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Friday November 9, 2007

Jewish interests divided over Annapolis

by ron kampeas
jta

The buildup to the U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian summit likely to be convened later this month in Annapolis, Md., has set off a flurry of lobbying efforts throughout the Jewish community.

A newly formed coalition of Orthodox and right-wing organizations dedicated to preserving Israeli sovereignty over all of Jerusalem held meetings last week in Washington with White House officials and members of both houses of Congress.

The Zionist Organization of America, one of the groups in the Coordinating Council on Jerusalem coalition, is spearheading support for a nonbinding congressional resolution introduced this week that calls on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to renounce the charter of his Fatah party approved more than 40 years ago. Abbas reportedly will quit his post if the peace parley fails.

On the other end of the political spectrum, a triumvirate of dovish pro-Israel groups — Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom and the Israel Policy Forum — is strongly backing the Annapolis meeting.

They see the summit, which is expected to be held under the aegis of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as an opportunity to kick-start the long-dormant peace process.

The three organizations have lobbied hard for a letter to Rice initiated by Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) who is Jewish, and Charles Boustany (R-La.), an Arab American, that calls for increased assistance to the Palestinian Authority as a means of facilitating reforms.

The Ackerman-Boustany letter, which has garnered 87 signatures in the House of Representatives, is backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

AIPAC’s emphasis, however, is on another letter sent to Rice by Sens. Charles Schume (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) asking her to ensure the active participation of Arab nations at Annapolis.

The letter stated that “in the past, the lack of sufficient support from some of these Arab states have made it difficult to reach earlier agreements.”

Some observers say the variety of approaches is the product of uncertainty over the participants, parameters and objectives of the conference.

“There’s no issue yet. There’s no proposal just yet,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice-chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

His concern is that the vacuum could create unreasonable expectations among the Palestinians and that disappointment could lead to violence.

Despite the many question marks regarding the Annapolis summit, it seems likely that the Israelis and Palestinians will tackle major issues — including Jerusalem.

This week Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert finally stepped out from behind proxies and declared that final-status issues would be addressed.

“Annapolis will be the jumping-off point for continued serious and in-depth negotiations which will not avoid any issue or ignore any division which has clouded our relations with the Palestinian people for many years,” he said.

If talk of dividing or sharing Jerusalem does come up, it appears that Olmert should expect strong protests, at least from some corners of the American Jewish community.

“The left has never had a problem advocating against Israel’s policies, and religious organizations have been more deferential to the government of Israel,” said Jeff Ballabon, a founder of the newly formed Jerusalem coalition.

The watershed, Ballabon said, was the recently hastened pace of peacemaking that many in the Orthodox and right-wing pro-Israel communities see as catastrophic.

In addition to religious and ideological objections, he said, members of the coalition feel vindicated and inspired to speak out by the fallout from Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which has since fallen into the hands of Hamas and continues to serve as a base for rocket attacks on southern Israel.

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