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Politics & Government

Lowey Defends Foreign Aid to Israel, Others

Congresswoman Nita Lowey spoke at an event at Temple Israel Center of White Plains, where she denounced Sen. Rand Paul's call to slash aid to Israel and other nations.

Any political discussion of Israel will inevitably involve the other nations in the Middle East, and any current discussion of the region will inevitably involve Egypt, which saw its leader ousted last week after a 30-year dictatorship.

Such was the case on Sunday as Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) spoke at an event at Temple Israel Center of White Plains.

Billed as a discussion with Dr. Eric Mandel—a White Plains resident and laser eye surgeon and a member of Temple Israel Center—and titled “Defending Israel in the 21st Century: The State of the U.S.-Israel Relationship, Iran, Palestinians, the BDS Movement, Hezbollah, Syria, and Worldwide Anti-Semitism,”—the two-hour event did not quite cover all the topics in its title, due largely to the necessary and understandable focus on Egypt.

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Dr. Mandel noted at the beginning that when materials promoting the event were created in January, Egypt was not even mentioned. Lowey, ranking member of the House’s Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations (and its top Democrat), was speaking in part to counter Republican Sen. Rand Paul’s call late last month to slash aid to Israel and other nations as part of an effort to cut government spending by $500 billion this year. Paul wants to cut $20 billion in overseas aid, including $3 billion to Israel for military aid.

 "The overwhelming majority of Americans agree with Senator Paul—our current fiscal crisis makes it impossible to continue the spending policies of the past," Paul spokesman Gary Howard, told CBS News.com, in a statement responding to the criticism. "We simply cannot afford to give money away, even to our allies, with so much debt mounting on a daily basis." 

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Lowey said that while bipartisanship gets a lot of lip service in Washington, it actually is “alive and well” on the State and Foreign Operations subcommittee. She said she’s confident she’ll be able to work with the current chairwoman, Congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas, to keep aid flowing to our allies.

“We can’t live in isolation,” Lowey said. “We need to keep supporting aid to Israel, and to Egypt.”

As for Egypt, Lowey related how things are changing so fast there that after President Hosni Mubarak abandoned his seat and left the country on Friday. It was her driver at the airport—who had been listening to international radio—who told her who was now in charge. The State Department didn’t even have the information right away, according to Lowey’s staff.

Dr. Mandel, who serves as director of the Five Synagogues of White Plains Israel Action Committee, cautioned that a rush to hold elections in Egypt would be a mistake.

“Everyone is focused on elections,” he said. “I’m always concerned when people equate elections with freedom and democracy. They are not the same thing.”

Rather, he said, rule of law, freedom of the press, and tolerance are the genuine hallmarks of democracy. Lowey also defended the $1.3 billion in aid that the United States gives to Egypt.

“This connection is absolutely essential in keeping the relationship going,” she said.

Noting that the new Republican House leadership wants to cut all foreign aid by at least 13 percent, she said this will hinder efforts related to HIV, family planning and in general “easing pain and suffering around the world and moving towards democracy.”

In response to one of many questions from the audience, Lowey said that shouting down opponents should not be an option, even for people that feel strongly about an issue. Claiming freedom of speech is not valid when you are denying the freedom of expression of others.

“Whether it comes from the right or the left,” she said, “that kind of behavior is outrageous.” 

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