No big surprise. Congress is supporting the Israeli inflexibility about the Palestinian unity deal even as the White House is being cautious, and Israeli P.M. Netanyahu is flipping out.
Appreciate the strong statements today from both sides of the aisle in Congress against the new Hamas-backed Palestinian unity government
— Amb. Ron Dermer (@AmbDermer) June 3, 2014
Steny Hoyer, the Democratic whip:
Decision by Abbas to invite terrorist org Hamas to join new Palestinian unity gov doesn’t advance the cause of peace http://t.co/QsTO4UjXo7 — Steny Hoyer (@WhipHoyer) June 2, 2014
Liberal Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand made much the same statement when the deal was first announced.
The Israel lobby group AIPAC is telling the Congress to cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority:
The embrace of the notorious Islamist terrorist organization is a disturbing setback to peace…
U.S. law is clear – no funds can be provided to a Palestinian government in which Hamas participates or has undue influence. We now urge Congress to conduct a thorough review of continued U.S. assistance to the Palestinian Authority to ensure that the law is completely followed and implemented.
Senator Mark Kirk and Marco Rubio echoed the AIPAC demand. New York Democratic Rep Nita Lowey said that US funding is now “in jeopardy.”
But the White House is taking a wait-and-see approach and saying approving things about the nature of the new government. From the State Department briefing yesterday, here’s the US government position, stated by Jen Psaki (at 32:00 or so above):
At this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an interim technocratic government that does not include ministers affiliated with Hamas. Moving forward, we will be judging this government by its actions. Based on what we know now, we intend to work with this government, but we’ll be watching closely to ensure that it upholds the principles that President Abbas reiterated today.
Does that mean that you intend to continue disbursing U.S. foreign assistance?
It does, but we will continue to evaluate the composition and policies of the new government and calibrate our approach accordingly.
John Kerry advised Netanyahu of the U.S. position with a phone call. AP’s Matt Lee quipped:
“I’m surprised we didn’t hear the yelling from Jerusalem here in Washington.”
Now here is some of Netanyahu’s bloodcurdling tweeting on the subject:
RT THIS: Meet President Abbas’ new partners: Hamas militants use children and women as “human shields” pic.twitter.com/t08JDpr2sY — PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 2, 2014
What the world thinks about Abu Mazen’s new partner – Hamas is a global terror organization. pic.twitter.com/4m8SzTwW83 — PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 2, 2014
Hamas announcement after signing pact with Palestinian President Abbas: We will never recognize Israel. pic.twitter.com/SwrEEczQat — PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 2, 2014
RT THIS: Meet President Abbas’ new partners: Hamas suicide bombers murdered hundreds of Israelis. pic.twitter.com/B0BLi3823L — PM of Israel (@IsraeliPM) June 2, 2014
PM Netanyahu: I call the intl community not to run to recognize the Palestinian government of which Hamas is a part and which rests on Hamas — Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) June 1, 2014
“Can you believe these people denouncing the unity government and saying the US should defund the PA when the Israeli government contains major officials who want to annex the West Bank?” writes a friend. J St is also walking on egg shells on this issue.
Here is the J Street statement, focused principally on Israel’s security, as usual. Excerpt:
J Street condemns the recent statement by Hamas’s Prime Minister in Gaza Ismael Haniyeh that, “Palestinian reconciliation aims to unite the Palestinian people against the prime enemy, the Zionist enemy. It aims to pursue the choice of resistance and steadfastness.”
Neither Israel nor the United States can do business with Hamas until it accepts Israel’s right to exist and renounces violence.
[But J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami said,] “It would be a mistake for either the United States or Israel to take rash punitive actions against the Palestinians that will only hurt their own interests and set back hopes of resuming peace negotiations.”
Ben–Ami added: “Israelis have benefited enormously from the day-to-day cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces and other official contacts and this should not be sacrificed. The last thing anyone needs to do is rush to cut off aid which could defund Palestinian security forces, destabilize the fragile Palestinian economy and lead to an increase in instability in the West Bank.”
Time for Obama to exercise his position as Chief Executive.
“Foreign Policy Powers
The president or his designated representative, such as the Secretary of State, has the exclusive authority to communicate with other nations, recognize foreign governments, receive ambassadors, and make executive agreements. Throughout U.S. history, Congress and the courts have granted the president great deference in conducting foreign policy. This deference is based, in part, on the need for one person, rather than 535 members of Congress, to represent and speak for a national constituency.
…
In addition to the authority to recognize foreign governments, the president is empowered by Article II to make treaties with foreign nations, subject to the consent of the Senate. A treaty is an agreement between two or more nations containing promises to behave in specified ways.
Executive agreements are international compacts that the president makes with foreign nations without the approval of the Senate. They do not have the same legal status as treaties unless they are subsequently ratified by the Senate. The Constitution does not expressly give the president the power to make executive agreements. However, this power has been inferred from the president’s general constitutional authority over foreign affairs. At one time, executive agreements involved minor matters, such as postal relations and the use of radio frequencies. Since the 1930s, however, presidents have negotiated important foreign policy issues through these agreements rather than through treaties. The Supreme Court has recognized that an executive agreement is legally equivalent to a treaty and therefore the supreme law of the land. Executive agreements enable the president to achieve results while avoiding the uncertainty of treaty ratification.”
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Foreign+Policy+Powers
“U.S. law is clear – no funds can be provided to a Palestinian government in which Hamas participates or has undue influence..”
What disingenuous logic. US law drafted and pushed by AIPAC being used as a reason by AIPAC s to why the US cannot deal with the new Palestinian government.
I got an idea. Why not cut off aid to Israel? In fact, why not demand repayment of the hundreds of billions the unwitting US taxpayer has sent off to Israel?
Let them pull the PA funding. Let the PA and security cooperation collapse.
Not only the WH, but the US Congress dogs loyal only to Netanyahoo have come against China, India, the EU and Switzerland. All who just came out in support of the Palestinian Unity Government and what it is now.
These cretins in the US Congress are like Pavlov’s dogs and cannot change their reactions. They will do whatever their masters in Israel tell them.
And like beaten dogs, they are afraid to go against their master.
Let’s see: the Israelis have used Palestinians as human shields, the I”D”F is the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, the ruling regime in the Zionist entity has said it would never recognize a Palestinian state and the I”D”F terrorists are responsible for murdering thousands of innocent Palestinans and oppressing millions more.
It’s time to condemn and reject the rule of Zionists over Palestine.