Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 1998, Pages 11-12

Special Report

Some Congressional Visits Show Hopeful Results

By Shirl McArthur

The holiday recess produced the usual flurry of congressional visits to the Middle East. Most were by the usual suspects making their regular pilgrimage to Israel. However, some of the congressional delegations seemed serious about making their travel as productive as possible, and they returned with constructive reports about their trips. The largest of these delegations was headed by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), and included Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Ray LaHood (R-IL), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Another delegation consisted of Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) and Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL). Finally, Sen. Arlen Specter's (R-PA) visit to the area is worth comment, because it hinted at possible movement on the Syrian-Israeli peace track (although some people have expressed the fear that Specter's comments may have raised false expectations).

The Rahall Delegation

The Rahall delegation, which totaled 18 people including Arab American Institute (AAI) President James Zogby, visited Lebanon and Syria Jan. 5 through 8. The trip was organized by the AAI and mostly funded by the National Arab American Business Association (NAABA). During their three days in Lebanon, the group met with more than 20 political and religious leaders and officials, including President Elias Hrawi, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, and Foreign Minister Fares Bouez. In Syria they met with Economy Minister Muhammad Al-Imadi and Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Chaara, before meeting with President Hafez Al-Assad for three and a half hours.

At a post-trip press briefing held by Rahall and Zogby, Rahall emphasized how much progress Lebanon has made in its reconstruction efforts since his last visit eight months ago. Rahall reported that everyone he spoke with stressed that Lebanon is eager to do business with Americans, now that the travel ban has been lifted. He said delegation members told the Lebanese that the U.S. government wants to take a more active role in the peace process, but that congressional visits to the area should not be taken as a signal of any change in U.S. policy in the region.

Rahall mentioned that the day the delegation arrived, Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai acknowledged U.N. Resolution 425, which calls for Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. However, subsequent "clarifications" made it clear that Mordechai's remarks did not indicate any change in Israeli policy and that Israel is not contemplating the unilateral, unconditional withdrawal called for by Res. 425. Lebanese officials made it clear to the delegation that they are not interested in any separate negotiations with Israel. However, in response to a question, Rahall said that Hezbollah and army leaders the group spoke with said that if Israel withdraws unilaterally from southern Lebanon they can guarantee that there will be no cross-border attacks on Israel from Lebanon.

Rahall said that in Syria the group found a seriousness for peace and a strong desire to resume negotiations with Israel. President Assad made the point that during the negotiations with the government of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres serious concessions had been made by both sides and Assad felt that they were just a few months away from reaching an agreement. However, all that stopped with the election of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Rahall said that the group emphasized to Assad that now is an opportune time to let Israel and the U.S. know that Syria is ready to resume negotiations.

Zogby said he was especially impressed by Assad's comment that "we and the Israelis who want peace form one front—and we in Syria will do nothing to weaken that peace front in Israel." The delegation members told Assad and the other Syrian officials that Syria should do a better public relations job in the U.S. to make it clear to the American people that Israel, not Syria, is responsible for the current freeze in negotiations.

In response to a question about prospects for getting U.S. ticketing and landing rights restrictions removed to facilitate travel between the U.S. and Lebanon, Rahall said that the security situation at Beirut airport has improved considerably, and the Lebanese government has been very cooperative. However, there are still areas of concern. He said it will take a bit more time before the restrictions are lifted, but he is convinced it will happen.

Wrapping up the press briefing, Rahall said the trip showed that the people in both Lebanon and Syria have strong positive feelings toward the American people; but they also feel strong disagreement with some of America's policies.

This was the first visit to Syria and Lebanon for both Rohrabacher and Hinchey, and Rahall mentioned how valuable he thought it was for his colleagues to get a new perspective on issues surrounding the peace process. Zogby said that, even though this was their first visit, he was impressed with Rohrabacher's and Hinchey's penetrating questions. He said he felt they had gained a better picture of some of the issues and of Assad.

Separately, Hinchey implicitly agreed, saying that one has to meet with both sides to get an accurate assessment of the situation. He said he always has had a deep interest in the peace process, and that to establish a lasting peace both sides must be involved in give and take.

The Washington Report also asked Rohrabacher for his assessment of the trip. He confirmed that nearly all the people they spoke with, whether officials or otherwise, are ready for peace. He said he asked everyone the same question: "Are you willing to sign a peace agreement granting Israel full recognition, if it includes a satisfactory settlement of the lands occupied in 1967 and assures the dignity of the Palestinian people?" He said everyone except the mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Mohameed Rasheed Kabani, unhesitatingly said yes. He emphasized that this specifically included Assad. Rohrabacher was especially impressed with Assad. He said he expected to find a dour, humorless dictator. Instead, he found Assad cordial and charming, with a good sense of humor.

Rohrabacher said it is clear that Netanyahu is destroying all the progress toward peace that has been developed over the past years. At the moment, the current Israeli government is the enemy of peace, and it clearly behooves the U.S. government to maintain the pressure on Netanyahu. However, Rohrabacher is not discouraged. "Netanyahu's actions have opened new doors for peace," he said, "because they have opened people's eyes."

Rohrabacher concluded by emphasizing that "once peace is achieved, there will be no more excuses for the countries of the Middle East not to implement democratic reforms, especially Syria. The Cold War is over," he said. "The U.S. should be pushing for peace and democracy everywhere."

Intelligence and Assessments

Senator Graham and Representative Goss visited Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Israel between Jan. 2 and Jan. 9. Since the trip was in their capacity as members of the Senate and House Select Intelligence Committees (Goss is chairman of the House committee), they were not prepared to give many details of whom they met and what they discussed. However, a staff member who accompanied them said their objectives included assessing the general political situation in the area and the state of U.S. relations with the countries visited, and looking at the security situation in Lebanon.

They were impressed with the apparent eagerness of everyone they talked with to move forward with the peace process and to get on with pursuing normal relations with their neighbors. The staff member said that everyone they spoke with in Lebanon expressed full confidence in the ability of the Lebanese army to provide security in the south once Israeli troops withdraw. However, Lebanese officials also emphasized, as they did with the Rahall delegation, that they are not interested in a separate peace with Israel. Therefore, they would not be interested in an Israeli withdrawal if it is accompanied by conditions, because conditions imply negotiations, and Lebanon will not negotiate independently. It has to be a package deal with Syria. Right now, the whole process is stalled because of the lack of movement on the Israeli/Palestinian track.

The group was especially impressed with the strength of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship. However, both President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Amr Musa expressed concern over lack of progress with the peace process. Mubarak particularly emphasized the collateral damage that the stalemate in the peace process is causing in the area. He said that the present situation has serious implications for the stability of all countries in the region, not just the confrontation states.

In Lebanon, Graham and Goss were impressed with the new Beirut airport terminal, which they characterized as having state-of-the-art security capability, and with the new highway to the airport, which still is under construction. However, there remain several issues that must be resolved, they said, before they will be fully comfortable about the airport security situation.

Information Gathering

Specter visited seven Middle East countries between Jan. 1 and 11, accompanied only by Mrs. Specter and three aides. Part of his trip was to gain information regarding religious persecution in Arab countries, in connection with the "Freedom from Religious Persecution" bills that he and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) are pushing (see "Congressional Preview," p. 33). However, a major part of his visit also concerned the peace process. In a pre-trip statement on Dec. 17, after meeting with President Clinton, Specter said that he discussed with Clinton his thought that it might be helpful on the Palestinian track of the peace negotiations "if some of the spotlight were taken off Arafat," and that perhaps one way to do that would be to make progress on the Syrian track. He said he believes, based on his dozen or so trips to Syria since 1984, that now might be a good time "to move ahead the peace process between Israel and Syria."

At a press conference in Israel, he repeated that thought and said that after meeting with both Assad and Netanyahu, he believes that progress on the Syrian track might be less complicated than progress on the Palestinian track. He said he based this opinion on his conviction that both Netanyahu and Assad want to proceed. He also said that he thought President Clinton "could exercise persuasion and influence to bring the parties together." However, he refused to say whether he believed Netanyahu would be open to compromise on the Golan issue, saying that was something he would discuss with Clinton.

Responding to other questions, Specter said he could not agree with one questioner's "assumption of uneasiness" between Clinton and Netanyahu, and gave the standard response that the U.S.-Israeli relationship does not depend on relations between two people. He also said that Mordechai's statement that "we're prepared to withdraw from southern Lebanon and to follow the applicable U.N. resolution" was a very positive sign. However, Specter also said that "there would have to be conditioning."

Finally, Specter said he heard a lot of complaints in Damascus about Syria being on the "terrorist list," and that the Syrians do not feel they are being treated fairly. He said it is important to keep talking with Syria, and that at present the U.S. does not have enough dialogue with Syria.