Heavyweight-Hawks Hold Court On The Hill

By Eli Clifton

While House Resolution (HR) 867 condemning the Goldstone report passed 344-36 yesterday evening, members of the Israeli and American Jewish far-right held court on Capitol Hill at “The Jerusalem Conference”.

The event brought together some of the most hawkish American and Israeli voices to both issue their own condemnation of the Goldstone report and warn once more of the threat posed by a nuclear Iran.

Perhaps more important than what the speakers said—which rarely strayed from the anti-Goldstone, pro-Iran-sanctions line—was who the right-wing, pro-Israel organizers succeeded in attracting to their six hour conference. The speakers list alone was a statement of the group’s continued political muscle in Washington.

Co-sponsors of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), and the Committee’s Ranking Republican, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), as well as the co-sponsors of the Senate counterpart, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sen. Sam Brownback, filled out the first half of the program which focused on “Jerusalem-Protecting Its Remarkable Past and Future” and “Realities of the Middle East Process.”

Brownback got a standing ovation for announcing his intention to (re)introduce his Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act of 2009 Wednesday, only this time, he promised, the waiver provision that both Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush used to prevent the Act from actually being implemented — it would move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — will be removed.

The US legislators in the first half of the program–who bolstered their already impressive numbers with a “surprise” appearance by Sen. Daniel Innouye (D-HI) who spoke of his efforts to increase American aid to Israel–were balanced out by Israeli Cabinet Minister Yossi Peled, Israeli MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), and Lt. Colonel Jonathan D. Halevi. Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, who skipped the much larger J Street Conference last week, was scheduled to speak but scheduling constraints forced him to send a representative from the embassy in his place.

At the heart of the conference was the dual theme of condemning the Goldstone report and touting the various pending bills that would impose “crippling” sanctions against Iran if it did not abandon its nuclear program.

“In (both) Fallujah and in Gaza approximately 1000 terrorists were killed and in Fallujah approximately 6,000 civilians were killed,” extolled Ken Abramowitz, Managing General Partner of NGN Capital in New York and one of the Conference’s moderators. “And in Gaza three or four hundred (were killed), so I think it’s fair to say that in the operation in Gaza, Israel demonstrated the lowest level of civilian deaths per military deaths in the history of warfare in the history of the world. And it was criticized even though it exceeded the standard that no other army in the history of armies ever reached. So it’s just pure anti-Semitism,” he declared before entertaining questions for Lt. Col. (IDF res.) Jonathan D. Halevi, who had had himself extolled the exceptional morality of Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war in contradiction to the war crimes detailed in the Goldstone report.

Needless to say the audience which gathered for the conference did not choose to question the numbers thrown around by Abramowitz, nor did they, for that matter, question why neither the session on the war nor that on the (non-existent) peace process featured even one Palestinian speaker or discussant.

(Note: As reported in the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem estimated the civilian death toll in Gaza at 774.)

While Goldstone “debunking” was a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, the certainty of its condemnation by the House in Tuesday’s vote detracted somewhat from the dramatic tension. On the other hand, the specter of a nuclear Iran held the crowd in thrall, as speaker after speaker insisted that action was more urgent than ever.

“Don’t wait (to impose sanctions)… Use existing authority right now within the executive branch,” demanded Casey. “Be it the Treasury Department, or other ways to provide the kind of pressure that I think has to be applied to the regime!”

The third panel of the day, sponsored by the missile-defense-promoting Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), focused predictably on missile defense and was headlined by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AR), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) and Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-NV).

“We have no greater ally in the region than Israel, and it is in the interest of our own national security to stand with Israel,” Inhofe said. “This partnership is not a one-sided relationship. Israel has provided the United States military with invaluable technology such as the Hunter UAV, Bradley Reactive Armor Tiles, and the Lightning Pod. Our nation must maintain a close relationship with our friends in Israel, despite the fact that the current administration has demonstrated a willingness to work with those that stand opposed to Israel.”

“Today’s news that Hamas has used Iranian technology to improve their missile capabilities proves that we need a strong missile defense system that protects our allies, and more importantly, provides greater protection for the United States,” he continued. “The same enemies that threaten the existence of Israel also want to destroy America. Over the years, the United States has greatly benefited from cooperation with Israel on missile defense technologies, and we should continue this partnership. Instead, President Obama has cut funding for our missile defense systems, and ended the Third Site in Poland. Such action by the Obama administration puts the United States and our allies like Israel at greater risk.”

The Israeli perspective was represented by Israeli Cabinet Minister Yossi Peled, and Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser.

The final session of the day, ‘’Regional Threats to Global Security,’’ was headlined by Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Israeli Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

While speakers stayed on the relatively safe topics of Goldstone, Iran sanctions, and missile defense, the most noticeable element was the scheduled appearances of thirteen US senators or representatives (plus Daniel Innouye) during the six-hour conference. Between the decidedly one-sided vote on HR 867 condemning the Goldstone report and the display of political power reflected by the Jerusalem Conference’s speaker list, Tuesday was a day when the right-wing, pro-Israel lobby was shown at full-force on Capitol Hill.

Eli Clifton

Eli Clifton reports on money in politics and US foreign policy. He is a co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Eli previously reported for the American Independent News Network, ThinkProgress, and Inter Press Service.

SHOW 19 COMMENTS

19 Comments

  1. All those ‘hawks’ need to read the ‘dovish’ – but very forceful and militant – observations of the prophetic voices of the Hebrew Bible that constantly condemned any manifestation of ‘Zionism’ and called for the practice of ‘justice’ – ONLY justice. Only when that is pursued will there be any possibility of moving beyond the ‘mantra’ of talking primarily from the perspective of ‘security’ for the State of Israel. ‘Security’ – based on the domination of empire – is an idolatrous preoccupation!

  2. Jon Harrison says.., “Israel attacks Iran in 2011 – you read it here first”.

    That might be a “insider” information which generally comes from a source where the consequences are not considered.., however, if that happens ( Israel attacking Iran) then what..? I for one think that the world as we know it would end by 2012. The Bush war machinery and its apparatus’ like Paul Wolfowitz and others hade a plan, is was not a new but rather an old plan, to occupy entire middle east and the map would start from Palestine – Israel to Pakistan which would give “them” a military control of the Persian Gulf and somewhat Central Asia, the plan would be carried by the US army. US and British invasion of Afghanistan and then Iraq.., Israel attacking Lebanon combine with all other facts pointing to the Old Plan and its strategically importance.

    Israel is doing what it has been doing for years, land grabbing and making Israel bigger which in part is part of the plan for bigger, mightier and audacious Israel.., yet there are two obstacles in the heart of Middle East left to be conquered.., Iran and Syria. Here, if anyone for a moment thinks that: if Israel or US attacking Iran or Syria the Russians, Chinese the South American leftist government and others will be silent then they are making the biggest mistake in the of mankind time existence. What the rightwing Jewish, as they are called, “Hawks“, are doing is wait and see and make themselves heard, what the democrats, those who agrees with the “Hawks” are doing is what Bush did, in another word, they are preparing for the next disaster president to appear from yet another haven who would make the war with Iran, Syria, Russia, China and all leftist South American government a axes of the “neo evils” and give it a religious, political and economical legitimacy to attacking everyone who dose not agree with them.., the “Hawks“. Here and most of all what is bothering me is that they call it democracy, otherwise I truly don’t care what they do, I think there is enough monkeys in this world to restart a new mankind generation after we are go on. So good luck Israel – USA and G. Britain, Iran and good luck to the “Hawks“ in being such a wise guys.

  3. In Falluyah nobody knows how many were killed, just know that there were none phisycal space to dig them all. So, it was a lot, and probably 6000 is a approximated number. What we should stress here is the estrategy Israel is using; “I blame you that you are a killer bigger than me, so you have to help me”. And it is true, USA is killing more people than Israel, but that means both are CRIMINAL, not that one is better than other (1 million in Irak, unknow number in Afganistan, Paquistan, and etc..). Both are criminals, but Israel has been caught, and this is not antisemitism, is just the report has been written and presented to the UN. With time another report should be presented as well against USA and Europe. It is a question of time.

  4. Traitiors. Plain and simple, they’re sick, lying, murderous, traitors.

  5. “6,000 civilians were killed,” extolled Ken Abramowitz, Managing General Partner of NGN Capital in New York”

    This guy is more than willing to blame USA for war crimes in order to diminish Israel’s war crime and he said it in front of US officials and in USA not in Israel or elswhere.
    Wake up slaves…Israel is your master and they are ordering you to protect them and fight wars for them.

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