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MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS Y 4. IN 8/16: H 58/10 fliddle East Peace Process, 104-1 He.. HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SEPTEMBER 20, 1995 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations U.S.GOVERNMENTPRINTINGOFFICE 2i_733 WASHINGTON : 1996 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-052177-7 MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS Y 4. IN 8/16:11 58/10 fliddle East Peace Process, 104-1 He... HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SEPTEMBER 20, 1995 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations U.S.GOVERNMENTPRINTINGOFFICE 21-733 WASHINGTON : 1996 ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-052177-7 COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania AMO HOUGHTON, New York JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut HENRYJ. HYDE, Illinois TOM LANTOS, California DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey HOWARD L. BERMAN, California DAN BURTON, Indiana GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York JAN MEYERS, Kansas HARRY JOHNSTON, Florida ELTON GALLEGLY, California ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina Samoa DANA ROHRABACHER, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey PETER T. KING, New York ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JAY KIM, California SHERROD BROWN, Ohio SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas CYNTHIA A. McKINNEY, Georgia DAVID FUNDERBURK, North Carolina ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida STEVEN J. CHABOT, Ohio ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN, Maryland MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, South MICHAEL R. McNULTY, New York Carolina JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia MATT SALMON, Arizona VICTOR O. FRAZER, Virgin Islands (Ind.) Richard J. Garon, ChiefofStaff Michael H. Van Dusen, Minority ChiefofStaff Deborah Bodlander, Professional StaffMember Veronica A. Craig, StaffAssociate (II) ERRATA MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS Y4.IN 8/16: M 58/10/ ERRATA Errata, Hiddle East Peace Process, HEAKING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FOURTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION SEPTEMBER 20, 1995 Printed for the use of the Committee on International Relations DEPOSITORY JUN 5 1996 Boston Public Library U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 21-733CC WASHINGTON : 1996 ERRATA The name of Mr. Amo Houghton was inadvertently listed as a Democrat on the right hand column ofthe committee member ros- ter. The list should read as follows: COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York, Chairman WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin TOM LANTOS, California HENRYJ. HYDE, minois ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, NewJersey DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska HOWARD L. BERMAN, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York DAN BURTON, Indiana HARRYJOHNSTON, Florida JAN MEYERS, Kansas ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York ELTON GALLEGLY, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American ILEANA ROS-LEHTENEN, Florida Samoa CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California DANA ROHRABACHER, California DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois ROBERT E. ANDREWS, NewJersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ROBERT MENENDEZ, NewJersey PETERT. KING, New York SHERROD BROWN, Ohio JAY KIM, California CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida DAVID FUNDERBURK, North Carolina ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN, Maryland STEVENJ. CHABOT, Ohio MICHAEL R. McNULTY, New York MARSHALL "MARK" SANFORD, South JAMES P. MORAN, Virginia Carolina VICTOR O. FRAZER, Virgin Islands (Ind.) MATT SALMON, Arizona AMO HOUGHTON, New York RichardJ. Garon, ChiefofStaff MICHAEL H. Van DUSEN, Democratic ChiefofStaff JOHN P. MackEY, Investigative Counsel Veronica Craig, StaffAssociate (II) CONTENTS WITNESSES Wednesday, September20, 1995: Page The Honorable Sam Gejdenson, MemberofCongress 4 The Honorable Dan Burton, MemberofCongress 6 The HonorableTom Lantos, Member ofCongress 8 The Honorable Michael Forbes, MemberofCongress 10 The HonorableJames Saxton, MemberofCongress 14 The Honorable Peter Deutsch, MemberofCongress 16 TheHonorable EliotEngel, MemberofCongress 44 The Honorable Howard Berman, MemberofCongress 47 Mr. Joseph E. Kelley, Director-in-Charge, International Affairs Issues, National Security and International Affairs Division, U.S. General Ac- countingOffice 48 Mr. Dan Polisar, executive director, PeaceWatch, Jerusalem, Israel 56 Mr. Robert Satloff, executive director, Washington Institute for Near EastPolicy 58 Mr. Neal Sher, executive director, American Israel Public Affairs Com- mittee 69 Dr. Mandell Ganchrow, president, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congrega- tions ofAmerica 83 Mr. DavidA. Harris, executive director, AmericanJewish Committee 85 Dr. Jim Zogby, president, ArabAmericanInstitute 87 Mr. Rand Fishbein, board ofadvisors, CenterforSecurity Policy 90 Mr. Morton Klein, president, ZionistOrganizationofAmerica 93 Mr. Richard Hellman, president, Christians' Israel Public Action Cam- paign 95 Mr. SeymourReich, president,AmericanZionistMovement 97 APPENDK Prepared statements: Congressman Dan Burton 123 Congressman Michael Forbes 126 CongressmanJames Saxton 129 Congressman PeterDeutsch 138 Congressman EliotEngel 139 CongressmanTom DeLay 144 Congressman GaryAckerman 147 Mr. Joseph E. Kelley 148 Mr. Dan Polisar 157 Mr. RobertSatloff 170 Mr. Neal Sher 173 Dr. Mandell Ganchrow 176 Mr. David Harris 181 Dr. Jim Zogby 187 Mr. Rand Fishbein 190 Mr. Morton Klein 195 Mr. Richard Hellman 206 Mr. HerbertZweibon, chairman, Americans for a Safe Israel 216 Ms. Gail Pressberg, director, Centerfor Israeli Peace and Security, Amer- icans forPeace Now 218 TheAnti-Defamation League 221 (III) IV Page Prepared Materials: Submitted by Hon. Michael Forbes: Article by Cal Thomas entitled "Arafat Is Putting One Over on the Israelis" 11 Article by Jamie Dettmer from Insight Magazine, "PLO Misuses U.S. Dollars" 13 Article by Mr. Robert Satloffentitled "The Path to Peace" 223 Article by Dr. James Zogby entitled "Peace atRisk" 230 Press Releases from the Zionist Organization ofAmerica entitled: "New Poll Shows Majority of U.S. Jews Oppose U.S. Aid to PLO and DistrustArafat" 232 "ZOA: U.S. Aid to PLO Must be Conditioned on PLO Pursuing Ter- rorists Who Killed Americans" 233 "CIA Director Gave Senate Erroneous Information on Terrorism by PLO Factions" 234 Transcripts ofvideo tapes suppliedby Hon. Peter Deutsch 17 Letter from the American Jewish Congress regarding the Middle East LetPteearcefrProomceHsasdassah—The Women's Zio,nist Organization of America 236 regardingthe Middle East Peace Process 238 (The followingmaterials weresubmittedby Mr. RandFishbein): H.R. 1960, A bill to govern relations between the United States and the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO], to enforce PLO compliance with standardsofinternational conduct, and forother purposes .... 240 Memorandum, subject: Concatenation of Palestinian Violations, IDF Judge Advocate-General Headquarters, Assistant to the Judge Advo- cate-General for International Law — 274 Release of the Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Information, Ramallah, September23, 1995 290 PalestinianNational Council: PLO plan ofphases, Cairo,June 9, 1974 .... 294 Article from Forward entitled "Clinton Claps Secret Cover on Report on PLO Finances" 296 Article from The Weekly Standard by Yoram Hazony entitled "The End ofZionism and the Last Israeli" 297 Material from BTselem (The Israeli information center for human rights in theoccupied territories) entitled "NeitherLawNorJustice" 303 Briefing paper from the National Criminal Intelligence Service [NCIS] entitled "An Outline Assessment of the Threat and Impact by Orga- Senciosnedd/bErniteefripnrgisferoCmriNmeCIUSpo—norUgnaintieseddKicrnigmdeomunIintteernetsittsl"edAp"pAenndOiuxtlBin..e. 317 Assessment of the Threat and Impact by Organised/Enterprise Crime Upon United Kingdom Interests 320 The Palestine National Covenant 323 Dear Colleague letter from Senator Alfonse D'Amato regarding the Mid- dle East Peace ComplianceActof1995 327 PEACEWATCH press release entitled "Report on Financial Issues Facing PA and Donors Reveals Erosion ofStandards for PA's Economic Deci- sionmaking and Accountability" 329 PEACEWATCH report entitled "Economic Issues Facing the Palestinian Authority and the DonorNations" 331 MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1995 House of Representatives, Committee on International Relations, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman (chairman ofthe committee) presiding. Chairman Gilman. The committee will come to order. This morn- ing's hearing is on the Middle East peace process. It is our inten- tion to hold such a hearing at the request of a number of organizations and people who are concerned about it. With our committee's legislative responsibilities regarding our foreign affairs program and agencies largely completed, we are pleased that we could schedule today's hearing despite the heavy calendar in the Congress. We look forward to the testimony of our witnesses. Two years ago this month Israel's Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, and PLO Chairman, Yasir Arafat, signed a Declaration of Principles on interim self-government for the disputed territories. Since then we have seen some other positive developments in the Middle East. Israel and Jordan have signed a peace treaty. Bilat- eral talks have continued between Israel and Syria and between Is- rael and Lebanon. The Gulf Cooperation Counties announced that they were lifting the secondary and tertiary boycotts against Israel. But the center of attention has been the negotiations between Is- rael and the PLO. Under the declaration, Prime Minister Rabin recognized the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and agreed to negotiate with the PLO. The PLO Chairman, Yasir Arafat, recognized Israel's right to exist and accepted U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338. He renounced terrorism and violence, stated that language in the Palestinian Covenant calling for the destruction of Israel was in- valid, and promised to seek its deletion. To support the peace process, the United States has pledged $500 million over 5 years to the PLO as part of a $2 billion international package of economic and development assistance for the Palestinian Authority. The Congress adopted the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act, known as MEPFA. That legislation enabled the administration to provide this kind of assistance to the PLO, subject to compliance with the commitments it undertook, and permitted the PLO to open an office in Washington. (l) MEPFA also required the administration to submit periodic reports to Congress stating that the PLO was adhering to the commitments made under the Declaration ofPrinciples. Regrettably, these reports can best be described as a mixture of naivete and optimism, perhaps borne ofa desire by the administration to see matters not as they are but as they would wish them to be. For example, despite Mr. Arafat's commitment to end violence, it has continued; and the Palestinian Covenant still calls for the destruction ofthe State ofIsrael. While Chairman Arafat is quoted in the international news media as deploring incidents of violence, there are numerous reports that his comments are far different to Arabic audiences. Another aspect of the peace process to be explored is the economic aid that has been authorized under MEPFA. There have been serious questions concerning the PLO's assets, its ability to effectively utilize that aid, and whether aid funds will in fact go to assist people in the self-rule areas and not be siphoned offfor other purposes. Last year, I requested that the GAO conduct a financial survey of the PLO in order to establish that it has the necessary structure and could provide the accountability that is usually called for in connection with our economic assistance activities. Regrettably, the GAO report has been submitted, but it is classi- fied; so we have been unable to share its findings with other inter- ested parties. I understand that a representative of the GAO is with us today, and hopefully he will be able to shed some light on this situation. The search for peace in the Middle East has been among the most important and most contentious of the challenges facing the international community. The end of the cold war has brought an opportunity for peace in that region which cannot and must not be ignored. However, there are those who have serious concerns about the current negotiations. The purpose of today's hearing is to try to address some of those concerns and to shed some light on these issues. Today we will hear from a series of panels that include Members of Congress, the General Accounting Office, research institutions, and membership organizations. Before introducing our first panel of witnesses, do any of my colleagues have opening remarks they would like to make? Mr. Hastings. Mr. Chairman, yes, with your permission. Chairman Gilman. Mr. Hastings. Please be brief. I would like to note that we have a very heavy schedule. We also have a heavy schedule on the floor today. We are going to ask our witnesses to limit their remarks to 5 minutes, and we will also request our colleagues to be as briefas possible. Mr. Hastings. I thank the Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I am most delighted to have an opportunity to hear from our colleagues on such an important issue. But I do put a couple of questions. If the peace process were to disintegrate today, what would be the result? Is it possible to re- turn to the preaccord status?