Kesher Talk

Council for the National Interest battles the "pro-Israel lobby": The Council for the National Interest, an organization founded by Paul Findlay, a former member of Congress who blames the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and pro-Israel activists for his defeat, is running television ads on the Middle East on Washington-area cable stations.

Findlay has charged in books that the "pro-Israel lobby" has too much power and silences those who "dare to speak out" against Israel.

CNI has been running 30-second advertisements calling for a "sensible" Middle East policy on CNN's Crossfire, MSNBC's Donahue and the Fox News Channel, according to the organization's president, Eugene Bird. He said the campaign, which began earlier in December, was scheduled to wrap up earlier this week, after the ad had been run 120 times.

One ad features a picture of Middle East envoy Gen. Anthony Zinni on one side of the screen, with a drawing of the Statue of Liberty, wearing a blindfold, on the other. An announcer slowly reads words that scroll by next to the Zinni picture, stating: "General Zinni and other leaders say that the Middle East peace process with Israel and her neighbors comes before any action on Iraq. Sensible. The road to Baghdad runs through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Common sense." The ad then identifies its sponsors, provides two Web site addresses and ends with "Tell the truth about the Middle East. Very sensible."

The second ad script cites a "new Zogby poll" that found that 49 percent of Americans "believe Israeli policies are endangering American security" and urges viewers to "send that message to Bush on the Web."

CNI supporters around the country are being sent videotaped copies of the ads and being urged to buy time on their local cable companies for the ads' broadcast, Bird said. Bird said the CNI ads were in part a counter to pro-Israel ads that ran on Washington cable stations last spring, and on cable systems throughout the country this fall. CNI has also been running newspaper ads throughout the fall.

The CNI president said Israel and its supporters in the United States have strongly influenced President George W. Bush's Middle East policy, specifically in encouraging the president to make Iraq his first priority. He also said pro-Israel activists have "intimidated" the American media. Bird said his organization, which calls for a cut in aid to Israel on its Web site, did not favor the Camp David peace proposal in 2000, but liked the plan that arose from talks in Taba in January 2001.

posted by Howard @ 12/30/2002 07:01:09 AM