After a meeting Tuesday morning between Van Hollen and about 15 Jewish community lay and religious leaders, Ron Halber said that Van Hollen should be judged on his entire record in Congress ‹ which includes numerous votes in favor of pro-Israel legislation ‹ "rather than a single letter."

Halber specifically cited the legislator's trip last month to Israel, which he discussed during the meeting, as a key factor in reassuring him of Van Hollen's support for the Jewish state.

"After the cease-fire was declared, he was there on the ground" to declare his backing for Israel, Halber said.

The meeting at Magen David Sephardic Congregation in Rockville was one of the meetings that JCRC leaders schedule with local members of Congress every summer to discuss Israel issues, but took on heightened importance because of criticism of Van Hollen during the past month.

Meeting participant Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt of Congregation B'nai Tzedek in Potomac agreed with Halber that it would be a "mistake" to define Van Hollen solely by the letter.

"There are certain areas where his approach differs from members of the community" on Israel, but those differences are "certainly within the parameters of the robust debate in Israel itself," Weinblatt said.

But Rabbi Herzel Kranz, another meeting attendee, said he was still bothered by Van Hollen's letter and wished he would have apologized for it.

"I don't think he comprehends what he did," he said. The Silver Spring Jewish Center rabbi, however, also noted that Van Hollen has "room to grow."

Meanwhile, Van Hollen issued a statement last week resolving to "do all we can to ensure" that the three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hamas and Hezbollah "are freed expeditiously and returned to their waiting families."

"The kidnapping of Cpl. Gilad Shalit on June 25th and reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser on July 12th were provocative acts that ignited a war, inflicting death and destruction on innocent civilians in Israel and Lebanon and leaving thousands of people homeless," Van Hollen said, adding that the three soldiers are "young men with families who are suffering with every moment of uncertainly about their fates."

The statement also resolved that "the criminal kidnappings of these men by terrorist organizations will not deter us from our ultimate goal of peace in the region."

Say no to Khatami

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington is urging the Washington National Cathedral to withdraw a speaking invitation to former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.

In a letter to cathedral dean The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, JCRC executive director Ron Halber and president Susan Weinberg call Khatami "a figure who has a long documented record of intolerance, anti-Semitism and human rights abuses" and note that "under his leadership ... repeated threats were made to destroy the Jewish state," enclosing five pages of quotes backing up their arguments.

Khatami is scheduled to speak on "the role the three Abrahamic faiths can play in shaping peace throughout the world," according to a cathedral press release. A call to a National Cathedral spokesperson was not returned by press time.

The Iranian president is also scheduled to meet with former president Jimmy Carter.

MoveOn scrubsoffensive comments

The Anti-Defamation League is welcoming MoveOn.org Political Action's removal of anti-Semitic messages from the ActionForum portion of its Web site.

ADL national director Abraham Foxman had written MoveOn.org Political Action executive director Eli Pariser on Thursday of last week after receiving complaints that such comments as "media owning Jewish pigs," "Jew Lieberman" referring to Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), "Zionazis" and "why are the Jews so Jew-y?" had been posted to the site."

Foxman noted that while the site is an open forum "intended to foster the free flow of ideas," MoveOn should "exercise your own First Amendment rights and issue a statement making it clear that your organization finds such messages abhorrent."

Pariser responded last weekend with a statement on the group's Web site, saying that "a few of the thousands of comments that are posted every week" were "abhorrent" and that they were removed "as soon as they came to our attention."

The comments "identified were not, in fact, made by MoveOn members," he said, noting the nonprofit was "working to discern whether they were made as a part of a right-wing campaign to target the organization."

Bibi chats with veep

Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu met Vice President Dick Cheney and top senators Tuesday on a visit to Washington to explain Israel's position on containing Hezbollah and Iran.

Netanyahu lined up behind the government during its July-August war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and this visit was similarly in the spirit of national unity.

Two top aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were due to arrive in Washington yesterday.

No more cluster bombs?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced an amendment to restrict the sale of U.S.-made cluster bombs.

The California Democrat, who is Jewish and a solid supporter of Israel, wants to guarantee that the weapons will "not be used in or near any concentrated population of civilians, whether permanent or temporary, including inhabited parts of cities or villages, camps or columns of refugees or evacuees."

The amendment to the Defense Department appropriations bill, due for consideration this month, does not mention any specific country, but suggests it was inspired by a State Department investigation into Israel's use of U.S.-made cluster bombs during the recent war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel vigorously denies human rights groups' claims that it used the weapons in heavily populated areas.

Meanwhile, Rep. Shelley Berkley is circulating to colleagues a letter criticizing the Bush administration for opening the State Department investigation into Israel's use of cluster bombs.

‹ by Eric Fingerhut, with reports from Ron Kampeas of JTA News and Features and Nathan Guttman of The Jerusalem Post