[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 15819-15820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        ISRAEL: AMERICA'S MAIN ALLY IN THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM

  Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I request unanimous consent to address the 
House for 5 minutes.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the gentleman from New 
York is recognized for 5 minutes.
  There was no objection.
  Mr. WEINER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as editorial pages are abuse 
with discussion about the tragic and sad events in the Middle East, and 
some people at coffee shops and at street corners around our country 
are asking some very basic questions about the conflict in that region 
and why it has reached the place that it has.
  I have heard some on this floor raise what are really foundational 
questions to make it possible to understand the conflict and the 
challenge facing Israel in their battle against Hamas on one front, 
Hezbollah on the other front, and their two nation sponsors, Iran and 
Syria.
  One question that frequently gets asked is how come we can't just let 
diplomacy take hold? And it is true. Whenever there are missiles 
flying, whenever there are guns ablaze, it is, by very definition, a 
failure of diplomacy. And it has never been the first choice of either 
the United States or Israel in that part of the world to choose 
violence.
  If you look through the entire scope of the Israeli lifespan, their 
entire existence has been marked with them extending their hand and 
saying yes to proposed diplomatic solutions to the conflict there, and 
their Arab nations saying no.
  In 1947, even before the nation was born, there was the famous 
partition plan that would have made Israel a fraction of what it is 
today, surrounded by enemy Arab countries. It was the Arabs that said 
no, not the Israelis.
  Since then, we have had the Oslo Accord, where the Israelis 
acknowledged the PLO as a partner for peace and were obviously burned; 
the Wye River Accord; the Camp David Accord with Egypt, which 
thankfully, still stands today; Camp David II, which was a concession 
of virtually everything that the Palestinians asked for in exchange for 
peace, and that was met with violence.
  We also should note that when they left Gaza on their southern 
border, left the parts to the Palestinians, that is the very spot that 
is now being used to launch missiles, Katusha rockets by the dozens, 
against their citizens.
  When they left Lebanon after occupying it because so many missiles 
were flying from Lebanon into their northern border, they left to come 
into compliance with the U.N. resolution and to set up universally and 
internationally accepted border that now Hezbollah has breached in 
Lebanon.
  So it is true diplomacy is the better option. But in every single 
circumstance where diplomacy was pursued by the Israelis, with the help 
of the United States, it has been her terrorist neighbors, her Arab 
neighbors, who have said diplomacy is not what we want; we want Israel 
not to exist. And that, by the way, still today is what Hamas has made 
their creed, Hezbollah has made their mission, supported by Syria and 
Iran.
  We have also heard a couple of times something that I wholeheartedly 
agree with, that there are many in Lebanon who are completely innocent 
in this. There are.
  Frankly, my good friend, Mr. LaHood, mentioned this during the debate 
on the floor on the resolution supporting Israel. It is true there is 
no group more innocent and more persecuted in that part of the world 
than the Lebanese Christians, who have been persecuted by their fellow 
Lebanese. There are many people in Lebanon who just want to live and be 
free, but they have been overrun by Syria and then by Hezbollah.
  But you are not an innocent victim of this if you go to bed at night 
with a Hezbollah rocket tucked under your bed. You are not an innocent 
victim if you went out and voted for Hezbollah to make them part of 
your government. You are not an innocent victim when you make Hezbollah 
part of the ministry in Lebanon. You cannot lay down with dogs and 
expect not to get up with fleas.
  The government of Lebanon has chosen to make partnership with 
Hezbollah, so when Hezbollah crossed an international border and takes 
prisoners, when they lob missiles into Haifa, the Lebanese government, 
unfortunately, has to decide which side they are on, and up to now they 
have said they are on the side of Hezbollah.

[[Page 15820]]

  The final thing I have heard is, from time to time, some, and it is 
even supporters of Israel, say, you know what, this is a difficult time 
since September 11. Maybe our true concern should not be about what 
goes on in Israel. Maybe it should be just worrying about the United 
States and our interests.
  Well, ladies and gentlemen, when the United States goes out and 
fights against terrorism around the world, arguably they have one ally. 
It is not our feckless friends in Europe. It is not the French. It is 
not even the British. Our only ally, who every single day is fighting 
terrorism, is Israel. When they fight against Hezbollah, they are 
fighting against the organization that was the number one terrorist 
organization killing Americans before September 11.
  That has to be part of our understanding. When Israel's soldiers go 
and fight and die against terrorists, they are fighting a war for all 
of us.
  So as we watch the newspapers and try to understand what is going on, 
we have got to understand diplomacy was tried by the Israelis, over and 
over and over again, and it will be tried again. We have got to 
understand that those in Lebanon, there are some innocent victims, but 
there are many people guilty as well. And we have to understand that 
when Israel fights for its freedom, it fights on behalf of the United 
States as well.

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