[WCUSP] Jewish Groups Back Bolton (Forward)

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

Siding With White House, Groups Back  Bolton 

Marc  Perelman | Fri. Nov 17, 2006
_http://www.forward.com/articles/siding-with-white-house-groups-back-bolton/_ 
(http://www.forward.com/articles/siding-with-white-house-groups-back-bolton/) 
In the first post-election battle between the Bush administration and the  
Democrats, the Jewish community is standing behind  the president as he pushes 
the candidacy of John Bolton for U.S. ambassador to  the United Nations. 
Despite the declared hostility of Democrats  and several moderate 
Republicans, the White House has formally put forth the  reappointment of Bolton, the 
controversial neoconservative diplomat.
Bush appointed Bolton, a leading neoconservative who failed to garner  
sufficient votes in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2005, during a  
congressional recess for one year. His term expires in December, and key  committee 
members have indicated that they would not drop their opposition  before the 
newly elected, Democratically controlled Congress convenes in January  2007, at 
which point the odds of seeing Bolton confirmed would be even lower.  The 
administration is now reportedly looking for ways to keep Bolton at the U.N.  by 
circumventing the Senate. 
“The Jewish community remains supportive and would want to see  [Bolton] stay,
” said Malcolm Hoenlein, vice chairman of the Conference of  Presidents of 
Major American Jewish Organizations. “He has been an effective  advocate, and he 
is appreciated by the diplomatic corps.” 
At the same time, Hoenlein said, he was not aware of any  recent effort by 
Jewish organizations to press administration and Congress on  the issue. Several 
major Jewish groups had expressed their support, in public  and in private, 
when Bolton’s appointment became a political battle in  Washington in early 
2005. None of these groups has issued statements on the  issue in recent weeks. 
“The administration and the Congress know where the community stands,”  
Hoenlein said. “But this is not in our hands, obviously.” 
Bolton is viewed as a strong supporter of Israel, and exercised the  American 
veto last week on a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the  killing 
of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. While American support for  Israel at the 
U.N. is unlikely to change with a new ambassador and a Democratic  Congress, 
Bolton had cultivated especially close personal bonds  over the years with all 
major Jewish groups. They  have hailed him for his role in convincing U.N. 
members in 1991 to repel the  infamous “Zionism equals racism” resolution, for his 
outspoken criticism of the  U.N.’s failures to enact more reforms, and for 
his support for regime change in  Iraq and a tough line on Iran’s nuclear 
ambitions. He also has been a  fairly active voice for international efforts to stop 
the mass killings in  Darfur. 
Last year, Bolton failed to convince a majority on the Senate committee to  
support him and send his nomination to a floor vote. Lawmakers expressed  
lingering doubts over his reportedly abrasive style and his past aggressive  
behavior toward his colleagues at the State Department, where he was in charge  of 
nonproliferation issues. 
Senator Lincoln Chafee, a moderate Republican senator who voted against  
Bolton last week and was defeated by his Democratic rival in Rhode Island, said  
last week that it would be “illogical” to endorse Bolton’s nomination. “I am 
not  going to endorse something the American people have spoken out against,” 
said  Chafee, whose term ends in January, in a statement. 
The administration is reportedly considering another recess appointment,  a 
step that would require Bolton to serve without pay. Also on  the table is the 
idea of nominating Bolton to a deputy position at the American  mission and 
having him serve as the “acting” U.S. ambassador, or having  him become a 
member of the White House National Security Council, a position  that does not 
require congressional confirmation. 
In recent days, the names of possible replacements have popped up — including 
 current U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad,  Undersecretary of State 
for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky and State Department  counselor Philip 
Zelikow — who recently suggested that America  needed to show progress on the 
Palestinian issue in order to  assemble a broad coalition against Iran. Two 
congressmen, Rep.  Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Rep. Jim Walsh of New York, have 
suggested  outgoing Rep. Jim Leach of Iowa, a Republican who was defeated 
November 7. 
Fri. Nov 17,  2006 

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