Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen tells Haaretz: We must stop Palestinians' ‘dangerous scheme’
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is behind a bill that would cut U.S. funding for UN organizations who support recognition of Palestine as state.
By Natasha Mozgovaya Tags: Palestinian state Mahmoud AbbasIleana Ros-Lehtinen, Representative for Florida and chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is one of the loudest voices in Congress opposing the Palestinian plan to secure United Nations recognition for statehood. A bill she introduced earlier this month would cut funding to any UN body that supports the Palestinian bid.
The initiative was criticized by Obama administration officials and Ros-Lehtinen’s Democratic colleagues in Congress, but the Congresswoman made it clear on Tuesday that she has no intentions of backpedalling on the issue.
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Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen |
| Photo by: Natasha Mozgovaya |
State Department officials have said the bill puts U.S. ability to pursue its foreign policy goals in danger, but Ros-Lehtinen disagrees, saying that it will restore 'respect' to the UN.
"I don't think this bill is dangerous," Ros-Lehtinen told Haaretz. "I think it will build on diplomatic efforts because it will bring the UN back to being the respected body it was. The UN is an admirable organization, built upon the ashes of the Holocaust, but it became an arena for third world dictators to bash the principles upon which the UN was founded,” she said.
“This bill is not to bash the UN. It says, let's build programs that will successfully promote peace. I don't mind a good debate and people calling the bill ‘backwards’ or ‘dangerous,’ but it's not backwards to demand transparency, when bodies like the Human Rights Council are hijacked by human rights abusers like China and are used to demonize Israel,” she added.
Ros-Lehtinen criticized the level of U.S funding to the UN, saying that high-levels of funding leave little room for incentive to institutional reform.
“Our executive branch goes along, pays billions to the UN, so the UN has zero incentive to reform. We should shift UN funding to a voluntary basis, because smart withholding the funds works," she said.
The threat to cut financial aid to the Palestinians, despite the Administration's objections, makes perfect sense, Ros-Lehtinen added.
"We need to stop Abu-Mazen's dangerous scheme. I hope that the U.S. Congress takes a very forceful stand against this statehood issue. It's time to tell the Palestinians: If you are going with this statehood issue and it is granted, then the U.S. must cut funding to the Palestinians. We gave them billions of dollars these past years, but is Israel safer because of this money going to the Palestinian Authority?"
Is she not concerned that if the U.S. withdraws funds, the vacuum will be filled by countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia?
"Of course these countries can always try to fill the vacuum, but at least we won't be part of the problem, and if we fund this scheme, we are part of the problem, we are funding a sworn enemy of the State of Israel, and I don't want our tax dollars to do that,” she says.
“We are willing to do everything we can to make sides speak to each other. We think that if the Palestinians continue to refuse to negotiate with Israelis, where is the incentive for the Palestinians to get into these negotiations, unless we withhold money?"
John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN, is one supporter of the bill.
"The only way to achieve lasting reform at the UN is in changing the way the UN is funded. It's a very important part of the legislation," Bolton said.
Bolton does not agree that the current U.S. administration is doing everything possible to prevent the UN vote on Palestinian statehood.
"We've thrown this away. In fact, we helped to cause this problem,” he says. “The only effective way to deal with it is to say to the UN that if they vote to recognize Palestine as a state, we should cut our funding."
For Bolton, the problem lies is in the Obama's administration’s Middle East policy.
"I said after President Obama's speech in the UN General Assembly in 2009, that it was the most anti-Israeli speech by an American president I've ever heard. And I think that since the creation of the State of Israel he is the most hostile president to Israel. I think you can see it play out in his policy, and the next week is going to be a bad week for Israel at the UN," Bolton said.
Commenting on the remarks attributed to the former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in which he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "ungrateful," Bolton said he doubts Gates would say such a thing if it contradicted the position of the U.S. administration.
"It's a comment unworthy of Secretary Gates. This is a very important relationship for the U.S., and I think the Obama administration's policies in the region caused real problems not only for Israel, but for the U.S. itself. So that comment by Secretary Gates typifies the Obama administration’s approach. I thought it was unprofessional, uncalled for, and very unfortunate in terms of the bilateral relationship," Bolton added.
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Does she knows where Palestine lies and that a large portion of the Palestinians are Christians? Shame on her!
Sad Just looking at this beggar lady for votes in the USA. Is it really worth publishing her empty statement and rhetoric of sympathies ????
The Arab block seeks domination over any political institutionand the UN has been currupted to serve Islamic interests. That will be over soon, the civilized world is waking up.
is just another brownnoser for AIPAC and Israel.
to the kenesit?
An idiotic Zionist fascist...
Let China help too - they certainly have more money as the US spends on borrowed cash.
'dangerous scheme'? Asking for freedom and human rights is considered a dangerous scheme? Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, you must be a secret member of the KKK. You consider yourself a champion of democracy, yet you use blackmail others to force them to vote your way. It is people with views like yours that damage and destroy any chances for peace. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, you are one corrupted and sick woman and you are no better than a dictator.
why is anyone that is for Israel - accused of being bribed by money (jews = money), whereas anyome for the palestinians is a hero. What is all this stereotyping? These comments are no better than assuming that every muslim is a terrorist (ie ynet)
What happens if the Arabs and Iranians not only fund Palestianians but Arabs move further and cancel their $80billion defence deal with US and gives it to EU and Russia? Has this congresswoman thought of that? Also how would EU and Russia and China react?
How does one find out the names of the Representatives joining Rep. R-S in her efforts to block payments to the U.N. and the Palestinians.
Wake up America, these politicians do not have your interest at heart, they work for a foreign nation. In my opinion it is a legalised form of espionage.
How can this congresswoamn at a time of severe economic woe for the USA, want to perpetuate the tuning of $6 Billion a year of cash and support to Israel to occupy human beings going on 60 Years. And then on top of that take away humanitarian aid from the oppressed who live on less than $300 a month!
why this woman thinks she has the right over other's people's fate and destiny? oh, sorry, I forgot she is a member of the Chosen People (who also have a Promised Land but who say they don't agree with those other lunatics who believe in racial supremacy)...
The Floida Congresswoman, who has very few Jews in her district, deserves support for her leadership in support of the State of Israel. Her grandmother was a leader in the Cuban Jewish communioty but she is a proud Catholic as was her mother,
The what is THEY WILL DISINTIGRATE EITHER WAY..THEY NEED THE AID..WITHOUT IT NO DEAL
The Americans make it seem like they're doing Palestinians a favor by giving them money. This economic dependence has brought nothing but independence for Palestinians. Ending US financing of PA members is the best the US can do at these revolutionary times.
End the billions of American taxpayers money being given blindly to Israel used mostly for weapons. The aid to the PA is but a smudge next to the money being given to Israel. Even some politicians in the US have started to voice their opinion aout Israel becoming more and more of a liability to US foreign policy.
Is she like blackmailing the UN Bodies and programs!!!??? is this Congress Democracy !!!!!! what a shame !!!!
So what Ros-Lehtinen is saying is this: If some organizations do not behave the way the Christian fundamentalist right wants, they should not receive money. Extortion is rarely more obvious than that. Perhaps the EU, China, India and Latin America should respond in kind: as long as people like Ros-Lehtinen is in charge of things, we don't buy American goods. Of course that would be silly, but no sillier than Ros-Lehtinen's attempts at extortion.
It is common knowledge that any American representative who supports unilateral Palestinian independence is a traitor with dubious loyalty who is bought and paid for by the international Muslim conspiracy. As everybody here knows they get a fat pay cheque from the oil lobby and Muslim terrorists. Fortunately most American representatives are like Ms. Ros-Lehtinen and are true American patriots.
Shame on her!
who should worry more abouit her own messed up country than about us.
This woman must have become apopletic when the Palestinian PM, Fayyad, suggested that the next head of the IMF should be Bank of Israel director, Stanley Fisher. What must she think of those who form joint ventures in commerce, culture, leisure etc. Here are people trying to build bridges between neighbours, not people who flourish by spreading hatred and enmity. What they do must be this terrible woman's worst nightmare.
Wat really makes the UN unrespected are US veto's for Israel in the Security Council.
It does not matter how much money she gets, the American dollar is becoming worthless every day and at the end she will only be able to use it as toilet paper, if it gets soft enough.
For how long are you going to Stop Palestinians? you deprived them from everything, including their humanity, you put two millions of them in a huge, cruel concentration camp, you deny them everything they & their children need, including food & medicine. Don't you understand that one day they are going to burst and, when they do, they will crush every bone in the body of Israel? Don't you realize that your big muscles are no longer a savior from Palestinian anger? You are signing your death sentence by your own hands.
Don't pin that on Israel. Even their other Arab Countries don't care about the Palestinians. Doesn't that speak volumes ??
Europe's even asking the Chinese to bail them out? Which begs the question? How economically powerful will Israel be in 2050? The short answer-NOT VERY.
Threaten UN over aid, speechless.
Shame on you, anti-American. Speechless
There is no difference between the Republicans or the Democrats, they are both low down and dirty criminals. They are both ruthless and racists. They do not care who suffers or dies as long as America's and Israel's interests are served.
Israeli dictate or disagrees slightly from USA policy... right PK?
The Cuban woman is talking about the Holocaust the Cubans inflicted on the Amer-Indians when they arrived in Cuba. They annihilated them . Come on Lehtinen, get your facts right. When do you plan a trip to Fidel?
more settlements and more settlements... more land taken away, random wall in the middle... evictions, demolitions... all that good faith negotiation stuff
Funny how when it comes to anything Palestinian, all "Israel-first" American elected congressmen/women come out of the woodwork.Where does their loyalty lie??? US or Israel??? Good they're all exposing themselves now..We'll show them in the next elections...
Weird how she twists the truth, isn't it?
where is justice and fairness when u dont even give the palestenian people right to exist and live and u complain from hate in egypt ....give them their country and right to exist like u did
You are a beacon of truth, in a world of deceit and dishonesty. No, we should not support an entity built on killing innocent civilians, many of them Americans.
To disagree is to deny reality. These posters are morally bankrupt and dishonest
Do you mean her head is an airspace with no runway?
geez...I hope the american people can come to their senses.
They know clearly who is a friend of the US. They know clearly who celebrated and cheered on 9/11. The Arabs are the enemies of the US. Why are billions squandered on those who despise America ?
the five isralies cheering and FILMING THE EVENT
the five isralies cheering and FILMING THE EVENT. Benny boy saying how it was good for irael. Nice friends. At least the arabs didn't seem to know it was going to happen before it did.
the usa is a lacky of the powerfull jews who donate to political parties and then dictate policy there may be a monkey in the white house but the jews are the organ grinder
I think, Ros-Lehtinen and John Bolton are getting money from American Jewish for their every comment, so you can't expect any fair comment or recommendation from them. I don't understand why prominent news paper Haaretz wasting their article space by writing their comment.
I recall visiting my nephew who was doing security for the infamous "separation wall" in Israel while i noticed bags of cement being delivered. The bags had an Egyptian symbol on it! it turned out that Amereican Money paid major subsidies to Egyptian firms to sell cement to the poor Palestinians whose homes were reportedly destroyed by those mean Israelis. Palestinians, however, preferred to sell the cement to Israeli contractors who were building the fence. Everyone was happy: Egyptians sold cement, Palestinians got unrestrained funds to buy bombs, and Israelis got discounted cement to build the security wall. All paid for by Uncle Sam!
"is Israel safer because of this money going to the Palestinian Authority?" We can ask similar question: "Are the Palestinians safer because of the US money going to the Israel regime?" Huh?
Is she a US congresswoman or is she running for president of Israel. She might as well drive to transfer the US share in funding the UN to add to the Israel bounty coming courtsey of the American tax payer.
they should cancel the billions in aid they send to Israel until it stops then settlements and rolls back it apartheid policies. Bullyinfg the Palestinians will no longer work.
bankrupt the PA, sending them into the arms of the Saudis or Iran, and alienate the UN. Wise move, if you support the single state solution. I've long suspected that some of Israels 'supporters' were deep cover Iranian agitators pushing us deeper and deeper into rejectionism thus making the one state solution the only outcome. Bibi, Avi, Ros-Lehtinen, Bolton, you've been sprung, return to Tehran!
forget it, it wont happen
leaders can be held accountable and even targeted. One nation state may declare war on another state. Their military can be defeated and forced to surrender and they can be forced to pay reparations. Palestinians will be held even more accountable than ever before.
Dear congress women , can you explain why should palestine not be recognized ? What is is dangerous about it ? Besides keep your charitu to yourself as no one needs it more than US. Arab leauge will look after palestine.
As they did since 48'... Denying citizenship etc., promising money and barely sending any, except for the terrorists' families.
we just need to look at the victims of these delighteful schemes all over the planet to this day....palestinians demands are completely legit, needless to say it is also the case by law. i guess for this witch, laws are valid only for a certain category of people depending on where her interests lie. LOL...so sadly typical...money or no money, best to be poor and not occupied. i am sure everyone from the AL can put in more money than the current arrangements to compensate for the financial loss from those bullies until palestine can breathe on its own. nothing should stop palestinians right now. it is now or i suspect in another 50 yrs.noone should give up so close to see the end of the tunnel.
They already have their autonomy, we help them build police, we only ask Palestinians to stop terror and they get their state. Is stopping terror against us too much to as? read the PLO chart item 15, read the Hamas chart.
...you know, how much Israel wants peace with the Pals and all that good stuff...or did her handlers just forget to tell her to lie about it??
The truth is out there.
Yeah, the truth is out there. Not in your or Ros-Lehtinens words though
Give back that which you swindled --or rather stole.
This lady has proved herself again and again to be working for Israeli interests to the detriment to the U.S.A. It's called treason
Muslim bullying of Western countries to force them to vote for Palestinian state gives Americans the right to respond in the same manner.
Bully other countries to go along with them?
Quite a neocon pair. Toss in Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz and you have the people with the vision to kill off or maim 65,000 Americans in Iraq and kill at least 100,000 Iraqis and never get bin Laden. But they do still try and make a case for the Torquemada philosophy. Let he get her vote on the bill and let the chips fall. Maybe Israel does want Iran financing the PA and Hamas running the West Bank, too.
When was Turkey condemned for bombing Iraq 2 weeks back?They killed more civilians than Israel on Marmara,but the UN does not care.Since when only those killed by Israel count????
I couldn't give a darn what Bolton thinks and this is just a pathetic attempt on his part to remain in the public eye. As for Ros-Lehtinen I can only describe her as beyond contempt who will hopefully be voted out of office in Nov 12
It is over. Palestine will be a state. Israel will have to deal with The ICC on cast lead,etc. For those involved the only safe haven will be Israel and the US. This will be forever- a tough way to live.
If the U.S. and Europe cut off their money, the PA will collapse. Perhaps then the 3 million Arabs who have lived under Jewish rule for a half century will wake up to the reality: they are never getting a genuine independent state. What now? Perhaps its time to demand equality within a bi-national state.
John Bolton is a disgraced US politician who worked for the late Senator Jesse Helms, a notorious anti-Semite and racist. Bolton led the white collar riot that led to the forced cessation of counting the ballots in Florida that gave the presidency to the worst president in US history: George W. Bush. Boltlon is an outrageous warmonger and a danger to the national security of Israel and the United States.
She is not looking for peace in the region, she is searching for a war, not helping in any way, Iliena gives a solution to the problem instead, let people live in peace
She is an insult to Jewish people, being Jewish does not necessarily means you have support Isreal's Policy, similar to being an Irish American supporting IRA. Congresswoman for the saviour of Jewish people's rich heritage do not make the Isreali the enforcer of apartied policy of the current govt of Isreal. Think straight lady
Her Parents are jewish.
Americans who oppose her scheme and perhaps people from other countries as well could always just threaten to boycott Miami and the Florida Keys. I wonder how fast her mind would change if faced with responsibility for the collapse of her districts economy.
The funny thing is seeing American politics harming the interests of his country to support the Israeli occupation. Will the American people do not realize that this situation is unsustainable?
usa has no use for foreign agents in our government. i just know they would be welcome in israel
It's true most of us are more interested in the economy (or Israel,by the way), but there are still a large number of us who are quite interested in general in stopping the oppression of the Palestinians by Israel.
the avon lady (AIPAC lady?) is back babbling on about her racist, moronic ideas.
Ros-Lehtinen is right: it's time to end hypocritical US aid to the Palestinians. And probably to the UN as well. US soft power only works if it aligns with policies promoting freedom and democracy. In this case, US aid is clearly given in an attempt to blackmail the Palestinians into accepting a status quo that perpetuates military occupation and colonization.
actually, you are right. she is NOT. you have totally different reasons for stopping aid.
It should be in India's interests, too. Israel has far, far more to offer India than these Palestinians
This is the problem with many US members of Congress when they act and abuse the will of voters by considering Israel's interests before those of the US's.
Why don't you become a likudnic Kenesset member and stop pretending to represent American citizens... Shame on you...
Makes the Tea Party look rational.
The Palestinians have been negotiating for 20 years. Hello!
Crimes against humanity ??? It is these Arabs who are commiting these crimes against humanity, daily. Why are we defending killers?? Are we blind to the real aggressor, the killers of infants
Arabs need to raise the price of oil by $10 a barrel and donate the money to Palestine. They can also trade with other countries that don't hate Arabs and Muslims.
It will throw the world economy into a tailspin and China will be left holding the bag. No Jassim that will not work. Why don't you try telling Hamas to drop dead or realize israel is not going away. You Moslems have been trying to get rid of Jews for a long as Islam has been around. In Jerusalem you started up again in 1920. Then in Haifa 1921 , then in Hebron in 1929. If anything you are consistent. or is it persistent ?
It belongs to the world. The Arab nations are European colonialist inventions and nothing else.
.. the boundaries and names of many Arab countries were invented as well, but this does not mean that there are no Arab nations.... What the colonialist did was preventing the formation of one Arab state from Morocco to Kuwai in the east, and Syria to Yemen in the south
Your job is to take care of US sinking ship. Mind your own business and stay out of Palestinian Israeli affairs. Your blind support of Israel has hurt Israel. the Palestinians and the US
This is absolutely NOT going to happen. Just trying to put the pressure on!
Why don't you add Blair, Asnar and Mr Magoo to give the article some balance. It's nice if someone (e.g. Ros-Lehtinen and Bolton) are loyal to an ally, but if loyalty is their only qualification, and it is, then there are problems.
We the people of the USA, are in full support of the Palestanian bid for Full UN Membership, and call on the Administration to get ahead of the curve by supporting it, and NOT seen isolated and standing alone with Israel.
These "supportive" Americans are israel's worst enemies. They support a system of abuse and injustice which is not sustainable and which only leads to moral backwardness and deep regional trouble.
When we have more that are the same as you we shall live like brothers and sisters, we live togheter, eat togheter, work toghether and build our future as a family. May God bless you.