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PEACEKEEPERS page 59
ceptive ears on Capitol Hill.
Recently, Sen. Alfonse D'Am-
ato, R-N.Y., Sen. Larry Craig,
R-Idaho, Sen. Don Nickles,
R-Okla., Sen. Jesse Helms,
R-N.C., and Rep. Jim Saxton,
R-N.J., wrote a letter to President
Bill Clinton attacking the idea
of a peacekeeping mission.
"This naive proposal is not
good for America or Israel," Sen.
D'Amato said in a statement. "We
have seen how our good inten-
tions can lead to bad results. If,
God forbid, Arab terrorists attack
our troops, how do we guarantee
that a future president will be
able to resist American pressure
to withdraw? And I don't trust
this bloodthirsty dictator, (Syr-
The unfolding battle
pits supporters of
the policies of the
government against
opponents who see
the nascent
proposal as a glaring
weakness that they
hope to exploit.
ia's Hafez) Assad, to control the
terrorists on his territory. Indeed,
he'll sponsor terror as he has for
years."
The Christians' Israel Public
Action Campaign (CIPAC) a
group highly skeptical view of Is-
raeli territorial concessions, has
bolstered the preemptive attack
by demanding that the Joint
Chiefs of Staff perform a com-
prehensive study of the merits
and liabilities of any peacekeep-
ing deployment to the Golan
Heights.
"We have seen, for various rea-
sons, that surrender of the Golan
could be a questionable proposi-
tion," said the group's director
and founder, Richard Hellman.
"We have questioned whether the
assumption that U.S. troops
should be put on the Golan
Heights as part of some peace
deal, to seal an agreement be-
tween Israel and Syria, is a good
idea."
Echoing Sen. D'Amato, Mr.
Hellman argued that American
peacekeepers would be inviting
targets to terrorists.
"As we saw with the U.S. Ma-
rine barracks in Beirut, Ameri-
can troops are considered fair
game when they become involved
in peacekeeping in that part of
the world," he said.
Mr. Hellman insisted that his
group is not trying to foil a ter-
ritorial settlement by prema-
turely raising the peacekeeping
issue. But he makes it clear that
his group would not be disap-
pointed with such an outcome.
"If we look at biblical princi-
ples, we see that Israel was re-
turned to this land not to give it
up again," he said. "And the
strategic implications (of giving
up the Golan Heights), which
have been studied at length,
would be a matter of serious con-
cern. I question whether there is
any underlying basis for a land-
for-peace swap."
Supporters of the Rabin gov-
ernment worry that the growing
clamor could create a political re-
action that might limit the ad-
ministration's efforts to bring
Syria and Israel closer to a gen-
uine settlement.
"The opposition in Israel has
always viewed Syria, and the
Golan issue in particular, as the
Achilles heel of the government's
peace policy," said Thomas Smer-
ling, executive director of Project
Nishma, a groups that combines
support for the peace process with
a focus on Israeli security issues.
According to Mr. Smerling, Mr.
Rabin's American opponents
have worked actively to prevent
a thaw in relations between
Washington and Damascus that
administration officials see as an
essential first step in mediating
between Syria and Israel.
Mr. Smerling pointed to the re-
cent uproar when it was learned
that the State Department was
considering removing Syria from
the list of nations promoting the
international drug trade.
"And they are raising the issue
of peacekeeping troops for the
same reason — to create political
obstacles to a more extensive
American role," he said.
Jess Hordes, Washington di-
rector of the Anti-Defamation
League, described a "policy vac-
uum" in Washington because so
much is on the table in the Mid-
dle East negotiations. "So the peo-
ple who are stepping into this
void are groups and organizations
that have a very strong position,
and that want to influence poli-
cy rather than take the approach
that it's for the Israelis to nego-
tiate their deal on their own," he
said.
The issue of peacekeeping
troops, he said "is a very vulner-
able point of attack because it
brings into the debate people who
otherwise wouldn't have a strong
position or involvement in the
U.S.-Israel relationship."
What we're really beginning to
see in this debate is the Ameri-
can Right working against the de-
mocratically elected government
of Israel," said Gary Rubin, ex-
ecutive director of Americans for
Peace Now. "This debate over
peacekeepers is really a serious
attempt to delegitimize the gov-
ernment of Israel and its policies
by seizing on the most unpopu-
lar facet of a possible agree-
ment."
❑