MAN OF THE HOUR — ARLEN SPECTER PLEDGES TO BLOCK U.S. AID TO THE PLO OVER ITS ‘SHAMEFUL AGENDA’

(Washington, D.C.): Conferees on the Fiscal Year 1996
Foreign Operations Appropriations bill are expected to meet in
the near future for the purpose of hammering out differences
between the House and Senate versions of this legislation. Of
these, one of the most contentious could well prove to be
language included at the initiative of Senators Jesse Helms and
Claiborne Pell authorizing the transfer of hundreds of millions
of additional tax-dollars to Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian
Authority.

In the absence of such legislation, existing law would
preclude the PLO from receiving U.S. funds or other benefits by
dint of its history of murderous attacks against American
citizens, allies and interests. An initial waiver of these
statutory prohibitions — adopted in the aftermath of the
“Oslo I” agreements between Israel and the PLO as part
of the 1993 Middle East Peace Facilitation Act (MEPFA) — has
expired. Consequently, the Clinton Administration, the Israeli
government and like-minded organizations have been pressing for
congressional approval of a 12- to 18-month extension of MEPFA
with minimal strings attached.

That idea has run into mounting difficulty on Capitol Hill,
however, as Americans — both Jews and non-Jews — and their
elected representatives have become exposed to a painful reality:
The PLO is systematically violating its commitments under the
Oslo I accords. The past two years of bitter experience
establish that U.S. funds going to Yasser Arafat are not
promoting a genuine peace. They are, instead, contributing to and
rewarding his continuing campaign of lethal violence against
Israel.

As a result, leading legislators like House Majority Whip
Tom DeLay (R-TX) and his colleagues Michael Forbes
(R-NY) and Jim Saxton (R-NJ) have introduced legislation
that would deny U.S. taxpayer-funding to Yasser Arafat and his
organizations. A companion measure has also been introduced in
the Senate under the title “the Middle East Peace Compliance
Act” by Sens. Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), Richard
Shelby (R-AL) and Larry Craig (R-ID).

The Compliance Act stands in stark contrast to the Helms-Pell
bill. The latter purports to impose conditions on aid to Arafat,
but ultimately will not prevent continued disbursements even
if he persists in fomenting acts of terrorism against Israel and
other malevolence. The Middle East Peace Compliance Act,
though, would ensure that if there is compliance in the future,
U.S. support for the Palestinian Arabs can resume, but only
through private, monitorable channels. Interestingly, that
strategy for minimizing counterproductive diversions of American
foreign assistance was adopted with respect to Russian aid
programs a few years ago at the initiative of Sen. Mitch
McConnell (R-KY), the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign
Operations Appropriations Subcommittee.

Enter Senator Specter

Importantly, the ranks of these Members of Congress have just
been swelled thanks to the recent announcement by Sen. Arlen
Specter (R-PA) that he too would oppose aid to a non-compliant
PLO. Sen. Specter is a senior member of Chairman McConnell’s
subcommittee and leading congressional voice on Middle East
matters. He is also a candidate for the Republican nomination for
President. His should be a decisive vote in any action taken by
the House-Senate conference committee with regard to this issue.

In a letter sent to his Jewish supporters within the past few
weeks, Senator Specter declared that he is determined to oppose
giving “hundreds of millions of…tax dollars to Yasser
Arafat and his PLO.” The letter says in part:

“L’Shana Toya. I would like to send to you my
most sincere hopes that 5756 will be a healthy and joyous New
Year for you and the ones you love. Unless you and I act
today, however, this will not be a good year for our hopes
for a real peace in the Middle East. Unless you and I act
today, the United States is going to give hundreds of
millions of dollars — your tax-dollars — to Yasser Arafat
and his PLO.

“I know this sounds unbelievable. But it’s the
truth. Let me explain. In order to broker the deal of the
Peace Accords signed at the White House in 1993 between
Israel and the PLO, President Clinton promised to pay $500
million to the PLO and agencies which benefit the PLO.

“In exchange for this promise of your tax dollars,
Arafat solemnly swore to comply with all of the terms of the
Peace Accords. Specifically, the PLO promised to:

• renounce terrorism and violence against Israel;
• prevent terrorism against Israel and discipline
  terrorists who nonetheless attack Israelis; and
• change its charter, eliminating the hateful calls for
  the destruction of Israel.

“I know I do not need to tell you that the PLO has not
lived up to its end of this bargain. Arafat has not made even
so much as a single speech in Arabic asking his people to
stop violence against Jews. And that shameful PLO agenda
remains unchanged. Indeed, in the time since the peace
‘handshake’ on the White House lawn, twice as many
Israelis have died at the hands of terrorists as in the
same period prior to the Peace Accords.

“My friend, there is no more ardent advocate of
peace in the Middle East than I, no one more committed to
maintaining meaningful dialogue with the other side. But
so far ‘peace’ with the PLO has been the peace of the dead.

“Incredible though it may seem, despite the obvious
lack of compliance of the PLO with its commitments, the
Clinton State Department still intends to continue sending
Arafat our money!

“Last year, I authored, fought for and won approval
of the Specter-Shelby amendment in the U.S. Senate which
tightened conditions on the President in sending aid to the
PLO. My legislation required the President to certify that
the PLO is complying with its obligations to Israel or no aid
can be provided.

“But I must wage this fight again this year in the
Senate and I am making this issue of demanding that Arafat
honor his promises an important plank in the platform of my
Presidential Campaign. We simply must have someone in the
Oval Office genuinely pledged to stopping terrorism…

“Your contribution today…will provide me the
resources I need to keep terror against Israel a front-burner
issue in Washington and keep your tax-dollars out of the
pockets of terrorists.” (Emphasis throughout in the
original.)

The Bottom Line

It is refreshing to find a politician staking out a
principled position involving clear commitments free of the
cynical calculation, wiggle-room, backsliding options and
escape-hatches altogether too common in Washington. With Senator
Specter playing the sort of active role he has promised in
blocking U.S. aid to an undeserving PLO, his like-minded
colleagues in the conference committee — notably Sen. Shelby and
Rep. Forbes — should enjoy not only the support of the majority
of American Jews.⁽¹⁾
They should also have an pivotal ally who simply cannot afford to
lose.

(1) See the Center’s recent Decision
Brief concerning the results of the latest American Jewish
Committee poll indicating the grave and growing suspicions of
Arafat harbored by most American Jews: Will Senate Give
Arafat $500 Million In the Face of His Ongoing Support For
Terrorism, Opposition From Most American Jews? ( href=”index.jsp?section=papers&code=95-D_62″>No. 95-D 62, 13 September 1995).