November 1991, Page 60

Jews and Israel

By Andrea Barron

Pro-Israel Supporters Concede Defeat on Housing Loan

For the first time since 1981, when they failed to prevent the sale of sophisticated AWACS planes to Saudi Arabia, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the other pro-Israel lobbies lost a major battle in Congress. AIPAC and the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC) launched a well coordinated campaign to convince Congress to provide Israel with a $10 billion housing loan guarantee to absorb Soviet Jewish immigrants. But despite a nationwide grassroots effort that included a "fly-in" of 1,000 activists to Capitol Hill on Sept. 12, Congress went along with President Bush's request to delay consideration of the loans for 120 days.

The president said he favored the delay so the loan guarantee would not interfere with the Middle East peace conference expected to be convened this fall. Bush let it be known, however, that he would continue to oppose the loans unless Israel placed a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Jewish leaders have been warning Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir that he might have to choose between settlements and the loans. But they are still hoping the loans will be approved unconditionally in January.

President Bush angered the pro-Israel community when he complained at a press conference, also held on Sept. 12, about being "one lonely little guy" up against 'powerful political forces" lobbying Congress to grant Israel the loans immediately. Bush subsequently sent a letter to Shoshana Cardin, chairwoman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, expressing concern that his comments might have "caused apprehension within the Jewish community" and stating that "my reference to lobbyists and powerful political forces were never meant to be pejorative in any sense."

Cardin said she was pleased with Bush's response. But Henry Siegman,executive director of the AmericanJewishCongress, disagreed. "I think it would be dishonest to say that the chapter has been closed. I think there are ruffled feelings and a sense that the president was at least thoughtless."

Peace Now Group Supports Bush's Position on Loans

Americans for Peace Now (APN), the sister organization to the Israeli peace group, has broken ranks with the mainstream Jewish community by declaring its support for loan guarantees and a freeze on West Bank settlements.

Almost 70 members of APN from around the country and Canada gathered in Washington on Oct. 3 to meet with House Majority Whip David Bonior (D-MI) and other members of Congress to deliver their message: "It's time for American Jews who are Zionists to tell Prime Minister Shamir that support for Soviet Jewish emigres is threatened by his government's policies to expand and thicken West Bank settlements. And, it is time for our elected officials to send the same message to the prime minister."

David Cohen, co-director of Americans for Peace Now and former president of Common Cause, said Congress should approve the loan guarantee annually—$2 billion a year instead of $10 billion all at once as the Inouye-Kasten legislation does. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Bob Kasten (R-WI) are the principal sponsors of the loan guarantee bill in the Senate.

APN also said that when Congress considers the loans again next January, “it must require accountability measures on the use of the funds so that they are not used in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and so they do not become 'fungible'—i.e. free up other funds for the Shamir government to use for Israeli settlements in the territories."

The organization pointed out that 67 percent of all Israelis favor a freeze on settlements for the sake of peace talks.

How Much Does Israel Really Spend on Settlements?

Last June, Congressman John Bryant (DTX) sponsored an amendment to the Foreign Aid bill that would have placed $82 million of US economic aid to Israel in an escrow account until the Shamir government stopped building settlements in the occupied territories. That was the amount the State Department estimated Israel spent on settlements in 1990. But according to Dedi Zucker, a founder of Peace Now who represents the Citizens Rights Movement Party in Israel's parliament, the government plans to spend $250 million a year from 1990-93 on settlements.

Why is it so difficult to come up with the real figure? According to Geoffrey Aronson of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, the State Department failed to include housing construction costs in either East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights. The department estimated budget allocations by Israel's Housing and Agriculture Ministries and the Water Commission but not by private settler institutions or the World Zionist Organization. In a March 1991 report to Congress, the State Department said it believed Israel may be spending additional funds on settlements "which cannot be identified from available Israeli budget documentation."

Some of these additional costs include mortgage subsidies—available only for poor "development towns" inside Israel proper but for all settlements in the territories—reduced taxes for industry, police costs, road construction, and expenditures for converting paramilitary camps into civilian settlements. Aronson criticized the State Department report for not even attempting to estimate how much Israel spends on these budget categories.

He also points out several mistakes in the report. The State Department, for example, said 5,830 Soviet Jews settled in East Jerusalem in 1990, but Jerusalem's own statistics say 7,000 settled there. State counted 285 mobile homes in the territories by December 1990, while a US consular report said there were as many as 600 mobile homes by the end of last year.

Andrea Barron is a member of the Jewish Committee for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.