US Funds Still Flow to Israel

By Dennis J. Wamsted

Disregarding its own recommendation that congressional earmarks should be reduced, if not eliminated entirely (see April 1989 Washington Report), the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East earlier this spring approved $3 billion in economic and military aid for Israel for fiscal year 1990, which begins in October.

The subcommittee also approved $2.15 billion in aid for Egypt at its early May markup. Although this is the same aid level that has been earmarked for Egypt for several years, the panel split the country's economic aid, which totals $815 million, into two accounts. As drafted by the subcommittee, Egypt will be over $500 million for long-term development projects and $315 million for direct economic assistance. The switch, little more than recognition of the status quo, was proposed by the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Lee Hamilton (D-IN), who believes the change will be beneficial for the Egyptian economy. The Bush administration opposes the switch and warned that the president might veto the entire foreign aid bill if this provision is approved by Congress.

At the same markup session, the subcommittee reaffirmed a ban on US arms sales to Jordan until the country demonstrates that it "is publicly committed to the recognition of Israel and to negotiate promptly and directly with Israel." Despite this arms sale prohibition, the panel approved slightly more than $85 million in aid for Jordan for fiscal 1990. Of this, $50.2 million is military aid and $35 million is economic aid. In addition, the panel retained a ban on the sale of handheld Stinger antiaircraft missiles to most of the Gulf Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. Notwithstanding the regional ban, the panel opted to permit the administration to sell the missiles to Bahrain and Oman, if necessary. Although the full committee had not yet completed work on the 1990 foreign aid bill at press time, it is likely that the subcommittee's recommendations will be approved.

Congress, the PLO and WHO

Both the House and Senate moved rapidly in May to enact legislation that would cut off US aid to any UN agency or technical group that admits the PLO as a full member. The controversy arose following a decision by the PLO to apply for full membership in the World Health Organization (WHO). The House legislation, HR 2145, introduced by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), a vocal pro-Israel member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was approved virtually without debate by the committee and overwhelmingly passed by the full House. Similar legislation was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in mid-May and attached to the State Department authorization bill for fiscal year 1990-1991. Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and recently a strong backer of Israel, sponsored the legislation. Faced with a possible cutoff of US funding, the WHO voted in May, by a 83 to 47 margin, to defer the PLO's membership application for a year.

Secretary Baker's Modest Proposal

Indications of possible congressional rethinking on the Middle East are provided by the lack of initial reaction to an unusually strong speech by Secretary of State James Baker to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in late May. Baker urged the Israeli government to abandon "the unrealistic vision of a greater Israel" and accept the land for peace formula embodied in UN Security Council Resolution 242.

Although Baker's speech was largely a recitation of long-standing US policy, it was denounced as "useless'by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Reaction from Israel's congressional allies came in the form of a letter signed by 92 senators to Baker expressing support (apparently in advance) for Israel's still vague elections plan. The letter did not refer to the Baker speech.

Dennis J. Wamsted is a free-lance writer specializing in the US Congress and Middle East affairs.