From the Republican Jewish Coalition E-Newsletter of 9/9/05:
Bush administration thanks Israel for contributing to the hurricane relief effort
An erroneous article released by The World Tribune and circulated in an email campaign, suggests that anti-Israel sentiment by State Department officials led them to refuse Israeli aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
While The World Tribune claims the Bush administration “asked Israel to postpone sending aid,” and that “The United States has avoided any mention of Israeli participation in the international aid effort for the victims of Hurricane Katrina” – this is simply not the case.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and President Bush have welcomed relief support from any country, and have publicly applauded many nations, including Israel for their support. At the swearing-in ceremony for Karen Hughes as Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, President Bush thanked those nations that had offered aid to the Gulf region:
Think of this, Afghanistan has pledged a hundred thousand dollars to aid -- in aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Ambassador, thank you. Canada has sent ships with disaster supplies. Air Canada -- Air Canada's planes assisted in the evacuation. Israel sent tents and mineral water and medical supplies. Italy has sent beds and sheets and blankets and inflatable rafts to help with rescue efforts. Kuwait has pledged $400 million in oil and a hundred million dollars in humanitarian aid. Qatar and the UAE has pledged $100 million each. Sri Lanka, one of the world's most impoverished nations that is struggling to overcome the effects of the tsunami, has sent a donation of $25,000.
As the JTA reports, relief not immediately accepted by the United States may have been the result of “bureaucratic difficulties involved in absorbing thousands of foreign first-responder personnel,” in addition to a miscalculation of necessary relief assistance.
The RJC takes issue with this mischaracterization of the Bush administration and reminds the Jewish community – both here and abroad – of the tremendous support President Bush has given to the government and people of Israel.
...........
I don't want to argue it ad infinitum, since obviously we can't know the administration's motivation unless they state it publicly.
Israel has been mentioned in most acknowledgements, excluded in some, which is fine, and on the State Dept list..
The incident has been reported in numerous publications, not just the World Tribune in similar terms.
Like it or not the Israeli government offered aid, trauma teams, divers, supplies and the like.
The US "deferrred" the request.
The trauma teams are reservists and active duty, hard to reflag. They weren't needed, coincidentally.
Zaka, a private organization, was welcome, as the articles have indicated. Private, not governmental.
The unneeded Israeli divers suddenly turned up as volunteers.The delegation is being coordinated by IsraAID (the Israel Forum for International Aid), a non-governmental group funded by donations mainly from American Jews. Gal Lousky, the head of the delegation, said it expects to depart Tuesday and has all the permits necessary. Private, not governmental.
Ironically "Israeli's" physical aid began arriving the day before the RJC article.
Supplied by IsraAid, a private charity, not Israel, and flown on El Al, not the IAF.
Like it or not, the facts fit the report that an Israeli presence was unwelcome, only private, charitable relief. It appears the contension that At one point, the administration signaled that it would accept Israeli help, but preferred that it be as part of a mission organized by the American Jewish community," an official said. "There appeared to a problem with having the Israeli flag in a foreign rescue mission in the United States is supported by the facts.