US tried to promote Likud-Fatah parley a decade ago
Published by Avi Green on Friday, February 06, 2009 at 1:51 AM.
A short time ago, there was a scandal of an auction sale of US Consulate documents discovered (and I'm guessing the MSM hasn't reported it yet). Now, some more has been discovered: the US was trying to interfere in the Likud's internal affairs:
(IsraelNN.com) Documents found in the bungled United States Consulate auction sale reveal a mammoth American effort for an overseas tour of Likud and Fatah youth leaders in 1997-1998 while the Fatah-led Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades terrorist group carried out a series of suicide bombings in Jerusalem.Erdan was correct to object to this throughly unacceptable intrusion. Of course, all members of the Likud youth movement should flatly object to such meetings, and refuse to attend any of them, if what the Clinton administration was doing was drawing moral equations.
The Americans paid out more than $185,000 for the tours, which included trips to Cyprus and the United States, complete with meetings with senior Congressmen and provisions for enjoying the World Cup on television.
Ten years later, the American government still is trying to promote joint meetings. Last December, ACYPL hosted six young PA leaders - without a Jewish party - in Washington for a 10-day State Department-funded program "following Phase I of the Likud-Fatah dialogue."
[...]
American officials engineered the event despite protests from Likud officials that it directly intervened in Israel's political affairs and that it worked around Likud opposition to the event's taking place outside Israel.
A USIA document shows how the Americans pressed ahead with the program despite objections from Likud Youth Wing leader Gilad Erdan, now a Likud Knesset Member.
In April 1998, a USIA document states, "Arden [sic] said it would be a big problem to move ahead on this seminar…We then discusses the situation with Arden's predecessor [Uri Aloni who] felt strongly that his response should not be permitted to derail the overall initiative."
All six of the Fatah participants had been imprisoned from two to eight years for links with terrorist attacks on Israelis. The USIS pointed out that ineligibility should be waived for one of the participants because "no one was hurt" in his firebombing attacks although a judge had stated, "It was only luck that no one hurt."
[...]
The series of dialogues included a meeting in Ramallah, which was called off due to a suicide bombing in Jerusalem.
Erdan complained at the time to then-American Ambassador that the Jerusalem Consulate intervened in Likud's affairs.
"The consul assured me that the program would be frozen for the moment" because of the event's taking place outside of the U.S. Erdan wrote. "To my astonishment, I learned…that your Embassy has arranged travel to the U.S…. Young Likud protests strongly against this deliberate intrusion by the Consulate into the internal affairs of the Likud."
Labels: Israel, political corruption, United States
