Israel Matzav

Is Tom Campbell anti-Israel?

Last week, I did two posts on Tom Campbell, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination for US Senate in California. One questioned whether Campbell was pro-Israel. In a second post, I reported on the findings of Philip Klein and Jennifer Rubin that Campbell had taken money from Palestinian Islamic Jihad fundraiser Sami al-Arian. Campbell's opponents, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and the strongly pro-Israel Chuck Devore, have both started to attack Campbell's association with terrorists.

Last Friday I had an email from someone who is helping out with Campbell campaign. He wrote me, in part,

he's the polar opposite of what some people are making him out to be. I'm really shocked at how the facts are being ignored and abused trying to make Campbell out to be a bad guy when no less than Congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, referred to Campbell as a champion for the state of Israel and against anti-Semitism. I think that if you have all the facts, you'll come away with a very different impression of Campbell.

I wrote back that I was happy to speak with this person and listen. In response, I was sent links to two articles, one by columnist David Frum and the other by Jon Ward.

Frum reviews a laundry list of charges against Campbell.

The criticism of Campbell’s terrorism-and-Israel record rests on 5 main claims:

1) It’s claimed that Campbell twice voted to cut aid to Israel during his time in Congress.

2) It’s claimed that Campbell voted against Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

3) It’s claimed that Campbell made fund-raising appearances before radical Islamic groups.

4) It’s claimed that Campbell employed on his staff a California Muslim with ties to radical groups.

5) It’s claimed that Campbell wrote a letter in support of a deportable alien with ties to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

He admits that all five charges are true, but in each case, there is an explanation.

On 1: These claims turn on a relatively small amount of money, $30 million, less than 1% of Israel’s aid package. As part of the Wye River round of peace talks, President Clinton proposed a $700 million increase in Israel’s economic aid. To embarrass Clinton, congressional Republicans proposed to increase that aid by an additional $30 million. But Congress in those years was operating under pay-go rules that required every spending increase to be matched by a spending cut somewhere else. (Good rule.) So it was proposed to take the extra extra money for Israel out of the allotment for aid to Africa. Campbell happened to be a senior member of the Africa subcommittee of the House International Affairs Committee. He objected to the transfer on the grounds that it was unnecessary for Israel and injurious to important African projects.

...

On 2: The Jerusalem vote occurred in 1990. It was introduced by a Democratic member of Congress to embarrass the George H.W. Bush administration. While agreeing in principle that Jerusalem should be recognized as Israel’s capital, Campbell acceded to the administration’s request and voted No on this one measure.

On 3: Campbell did indeed speak to Muslim-American groups in the late 1990s. So did Gov. George W. Bush whom nobody would accuse of lack of friendship for Israel – and for the same reason: party strategists had identified Muslim Americans as potential Republican voters. As Ronald Reagan used to say when he was criticized for accepting support from odd groups: “I’m not supporting their agenda. I’m asking them to support mine.”

On 4: The person in question – Suhail Khan – would become a White House colleague of mine in 2001-2002, where he worked in the Office of Public Liaison. I heard many of the same rumors about him then that are being circulated today. I looked into them as searchingly as I could and never found any foundation for them.

Yes it’s true that some dubious characters visited the White House complex in 2001, both before and after the 9/11 attacks. But it’s ridiculous to think that Khan invited them. Khan might meet them at the gate, but the invitations came from a much higher pay grade.

...

As to Allegation 5:

Campbell’s libertarian sympathies were exploited by some very bad actors.

In 1996, Congress had amended the immigration laws to allow for the deportation of aliens based on secret information of terrorist activities.

The trouble was that for many of the worst such aliens, there was nowhere to deport them to. They ended up languishing in American jails indefinitely.

The family of one such alien appealed to Campbell for help, and he was persuaded to take up the cause.

It was in time publicly confirmed that the alien in question, Mazen al-Najjar, was very, very implicated in Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as was his brother-in-law, Sami al-Arian. A deal was eventually struck to send Najjar to Lebanon. After a complex set of criminal proceedings, al-Arian is now awaiting trial on contempt charges.

Campbell has acknowledged that he was wrong and apologized for his mistake. But he did not make this mistake alone.

I urge you to read the whole thing, especially if you plan to vote in the Republican primary in California. Frum's article includes some questions and answers about support for Israel, but most of them are litmus-test type questions and not the kinds of questions where you're likely to find real differences among the candidates.

Ward's article is more of a summary of what had happened as of Monday.

Jennifer Rubin wrote on Tuesday that Campbell is 'fudging the record.'

He insists, “In Congress, I always voted in favor of providing military aid to Israel, and have always supported Israel’s right to defend itself — including taking military action against Iran to prevent its development of nuclear arms.” Well, except for the times he wrote “Campbell Amendments” to cut aid to Israel. He also gets caught fudging the record:

Campbell’s office provided a letter from former Rep. Tom Lantos, California Democrat and Holocaust survivor, to Campbell in 1999, which they said demonstrated his bona fides on the issue of support for Israel.

“Since we first met, I have known of your strong support for the State of Israel and its people. You and I have spoken many times of the need to assure the survival of Israel, as well as to fight against hatred and bias around the world, including here in our own country,” Lantos wrote.

However, Lantos’s words were a preface to concerns he expressed about Campbell’s vote in 1999 against $30 million in economic aid to Israel.

Oops. A top official with a pro-Israel organization in Washington tells me, “During his time in the House, Tom Campbell distinguished himself as no friend of Israel or the pro-Israel community. To suggest otherwise would be dishonest.”

Jennifer adds that Campbell accepted a $2,000 contribution from CAIR co-founder Nihad Awad and that Campbell spoke at the dedication of CAIR's headquarters.

Philip Klein also put out a troubling report about Campbell on Tuesday.

While campaigning in 2000, U.S. Senate candidate Tom Campbell called for a Palestinian state with a capital in Jerusalem, said that Israel received too much funding from the United States, argued that President Clinton was too pro-Israel, and recalled receiving a condolence phone call from Palestinian terrorist Yasser Arafat after he injured himself during a visit to the region.

The revelations come from an article that appeared in the October/November 2000 issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs about Campbell's run for Senate in 2000 against Dianne Feinstein.

Klein implies that Campbell's opinions are more in line with those of Ron Paul that with those of the supporter of Israel he is trying to make himself out to be. By the way, Klein's post drew this wonderfully offensive comment:

phil klein =jew propagandist...... only jews are pro israel and a handful of brainwashed christian fundamantalists.........they should google" jews burning new testaments in israel" or" israelis celebrating 9-11" VOTE JEWS OUT OF OFFICE

Lovely, isn't it?

Jennifer Rubin then piles on again with a post in which she connects Campbell to one Allison Weir, who is quite an unsavory character.

A case in point is his praise for Israel-hater and conspiracy-monger Alison Weir. Others have noted that Weir runs an outfit, If Americans Only Knew, that is replete with her calls to cut aid to Israel and her vile anti-Israel bashing, which includes her fanning of the organ-harvesting libel.

Jennifer has lots more - read the whole thing.

As you can see, there is plenty here to make one suspicious about Campbell's pro-Israel bona fides. But he insists that he is pro-Israel and maybe he is. I am going to try to get to the bottom of this.

On Tuesday, I sent a list of questions to a congressional candidate in another state who asked to demonstrate his pro-Israel positions after a post I wrote about one of his rivals. I will send the same questions to the Campbell campaign (and if anyone sends me a contact, I will also send them to the Fiorina and Devore campaigns). The questions - which I will post in another post, because this one is way too long - are well beyond the litmus test questions like "do you support Israel" and "are you in favor of giving Israel foreign aid."

I'll let you know what responses I get.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:57 PM