1.  Bills & Resolutions

(Gaza Flotilla) H. Res. 1440: Introduced 6/14/10 by Rep. Weiner (D-NY) and no cosponsors, to support Israel in its right to defend itself and "affirms that the blame for the death of nine flotilla members lies only with the Free Gaza movement and that all other attempts to break Israel's blockade of Gaza shall be considered by the United States to be illegal and a threat to international peace." Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
 
(Iran) S. Res. 551:  Introduced 6/14/10 by Sen. Kaufman (D-DE) and having 10 cosponsors, "A resolution marking the one year anniversary of the June 12, 2009, presidential election in Iran, and condemning ongoing human rights abuses in Iran."  Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent 6/14/10.
 
(Iran) H. Res. XXX: The House is scheduled the week of 6/21/10 (on Wednesday or Thursday) to bring to the floor under suspension of the rules a resolution (not yet introduced, so no resolution number) offered by Rep. Costa (D-CA), "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on the one-year anniversary of the Government of Iran's manipulation of Iranian elections, on the Government of Iran's continued denial of human rights and democracy to the people of Iran, and on the Government of Iran's continued pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability."
 
(Israel Aid/Rescissions) HR 5541 & 5541: Introduced 6/16/10 by Rep. Blackburn (R-TN) and no cosponsors, calling for 1 percent and 5 percent (respectively) "across-the-board rescissions in non-defense, non-homeland-security, and non-veterans-affairs discretionary spending for each of the fiscal years 2010 and 2011."  Rep. Blackburn regularly introduces such language either in the form of freestanding bills or amendments to appropriations bills.  Referred to the House Committee on Appropriations. NOTE:  As written, if either of these rescissions bills were to become law, they would apply to Israel assistance, which is included in the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill.  The Blackburn language stipulates that the only appropriations not targeted by the bill are:  "(1) any account included in a Department of Defense Appropriations Act;  (2) any account included in a Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act;  (3) any account of the Department of Defense or the Department of Veterans Affairs included in a Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act; or (4) any account for Department of Energy defense activities included in an Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act."  That said, given that US aid to Israel is handed over to Israel in a lump sum within 30 days of the ForOps bill becoming law, it would be impossible to implement any rescission in Israel aid, even if Congress passed such a bill into law.
 
2.  More Aftermath of the Gaza Flotilla
 
Statements
 
Over the past 10 days it became increasingly clear that, as a result of the flotilla and the attention it to the situation in Gaza, Israel would be significantly loosening the blockade on civilian goods coming into Gaza.  This was evident as early as 6/15/10, when Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told government ministers that while he opposed lifting the naval blockade, "I have no problem with easing the restrictions on the shipment of goods from Israel to Gaza. The smuggling that endangers Israel is taking place through tunnels in Sinai" (a position quite similar to the one articulated by APN in our Q&A on the blockade).  This shift in the Israeli position culminated in a 6/20/10 Israeli Cabinet statement laying out changes in Israel's policy toward Gaza.
 
Notwithstanding this public evolution in the Israeli position, members of Congress continued to line up to get statements in support of the wholesale blockade of Gaza, and in support of the view that every aspect of the blockade represents Israel's right to defend itself, into the Congressional Record.   AIPAC's list of statements, updated as of 6/17/10, can be read here.
 
House letter (Poe-Peters)
 
As noted in last week's Round-Up, on 6/4/10 Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) began circulating a Dear Colleague letter seeking cosigners on a letter to President Obama regarding the flotilla.  By 6/14/10 this letter had transformed into a Poe-Peters letter (Peters, D-MI), and the language had been tweaked to add some tougher verbiage, including the demand that the US protect Israel from any international condemnation, including at the UN (along the lines of language in the Reid-McConnell letter, below).  The Poe-Peters letter now appears on the AIPAC website.  While an updated Dear Colleague circulated on 6/14/10 indicated that the letter had only 10 cosigners, as of 6/18/10 that number had risen to 279, according to a list of signers posted on AIPAC's website.
 
Senate Letter (Reid-McConnell)
 
On 6/10/10, Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) began circulating a Dear Colleague letter seeking cosigners on a letter to President Obama. The deadline for signing was 6/16/10, but that date appears to have been flexible.  As of mid-day on 6/17/10, according to the AIPAC website, 56 Senators had signed the letter; an updated list on AIPAC's site, dated 6/18/10, indicated that as of that date 85 Senators had signed the letter. The text of the letter is as follows:
 
Dear Mr. President:
 
We write to affirm our support for our strategic partnership with Israel, and encourage you to continue to do so before international organizations such as the United Nations.  The United States has traditionally stood with Israel because it is in our national security interest and must continue to do so.
 
Israel is our strongest ally in the Middle East and a vibrant democracy.  Israel is also a partner to the United States on military and intelligence issues in this critical region.  That is why it is our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.  Israel's opponents have developed clever diplomatic and tactical ploys to challenge its international standing, whether the effort to isolate Israel at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference or the recent effort to breach the naval blockade around Gaza.
 
We fully support Israel's right to self-defense.  In response to thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel took steps to prevent items which could be used to support these attacks from reaching Gaza.  Israel's naval blockade, which is legal under international law, allows Israel to keep dangerous goods from entering Gaza by sea.  The intent of the measures is to protect Israel, while allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza.
 
Late last month when Israel learned that groups operating in Turkey wanted to challenge its blockade of Gaza, Israel made every effort to ensure that all humanitarian aid reached Gaza without needlessly precipitating a confrontation.  Israeli forces were able to safely divert five of the six ships challenging the blockade.  However, video footage shows that the Israeli commandos who arrived on the sixth ship, which was owned by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (the IHH), were brutally attacked with iron rods, knives, and broken glass. They were forced to respond to that attack and we regret the loss of life that resulted.  
 
We are deeply concerned about the IHH's role in this incident and have additional questions about Turkey and any connections to Hamas.   The IHH is a member of a group of Muslim charities, the Union of Good, which was designated by the US Treasury Department as a terrorist organization.  The Union of Good was created by and strongly supports Hamas, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department.  We recommend that your administration consider whether the IHH should be put on the list of foreign terrorist organizations, after an examination by the intelligence community, the State Department, and the Treasury Department.
 
We commend the action you took to prevent the adoption of an unfair United Nations Security Council resolution, which would have represented a rush to judgment by the international community.  We also deplore the actions of the United Nations Human Rights Council which, once again, singled out Israel.  Israel has announced its intention to promptly carry out a thorough investigation of this incident and has the right to determine how its investigation is conducted.  In the meantime, we ask you to stand firm in the future at the United Nations Security Council and to use your veto power, if necessary, to prevent any similar biased or one-sided resolutions from passing.
 
Finally, we believe that this incident should not derail the current proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We hope that these talks will move quickly to direct negotiations and ultimately, to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. 
 
3.  Iran Sanctions and State-of-play on the Hill
 
This week's House schedule includes the following notice:  "Possible Consideration of the Conference Report on H.R. 2194 - Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (Rep. Berman - Foreign Affairs)."
 
Pressure continues to be placed on Congressional leaders to pass HR 2194 and send it to the President.  And Congress, by and large, continues to dismiss the recently passed UN sanctions.  On 6/17/10 Senator Kyl (R-AZ) went so far as to state that "...it is imperative, in view of the feckless action by the Security Council, and the timid actions by the administration on unilateral designations yesterday, that Congress act without further delay to pass this new legislation to impose crippling sanctions on Iran."
 
Following the UN Security Council resolution imposing harsh new sanctions on Iran, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced that it will hold a hearing on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. The hearing will cover Iran Policy in the aftermath of the sanctions. Witnesses so far include, Department of State Under Secretary for Political Affairs William Burns and Treasury Under Secretary for Enforcement Stuart Levey.  To read APN's statement regarding the UN sanctions on Iran, click here.
 
4. With Friends Like This... Broun (R-GA) on God's Punishment for Turning Our Back on Israel 
 
On June 15, Congressman Broun (R-GA) delivered a Biblical lesson on the House floor on the need to support Israel - ending with a threat that if the US doesn't support Israel sufficiently, God will turn his back on the United States.
 
"...in Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, God tells Abraham that he will bless the nation that blesses his people, and curse the nation who curses his people.  God says in that verse, starting at verse 1, The Lord had said to Abraham, 'Leave your country, your people, and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse. And all people's on Earth will be blessed through you.'
 
"Mr. Speaker, God gave the land in Israel to the Israelites, to the Jewish people. They're a sovereign nation. They have a sovereign right to protect their borders, to protect their lives, to protect their country, to protect their valid claim to the land that God gave them.
 
"Mr. Speaker, our Nation has supported Israel since it was reestablished in 1947 by an act of the United Nations. This country has supported Israel ever since then. We've been blessed as a Nation since then. But I'm very fearful that this administration is turning its back upon Israel. I'm very fearful that God's blessing that has been on this land, as promised in Genesis, chapter 12, verses 1 through 3, will cease if we cease supporting the nation of Israel.
 
"Israel is a sovereign nation that's protecting itself. It has an absolute right to do so. Mr. Speaker, if we turn our back upon Israel, as I'm fearful that we're doing as a Nation through this administration, not only will we cease to have God's blessings, but we will also start receiving the curses from God that he promised in Genesis, chapter 12.
 
"Mr. Speaker, if we don't support Israel, and just by being silent, just by turning our back upon Israel, then we're supporting Hamas. We're supporting Hezbollah. We're supporting Iran. President Ahmadinejad has stressed over and over again that he wants to annihilate Israel from the face of the Earth. We have to support Israel, Mr. Speaker. The consequences for our Nation are too dire not to.
 
"God has put his blessings upon this country. And I think a big part of that is because this country was founded on the Judeo-Christian principles that have made this country so powerful, so rich, and so successful as a political experiment. But that blessing will cease if we ever turn our back upon Israel. We must not. We cannot. America must support Israel. Our administration must support Israel. And I call upon our country to continue to do so." 
 
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Americans for Peace Now promotes Israeli security through the peace process and supports the Israeli Peace Now movement.   For more information, visit the APN web site at www.peacenow.org or contact Lara Friedman, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, at 202/728-1893, or at lfriedman@peacenow.org.