The U.S. needs to support Palestinians as much as it supports Israel if America wants to ease tensions between the Arab and Western worlds, Sen. Ken Salazar said Wednesday as he visited the Middle East.
“There has to be an equality of treatment there,” Salazar, D-Colo., said in a conference call with reporters.
Much of the violence in the region is done in the name of Palestinian sovereignty, he said, and some Arab leaders believe that the U.S. favors Israel over the Palestinians.
Salazar is among congressmen who this week plan to visit Israel, Jordan and Beirut.
Arab leaders want the U.S. to assist with diplomatic negotiations and with the economic reconstruction of Palestinian territories, Salazar said.
The U.S. gives more aid to Israel than any other foreign nation, with President Bush requesting $2.4 billion in 2008. Bush asked for $1.3 billion for Egypt, the country receiving the second-highest amount of financial help. That’s out of a $20.3 billion budget request for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
There is an urgency for the U.S. assistance, Salazar said, because the area in and around Lebanon is a “powder keg,” that could explode this summer.
Salazar hoped to visit Iraq, but was unable to do so because only a limited number of U.S. lawmakers may enter the violence-beset country. The “logistics became a nightmare,” he said.
