Bipartisan Advances for Israel

By Paul Findley

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the Washington lobby registered to advance the legislative interests of Israel, is reportedly experiencing hard times. Donations have dropped, forcing reductions in staff, but all AIPAC news is not bleak.

One former staffer, Martin Indyk, has been confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to Israel. This will effectively shift some expense of lobbying for Israel from AIPAC to the U.S. Treasury.

In this position, the genial, ingratiating Indyk will break new ground in three ways. In addition to being the first former employee of AIPAC to become U.S. ambassador to Israel, he will be the first Jew and the first foreign-born citizen to serve in that position. He will also be the first ambassador to Israel in 20 years who has not risen to that position through the ranks of the U.S. foreign service.

All this has significance. Indyk's attachment to Israel and its goals is intense and longstanding, but his interest in U.S. citizenship is of very recent origin and clearly does not arise from patriotic fervor. He became a U.S. citizen simply to meet a job requirement.

Born in London, emigrating at two to Australia where he later became a citizen, Indyk first got acquainted with the U.S. State Department in 1979-80 when he served there as an Australian intern working on intelligence issues.

He remained in America and worked for two of Israel's main lobbying outposts in Washington—first as an employee of AIPAC, then as executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank that cranks out documents consistently supporting Israel's positions and interests. In the jobs at AIPAC and the institute, Australian citizenship posed no difficulty. As an employee of these organizations, primary loyalty to Israel was an asset, not a liability.

In 1988 Indyk became an adviser in the ill-fated presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, a role he also filled four years later in the successful presidential campaign of Bill Clinton.

Shortly after Clinton took office, Indyk was selected for a senior position in the highly sensitive National Security Council (NSC), where employment is traditionally open only to U.S. citizens. No problem. The Immigration and Naturalization Service delivered citizenship papers to Indyk just eight days before he took office as NSC's counsel for Middle East affairs.

It is worth noting that, as a Jew, the new ambassador can receive Israeli citizenship simply by asking for it. Under Israel's "law of return" policy any Jew in the world automatically is entitled to citizenship, even if he or she has never set foot on Israeli soil.

This privilege is extended only to Jews. It is not extended to non-Jews, not even to Arab refugees who lived in what is now Israel before expulsion by Israeli forces.

During Indyk's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee there was not a murmur of protest. Chairman Jesse Helms, who often serves as Senate watchdog for America's nationalistic interests, did not bother to attend, leaving only a few questions to be answered in writing. The three who attended, Senators Hank Brown, Dianne Feinstein and Claiborne Pell, asked no challenging questions. Senators Joseph Lieberman and Patrick Moynihan used glowing terms in presenting Indyk to the committee.

Some argue that Indyk poses less hazard to the U.S. national interests in Tel Aviv than in his former sensitive position at the National Security Council. In recent years, the U.S. ambassador in Israel has not been a major player in deciding Middle East issues. But policy can change, and Indyk is unlikely to be content with serving tea, cookies and small talk at the embassy while others make the big decisions.

An American for occupational convenience, Indyk's lifelong devotion is to Israel.

And only a fool could expect America's new ambassador to Israel to give U.S. interests his primary focus. An American for occupational convenience, Indyk's lifelong devotion is to Israel.

While making strong inroads into Democrat Clinton's administration, pro-Israel forces are not neglecting the Republican side of the aisle. Of interest and concern is the hiring of House Speaker Newt Gingrich's wife by an organization seeking business for a free-trade zone there. Marianne Gingrich has been quietly working for the past several months as vice-president for business development for the Israel Export Development Co., Ltd. Her employer hopes to run a private high-tech business park in Israel that is exempt from most taxes.

Mrs. Gingrich's main qualification for the job is spousal, as she has had no previous experience in that type work. Her pay, according to the Associated Press, is $2,500 a month plus commissions. Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, observes: "It doesn't hurt to have the speaker of the House's wife on your letterhead or on your board." How true.

Nor does it weaken Israel's clout on Capitol Hill to have the speaker's wife as a hired hand. Even if the speaker should be persuaded to a balanced view of Middle East issues while at work, the Gingrich scales are apt to be tipped toward Israel when he gets home at night.

Former Congressman Paul Findley (R-IL) is chairman of the Council for the National Interest, a membership organization based in Washington, DC.