Kerry appoints Mel Levine top Mideast adviser
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Tom Tugend, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 16, 2004
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When Washington goes its own way and disrespects its allies, it hurts not only the United States, but Israel as well, insists Mel Levine.
"Whenever America is diminished in the eyes of the world, it does Israel no favor," said Levine, who as John Kerry's newly appointed top adviser on the Middle East is expected to play a major role in shaping the Democrat's policy on region.
During an interview in his law office, the former congressman from West Los Angeles was addressing himself to concerns that Kerry's advocacy of a multilateral US foreign policy might mean greater pressure on Israel for concessions to the Palestinians and surrounding Arab states.
Not so, said Levine, "but if we cannot convince Europe, Russia and other countries to keep nuclear weapons away from Iran, to fight terrorism, and to exert greater leverage on Arab countries, we will fail," and thereby weaken Israel.
To gauge Kerry's attitude toward Israel, one need only look at his votes during 20 years in the US Senate, according to Levine.
"By every rating and criterion, Kerry's votes have shown 100 percent solid support for Israel," he said. "That's well understood in his home state of Massachusetts, but not yet throughout the rest of the country."
Levine's appointment as chair of the Kerry campaign's Middle East Policy Working Group has been hailed by Jewish spokesmen and organizations as a reassurance that Israel's interests will have an eloquent voice in Kerry's inner circle.
As congressman and member of the House foreign affairs committee from 1983 to 1993, Levine was among Israel's strongest supporters. His clashes with former Secretary of State James Baker on the Middle East policies of the first President Bush have become part of Washington folklore.
Representing the US, Levine has also had considerable experience in dealing with the Arab side.
At Vice President Al Gore's request, he served as co-president, with Arab-American James Zogby, of Builders for Peace, a private sector initiative to make the West Bank economy more competitive that, despite its good intentions, largely failed.
Following the 1998 Wye Plantation accords, Levine chaired the US-Israel-Palestinian "anti-incitement" task force. He learned from this experience that incitement has to be confronted directly and aggressively, a lesson he is passing on to Kerry.
Until recently, he served on the board of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), but has cut his activities in advocacy groups since becoming chairman of the non-political Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.
The Middle East Policy Working Group, said Levine, is not a formal committee with regular meetings and joint policy formulations. "I will be seeking informal and informed input from other members, and then render my advice," Levine said.
He also believes that with Kerry's long service on the Senate foreign relations committee and his global outlook, "he won't need much policy guidance. Unlike other presidents, whose previous experiences were as state governors, Kerry will hit the ground running."
When Jewish Republicans and Democrats argue the merits of their presidential candidates, and whether sizeable chunks of the overwhelmingly Democratic Jewish community will defect this time to President Bush, Republicans stress the incumbent's pro-Israel record. Democrats – while not conceding that their man is any less pro-Israel – emphasize the Bush administration's perceived domestic policy failures.
Edward Sanders, an elder statesman of the Los Angeles and national Jewish communities, and who served as President Jimmy Carter's Middle East and Jewish relations adviser, has no doubt about his priorities. "I couldn't vote for a candidate who is good for Israel and bad on everything else," said the veteran Democrat and Kerry supporter. "What's good for a strong and respected United States is good for Israel."
Levine acknowledges that the Democrats may not quite retain the 80 percent of the Jewish vote they got in the last presidential election, when they fielded Al Gore, a longtime friend of the Jewish community, and Jewish vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman. But with Bush and Kerry equally pro-Israel, in Levine's view, Jewish voters will come down overwhelmingly on Kerry's side on a wide range of domestic issues.
"On the top of the list is church-state separation, and to say that the present administration has blurred the line is a significant understatement," said Levine.
Other issues where Levine perceives serious Bush weaknesses include privacy rights, energy independence, woman's right to choose, health care, the environment, and preserving social services.
Veteran Democratic Rep. Howard Berman of California has known Levine for some 27 years and sees the latter's appointment as "an obvious statement by Kerry that he will be a strong supporter of Israel and its security interests.
Another longtime colleague, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) praised Kerry's ability to "translate his views into public policy." In a survey by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, leaders of major Jewish organizations such as AIPAC, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations overwhelmingly endorsed the choice of Levine, though some noted that in the end it would be up to Kerry to act on Levine's recommendations.
Levine said he would be an "active advocate" in the Kerry campaign, but declined to speculate on a future role in a Kerry administration. |
