Posted on 10/12/2003 6:23:54 PM PDT by Alouette
Any citizen of the United States wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries out any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or any agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or any official or agent thereof, in relations to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both. – Logan Act, 1799
It is time for Israel to adopt its own version of the Logan Act. That Israeli governments rarely speak with one voice in foreign policy is bad enough. That delegations of private citizens and members of the opposition negotiate alternative peace deals with Palestinians – under the auspices of a foreign government, no less – makes a mockery of basic democratic processes. Then again, we are familiar with what some Israelis think about democratic processes.
The latest instance of freelance diplomacy is the so-called "Geneva initiative," a draft of which was finalized in Amman over the weekend. Sponsored by the Foreign Ministry of Switzerland, it involved, among others, the participation of former culture minister Yasser Abed Rabbo on the Palestinian side, and of former Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin, ex-Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna, former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, and Shinui MK Etti Livni on the Israeli side. A "signing event" is expected sometime in the coming weeks.
Not all the details of the Geneva initiative are clear, but the general outlines are known. Large settlements such as Efrat and Ariel would be evacuated. Palestinians would renounce the so-called right of return, in exchange for which they would gain sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
According to Brig.-Gen. (res.) Giora Inbar, a participant in the talks, the agreement is conditional on a cessation of terrorism. Very nice. But all this is beside the point. Men of good will can always be found on any side of any dispute to make the hard-sought concession. Israel elected such men to high office in 1999 to do just that. Their offers were rebuffed by Palestinians, and that is the essence of the present conflict.
No wonder Ehud Barak calls the initiative "irresponsible and damaging to the State of Israel." But the real problem here isn't one of naivete. In the 1990s, the governments of Rabin, Peres, and Barak reacted angrily to efforts by Right-wing Israelis and American Jews to obstruct the Oslo Accords – efforts that usually amounted to little more than op-ed writing and ad campaigns.
Yet when critics of the current government organize an effort on the scale of the Geneva initiative, not only do they insist it is morally legitimate and "democratic," but that anyone opposed to it "welcomes doubts as to his motives and worldview." Asks Haaretz: "Why are the Mitchell and Tenet plans and the road map acceptable, but the Beilin-Abed Rabbo initiative is not?"
Well, here's one answer: Mitchell, Tenet, and the road map were all agreed by elected Israeli governments. Beilin-Abed Rabbo is a conscious effort – by a man who failed even to win a Knesset seat – to sidestep the elected government (if not actually subvert it), leveraging the resources of a pliable foreign government to do so. The Left may not be able to appreciate this distinction. But it should at least understand that the tactics it embraces now will boomerang once they are adopted by the Right.
In advocating penalties against future Geneva initiators, we are not suggesting that anyone should go to jail. No American has ever been convicted of violating the Logan Act. But this only suggests its soundness, both as a deterrent and as a principle. No sane government can allow its foreign policy to be conducted by unauthorized private citizens, any more than it can allow unauthorized citizens to conduct its police or military responsibilities.
For Messrs. Beilin, Mitzna, and Burg, it comes down to this: If they want to run the affairs of state, first they must win an election. And if they want to know why they can't win an election, they need look no further than the Geneva initiative itself.
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GREAT POINT
And it is time for America to enforce its own law. Ramsey Clark, Jesse Jackson and others including moles within our own state department regularly skate.
Thank G-d this madness will die without a murmur.
Barak came to his senses after the Oslo Accords collapsed and then he got his butt kicked in the election. It seems that Peres, Burg, & Beilin require additional beatings about the tachtonim.
Glad to hear it. He was a great soldier, better he be remembered for that.
It seems that Peres, Burg, & Beilin require additional beatings about the tachtonim.
Burg and Beilin I don't know enough to comment on, but considering how many whacks Peres has already gotten from a clue-by-four, I don't think a few more are going to cause any improvement.
Why? The U.S. Logan act is routinely ignored. For example, by Jesse Jackson and EX-president Carter...
--Boris
They appear to be just a tenticle of the Brady bunch and the "Million Mom March"...
--Boris
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