community with the 'dual loyalty' brush.
"Now the situation is more problematic, not because of Larry Franklin, but because of AIPAC's role."
8. A Congressional investigation
A top ranking Republican member of the House of Representatives, Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, has indicated that Congress could at some point launch its own probe into the Franklin affair.
At the same time, congressional sources have said that no inquiry is likely unless the FBI turns up substantive evidence of wrongdoing.
9. A pattern of allegations
A new challenge facing Israeli officials is the difficulty of responding to news reports which are long on accusations but short on substance. A recent Los Angeles Times report stated:
"There is a huge, aggressive, ongoing set of Israeli activities directed against the United States," said a former intelligence official who was familiar with the latest FBI probe and who recently left government.
"Anybody who worked in counterintelligence in a professional capacity will tell you the Israelis are among the most aggressive and active countries targeting the United States."
10. An anti-neocon backlash
Some U.S. Jewish leaders have suggested that the Franklin affair was part of an wider campaign by CIA and State Department officials to sandbag, discredit, and ultimately dethrone the neo-conservatives in positions of influence.
Some believe that the neocon influence has given the Sharon government unprecedented access and understanding in the administration, a status they fear could be blunted by a backlash against neocon thought.
Jewish Peace News Editors:
Judith Norman
Alistair Welchman
Mitchell Plitnick
Lincoln Shlensky
Ami Kronfeld
Rela Mazali
Sarah Anne Minkin
John Wilner
Joel Beinin
Post a Comment
<< Home