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A Dangerous Attempt to Threaten U.S. Military Aid to Israel
(Ha'aretz) Eric H. Yoffie - Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) has proposed "The Promoting Human Rights for Palestinian Children Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act." This is a terrible bill. Rep. McCollum, a veteran BDS supporter, is perhaps the leading anti-Israel voice in the House. Furthermore, the bill is 19 pages of pure demonization, presenting Israel as an unrelenting torturer of Palestinian children. It omits any reference to a two-state solution as a possible means to resolve the conflict. It calls on Israel to change its policies but asks nothing of the Palestinians. It suggests that Israel has misused American aid, without any evidence that such misuse has occurred. And its real purpose is to prepare the way for reducing U.S. military aid to Israel, calling for various certifications and reports by the State Department that are clearly intended to serve as the basis for cutting aid. In response, AIPAC organized a letter opposing conditions on military aid to Israel and backing a two-state solution. The letter was signed by 331 House members, Republicans and Democrats, who were not prepared to jeopardize the military aid that is self-evidently necessary for Israel to defend itself against Iranian threats, Hizbullah rockets, and turmoil and terror in Syria and Iraq. The writer is a former president of the Union for Reform Judaism.