The following article is extracted from the
July-August 1997
issue of
THE OTHER ISRAEL
Pulling the purse strings
The coincidence of the three issues enabled Netanyahu to start a propaganda
campaign in the Western media, in an effort to regain some of the ground lost to
the Palestinians since CNN broadcast live the entry of the bulldozers to Har
Homa. This was aimed especially at one of the few forums congenial to Netanyahu
-- the United States Congress, mirror image of the UN General Assembly as far as
Middle East issues are concerned. While the Clinton Administration's support of
Netanyahu had been reluctant and full of reservations, many of the leading
figures on Capitol Hill seemed to fully share Netanyahu's own attitudes.
The House passed by an overwhelming majority a resolution supporting Israeli
rule over "United Jerusalem", in a session replete with anti-Palestinian
speeches -- a nice propaganda victory which Netanyahu needed very much, and more
than that. For unlike the U.N. Assembly General with its non-binding
resolutions, the U.S. Congress possesses a quite binding control over the purse
strings of foreign aid.
This power Netanyahu proceeded to use, with his friends in Congress
threatening to cut off aid to both Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, unless
the two showed themselves more "accommodating." Under the shadow of that threat,
Netanyahu agreed to accept the mediation of Egypt -- whose traditional support
of the Palestinian cause was expected to be offset by the apprehension of losing
the annual two billion Dollars which had been the mainstay of the Egyptian
economy in the past two decades.
But Netanyahu's blackmail tactics so far gained him only meager results.
Under the pressure of Congress -- applied both directly and via Egypt -- the
Palestinians once again consented to hold meetings between their Heads of
Security and the Israeli counterparts. But when Netanyahu aides announced
triumphantly that "the Palestinians had resumed security cooperation, in spite
of Har Homa" they were soon confronted with new outbreaks of violence at Hebron,
highly visible on the Israeli and international TV screens.
In any case, the ability of Congress to maintain its pressure is limited by
the consideration that, should either Mubarak or Arafat fall, they are likely to
be replaced by their respective Muslim oppositions -- an outcome far from
serving U.S. interests.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu himself did not emerge unscathed from his tampering with
the U.S. foreign aid. When the idea came up in the State Department to grant
U.S. economic aid to Jordan, a country which so far derived little economic
benefit from its peace treaty with Israel, Netanyahu was reminded of the rash
pledge he had made in 1996 to "gradually phase out American aid to Israel" and
asked to "donate" to Jordan fifty million Dollars out of Israel's share of the
foreign aid budget.
In itself, fifty million Dollars is a minute sum out of three billion -- and
giving them to Jordan at this particular juncture seemed a good way of
dissuading Amman from being too outspoken in support of the Palestinians* -- but
the precedent of a cut in U.S. aid to Israel, for the first time in decades,
might haunt Netanyahu and his successors in years to come.
* For the same reason, Netanyahu consented to give Jordan
considerable quantities of water from the Israeli Sea of Galilee, under a clause
in the Israeli-Jordanian Peace treaty which was hitherto not fulfilled -- thus
nipping in the bud a crisis in Israeli-Jordanian relations which might have
ranged Jordan solidly on the side of the Palestinians.
The Editors
THE OTHER ISRAEL
is the newsletter of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
P.O.Box 2542
58125 Holon
Israel.
Phone/Fax: (03) 5565804
Editor: Adam Keller
Coeditor: Beate Zilversmidt
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