Senator Leahy (D-VT) trying to cut US aid to Israel?
Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Patrick Leahy is seeking to limit the amount of US aid to Israel on the grounds that some of the units under the IDF are committing human rights violations. Leahy heads the Senate Appropriations Committee’s sub-committee on foreign operations and has been responsible for adding amendments that require monitoring of foreign security forces to assure they are not guilty of human rights violations (no problem with that). Leahy wants to tack on a clause to the US foreign assistance legislation for 2012 that would limit our assistance to Israel’s defense….specifically 3 units that operate under the IDF.
Leahy, a Democrat and senior member of the U.S. Senate, wants assistance withheld from the Israel Navy’s Shayetet 13 unit, the undercover Duvdevan unit and the Israel Air Force’s Shaldag unit.
According to a senior Israeli official in Jerusalem, Leahy began promoting the legislation in recent months after he was approached by voters in his home state of Vermont.
A few months ago, a group of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a rally across from Leahy’s office, demanding that he denounce the killing by Shayetet 13 commandos of nine Turkish activists who were part of the flotilla to Gaza last May.
In the past, Leahy has been a friend of Israel and has considered Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak close personal friends. According to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Leahy met with Barak a couple of weeks ago to discuss his new legislation (Barak was trying to persuade him to drop it).
But wait a minute….is Leahy basing his reasoning for this new amendment on the flotilla incident that occurred last May? The one where Israeli soldiers were ambushed by Turkish terrorists? The one where those Israeli soldiers had to kill 9 Turkish terrorists in self defense? The same flotilla that was carrying weapons for Palestinians in Gaza to fight Israel?
Of course, Leahy and his staff are denying that they are trying to weaken Israel. They are claiming that this amendment applies to all countries in the Middle East that get US foreign aid. In other words, Israel is being lumped in with Pakistan, Jordan, Afghanistan, Egypt etc.
Why would Leahy succumb to pressure from pro-Palestinian groups?
Oh wait….
He’s a liberal and a politician.
That’s a bad combination.
Perhaps Mr. Leahy should hear from some pro-Israel people. Perhaps we should let him know how we feel about his little amendment.
You can contact him here.
© 2011, Bridget. All rights reserved.
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Leahy should try to improve the economic and employment picture in Vermont, and stay out of everything else. Vermont is a beautiful State, but it seems to be in a "Have v. Have Not twilight zone". Wealthy New York and California elite use if for their second homes, bringing their progressive mentality to the table, and the "real" Vermonters are treated like the "Cutters" in Breaking Away. They are often looked down on and all but left by the wayside. Leahy needs to bring Vermont into the 21st Century, at least as far as economics are concerned, and he should get himself off the public Dole….. aka Politics.
Can someone explain to me why, since Obama and his Democrat allies are so determined to throw Israel under the bus, do the majority of Jews in the United States vote Democrat? This makes absolutely NO sense!