Israel inhabits a "dangerous neighborhood"- now, so does the USA. The globe.
On Mar 23, 3:42 pm, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > which church are you refering to? > > Jewish Pressure on Clinton Moves Fugitive Marc Rich From “Most Wanted” > to “Most Want to Forget” List > > By Delinda C. Hanley > > A quiet but nasty tug-of-war has broken out among Washington insiders > and Jewish community activists over the role played by Israel in > President Clinton’s decision to pardon fugitive billionaire Marc Rich. > The Jan. 20 pardon has touched off a storm of protests. It followed > extensive lobbying by Israeli and American Jewish leaders. More than > 100 letters were written on Mr. Rich’s behalf, almost half from > Israelis, according to a list obtained by Forward. The aftermath is > fast turning into a free-for-all involving the lead players of some of > the messiest Washington feuds of the last decade.” > > —Forward, Feb. 16, 2001 > > Fugitive commodities trader Marc Rich was one of 140 people Bill > Clinton pardoned during his last hours as president. Rich, 66, was > charged in 1982 with the largest tax-evasion scheme in U.S. history, > having evaded more than $48 million in income taxes. In 1983 Rich was > indicted on 51 additional counts of racketeering and wire fraud. Rich > also violated the Trading with the Enemy Act by conducting business > with Iran, even as U.S. embassy staff were being held hostage. In > 1983, Rich fled to Switzerland, never serving a day in jail. > > After fleeing the United States, Rich became an Israeli citizen and a > major benefactor of Jewish charitable organizations, giving nearly $80 > million to Israeli hospitals, museums, orchestras, and universities. A > 1999 profile in the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv called Rich “the biggest > donor to artistic and cultural institutions in Israel” over the past > 15 years. Cultural and educational institutions in Israel had no > problem accepting money that was supposed to go into U.S. tax coffers. > > In the U.S. Rich’s generosity includes $5 million pledged to > Birthright Israel, which has sent 17,000 young American Jews on free > trips to Israel. > > According to Avner Azoulay, formerly with the Mossad, who runs Rich’s > foundation in Israel, the trader also helped Mossad search for missing > Israeli soldiers and brought dozens of Jews from Ethiopia and Yemen to > Israel. He may have been entangled in a failed 1992 Israeli agreement > with North Korea whereby the Asian country would cease selling long- > range ballistic missiles to Middle Eastern states in exchange for $100 > million in Israeli investments and mining aid. > > Americans want to know if there was a money-for–pardon deal. Rich’s ex- > wife, songwriter Denise Rich, a major Democratic fund-raiser, > contributed $450,000 to Clinton’s presidential library foundation and > more than $1 million to Clinton’s campaign coffers. Did that money > actually come from Marc Rich? There is little doubt that Rich’s > charitable contributions helped produce letters to Clinton from dozens > of Israeli and American Jewish leaders. The letters came from what The > New York Times called “a virtual Who’s Who of Israeli society and > Jewish philanthropy.” > > America’s outrage over the pardons caught the Jewish community by > surprise, and there was some backpedaling from leaders who earlier had > supported Rich’s case. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Reform > movement’s Union of American Hebrew Congregations, was critical of > Jewish lobbying on Rich’s behalf. He charged in a Washington Jewish > Week article that the Jewish community was “bought” and that its > leaders failed an “important moral test.” > > The Jewish weeklies moaned about two “stationery mix-ups.” According > to a March 1 Washington Jewish Week article, Marlen Post, chair of > Birthright Israel and a past president of Hadassah, mistakenly sent a > “first-draft” of her letter on Hadassah stationery instead of > Birthright stationery. Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, chair of the > U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, meant to use Jewish Life Network > letterhead instead of Council stationery. Hadassah and the Holocaust > Memorial Council—the organization that oversees the taxpayer-supported > Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC—were embarrassed that they had > appeared to support a pardon. > > Michael Schneider, executive vice president of the American Jewish > Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), said his organization was a > recipient of donations from the Rich Foundation. He was “very > surprised,” however, to learn that a letter thanking Rich for a > donation in December 2000 was included in a packet of similar letters > sent to the White House in support of a presidential pardon for Rich. > The Feb. 23 Forward quotes Schneider as saying, “It wasn’t exactly > correct to use our letter in such a way.” > > In addition to urging from Clinton’s American Jewish constituents, > Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben Ami, > Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, and the former head of Mossad, Shabtai > Shavit, also lobbied for the pardon. Clinton’s aides have told > lawmakers that it was Barak’s support of Rich’s petition that was key > to its success. Barak talked to the president about it as many as four > times.Joseph diGenova, the attorney representing Rich’s lawyer before > congressional investigators, told Forward that it was Israel’s direct, > heavy involvement that won the pardon. > > In a Feb. 19 New York Times op-ed essay, former President Clinton > tried to explain to the American people why he pardoned Rich. After > enumerating seven reasons relating to Rich’s prosecution, Clinton > said: “Finally, and importantly, many present and former high-ranking > Israeli officials of both major political parties, and leaders of > Jewish communities in America and Europe, urged the pardon of Mr. Rich > because of his contributions and services to Israeli charitable > causes, to the Mossad’s efforts to rescue and evacuate Jews from > hostile countries, and to the peace process through sponsorship of > education and health programs in Gaza and the West Bank.” > > Clinton’s op-ed piece triggered harsh criticism from right-wing Jewish > opinion makers, including those who have been among the most hawkishly > pro-Israel. William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, put it > bluntly. “He tried to blame it all on the Jews,” Kristol told the New > York Observer. “Playing the Jewish card like this is a new low, even > for Clinton.” > > Rabbi Hier in the Feb. 23 issue of Detroit’s Jewish Week, called the > president’s statement “absolutely troublesome to me as a Jew. It opens > the door to anti-Semites. It feeds into the idea that Jews control > everything, control the world, control the White House. He’s dumping a > lot of garbage on the doorstep of his friends, the Jews.” > > Ronald Lauder and Malcolm Hoenlein, chairman and executive vice > president respectively of the Conference of Presidents of Major > American Jewish Organizations, were outraged by the op-ed and accused > Clinton of “scapegoating” Jews. > > Others thought it was Clinton who was the victim of scapegoating. “For > Jewish leaders to blame President Clinton for their behavior is > outrageous,” Martin Begun, the head of the New York Jewish Community > Relations Council, told the Observer. “If Clinton used poor judgment, > that’s one thing—but for them to apply pressure on him and then blame > him for inciting anti-Semitic behavior is a baffling twist of logic. > The poor man was pressured to death.” > > “The notion appears to be that Mr. Clinton’s citing of Jewish and > Israeli support for Mr. Rich’s pardon…was an anti-Semitic attempt to > blame history’s eternal victims for his own wrongdoing,” a March 4 > Forward editorial chided. “Politics, lobbying and fund-raising operate > by their own sets of rules. Jewish advocacy has flourished under these > rules; when Jewish activists stumble, they should take their hits. For > Jews to have lobbied a president, and then to cry ‘scapegoat’ when he > acknowledges their appeals, is disingenuous,” the Forward editorial > concluded. > > Jewish leaders constantly remind Americans that Israel and the U.S. > share “common values,” but in recent times they all seem to value the > dollar more than honor or integrity. A Ha’aretz article by Joseph > Alpher reprinted in the March 4 Forward sums up Israel’s recent > actions that have resulted in a public relations nightmare and made > many Americans question Israel’s values. “Prior to the collective > effort to secure a pardon for Mr. Rich was Israel’s attempt to sell > its Phalcon espionage plane to China in total disregard for the > protests made by both the Pentagon and Congress. Even Israel’s > handling of the current al-Aqsa intifada—especially the economic > closure of the territories and the assassination of key Palestinians— > is increasingly being regarded in Washington as running counter to > those commonly held values. In the background there is, of course, the > Pollard affair itself. The fact that both Pollard and Mr. Rich are > American Jews could harden attitudes toward Israel even among members > of the American Jewish community, which is Israel’s second-most- > important strategic ally—at least among those members of the community > who were not themselves dazzled by Mr. Rich’s philanthropy.” > > Some Jewish activists protested that Israeli and Jewish pressure for > Rich’s pardon should have been directed toward a pardon for convicted > American spy Jonathan Pollard, who is serving his 16th year for spying > for Israel. Yediot Achronot quotes former White House officials as > saying that Rich’s people pushed Barak to link the pardon for Rich > with a pardon for Pollard: “They were counting on Clinton not freeing > Pollard and on giving them the pardon for Rich as a consolation > prize.” > > In a separate Yediot interview, Pollard said he was stunned by Rich’s > pardon. “For 16 years I have been waving the flag of Israel, crying > out to the ... > > read more » --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
