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BUSH GOVERNMENT LIKELY TO BE GREAT INFLUENCED
BY HAWKISH JEWISH/ZIONIST PERSONS AT SENIOR LEVELS
BUSH HIMSELF A CONFIDANT OF ARIEL SHARON
"In the end, Bush may be surrounded by
even more pro-Israel advisers than
Gore would have been."
MID-EAST REALITIES © - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 12/17:
As hard as it may be to believe, the Jewish and Zionist influence on the incoming
Bush Administration is likely to be as great, if not greater, than that of the
outgoing Clinton/Gore government. There will be a couple of differences:
* Those involved with the new Bush government will not be as out-front in the
very top positions as has been the case with Clinton. But their influence at
senior levels just below Cabinet Rank and as advisers to the top people will
be at least as great.
* Those involved with the new Bush government are from the more hawkish elements
of American Jewry usually associated with the Likud in Israel and in some cases
the Zionist Organization of American and the Jewish Federation in the US. Those
with Clinton tended to be associated with Israel's Labor party and its offshoot
"Peace Now".
* Bush himself has visited Israel where he became a confidant of Ariel Sharon
who personally gave him a tour of "Judea and Samaria". This was carefully downplayed
by all during the campaign, the Likud eager to see the Bush/Cheney/Powell team
come to power but even so apprehensive about the predicament Israel is now in
and the pressures the U.S. might feel the need to bring at times in view of regional
American interests and public relations considerations. Moreover, the Likud
is also well aware that the great majority of American Jews did not vote for
Bush and that enhanced "hasbara" (propaganda) efforts will be needed to keep
American Jews in line, especially should Sharon become Prime Minister.
This article from The Jewish Chronicle is just a start in uncovering the extremely
close relations that exist between persons usually associated with the right
wing of the Jewish affairs in the U.S. and the more hawkish elements surrounding
the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the other organizations
that make up the Israeli/Jewish lobby in Washington. Expect much more in the
weeks and months ahead. But certainly do not expect the U.S. to move in the
direction of France and Germany who are now limited arms sales to Israel (in
large part in order to court more lucrative arms sales to the Arabs).
JEWS TO THE FORE IN THE LIKELY BUSH CABINET
Martin Sieff / Washington
[Jewish Chronicle - 15 December) IT IS yet another paradox in a presidential
campaign year that has abounded with them: Texas Governor George W. Bush won
less than 20 per cent of the Jewish American vote, and far more Arab-American
votes than his opponent, Vice-President Al Gore. Yet in the end, Bush may be
surrounded by even more pro-Israel advisers than Gore would have been.
His top two foreign-policy officials are expected to be African-Americans - General
Colin Powell, former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as Secretary of State; and Condoleeza
Rice, former head of the Soviet desk at the National Security Council, as National
Security Adviser. Both have strong Jewish connections.
Powell, the son of Jamaican immigrants, speaks Yiddish, which he learned as a
boy while working for a Jewish grocer in New York City.
He has won the hearts of American Jewish audiences, including those at the annual
policy conferences of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, with a fluency
few of them could have matched.
General Powell was an advocate of sending Patriot anti-ballistic missile batteries
to defend Israel from Iraqi Scud attacks during the 1991 Gulf War. He has always
shown strong sympathy with the Jewish state.
Ms Rice numbers among her own close advisers Richard Haas, director of foreign
policy and security studies t Washington's prestigious Brookings Institution,
and Dov Zakheim, former deputy under-secretary of defence under President Reagan.
Both are Jewish. Zakheim, in fact, has semichah.
He and another prominent Jewish Republican, Paul Wolfowitz, former deputy-secretary
of defence under President George Bush, have been in Governor Bush and Ms Rice's
inner circle of advisers - nicknamed "The Magnificent Seven."
If the younger Bush is confirmed as president by the Electoral College on December
18, Wolfowitz can look forward to cabinet rank, and Zakheim a high sub-cabinet
posting - probably as a deputy to the Secretary of Defence. Bush is seeking to
recruit a Democratic senator for that post.
Mr Wolfowitz, who had his eyes set on becoming Secretary of Defence, looks like
being moved sideways - possible as director of the CIA, still a powerful post.
Colin Powell has always been close to Governor Bush's vice-presidential nominee,
Dick Cheney. Cheney, as President Bush's Secretary of Defence, was broadly sympathetic
to Israel - if strongly opposed to releasing convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard,
who has served 15 years of a life sentence.
If Bush is confirmed, one familiar face from Middle East policy-making will finally
be missing after more
than a decade in that role. Wolfowitz, Zakheim and other key Bush advisers are
said to want to replace US peace negotiator Dennis Ross, who has already announced
he did not wish to stay on in the post. Mr Ross, however, may be replaced by
another Jewish policy expert, with Mr Haas seen as a front-runner.
Former US Secretary of State James Baker - bete noire to pro-Israel activists
during George Bush Sr's administration - has been key in the younger Bush's transition
team. But Neither General Powell nor Ms Rice is said to favour his having a major
foreign-policy role.
FRANCE AND GERMANY STOP ARMS SALES TO ISRAEL
(including non-lethal crowd control devices)
By Nicole Krau
[Ha'aretz - 17 December 2000]:
Since the outbreak of violence in the territories, in late September, France
and Germany have initiated an undeclared embargo on Israel, refusing to
export defense equipment and materials.
Tomer Avnon, the CEO of TAR Ideal Concept, a company which imports defense
materials for Israel's security forces, says that attempts to acquire a new
smoke-grenade, made by the German firm, Buck, met with refusal. Buck, which
is represented by TAR in Israel, sent a notice saying that at this time it
is impossible to gain an export license from the German government
permitting the sale of defense equipment and materials to Israel.
Avnon had already experienced a similar problem, at the onset of the
Intifada, with a French company called Nobel Securite, from which he sought
to purchase tear-gas grenades for the Israeli police.
According to Le Monde, Israel intended to buy 100,000 grenades at a cost of
$6 million. However, the French Foreign Ministry and the inter-ministerial
committee dealing with exports of military hardware and materials, blocked
the sale, without specifying any reason for their decision. The report adds
that France was concerned with its image if it was seen as selling Israel
weapons to fight the Palestinians. Avnon told Ha'aretz that his company
sought the assistance of MKs and the defense attache based in Paris;
however, the efforts met with no response.
MiD-EasT RealitieS - www.MiddleEast.Org
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