Senators Urge U.S. to Press Saudis on Israel Boycott

5/1/2008

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Last November’s high-profile Middle East meeting in Annapolis raised hopes that Saudi Arabia would begin to normalize relations with Israel. Since that time, however, Riyadh has done nothing to ease its 60-year boycott of the Jewish state, as required by the terms of its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

In response, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee’s International Trade Subcommittee have sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, urging them to do more to convince Saudi Arabia to end its isolation of Israel.

The letter, written by Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), notes that Riyadh committed to end its participation in the Arab League boycott of Israel upon entering the WTO in 2005.

Expressing concern that the Administration’s annual National Trade Estimate report minimizes Saudi Arabia’s role in the boycott and downplays its failure to meet its WTO commitments, the senators call on the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to be more candid in future assessments of Saudi compliance. However, the 2008 edition of USTR’s report, which was released shortly after Lincoln and Smith sent their letter, commends Riyadh for taking its WTO responsibilities “seriously” and omits any mention of its continuing ban on trade with Israel and attendance of boycott conferences in Syria.

Sens. Lincoln and Smith also point out the hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia demanding unilateral concessions from Israel while refusing to have any contacts with it.

President Bush said at Annapolis that Arab states should “reach out to Israel, work toward the normalization of relations and demonstrate in both word and deed that they believe that Israel and its people have a permanent home in the Middle East.” Lincoln and Smith used their letter to point out that more work needs to be done to see this through.  •NER•

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