Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Gingrich overstepped his responsibility in Isreal

BRIAN GREENSPUN is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

"Cassius has a lean and hungry look. Such men are dangerous." So said Julius Caesar. And so was Cassius.

Newt Gingrich, no matter how hard he tries -- and I know the trouble he is having -- does not have a lean or hungry look. But he does have a big mouth and he often opens it at the wrong time. He, too, can be dangerous.

There is little disputing the fact that the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is an intelligent man. There is evidence, though, to suggest that in pursuing his political agenda at the expense of the national security of the United States, he is not acting very smart. That must be the main reason why Americans hold him in such relatively low esteem.

Newt's latest foray into the land of the unknown was his mouth-brain disconnect in Israel when he did everything he could to cozy up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the right wing of the Israeli parliament. To Newt, who led the Republican Party out of the wilderness of the back benches in the Congress in 1994, it was political business as usual. To the people of Israel, their Arab neighbors and their illusive partners for peace, the Palestinian Authority led by Yasser Arafat, his tactics went beyond simple politics and, though no one inside the Beltway will utter the words, bordered on treasonous activity.

I do not use those words lightly. In fact, I don't remember using them more than once or twice before when commenting on the antics of a political figure in this country. But when Mr. Gingrich steps into the role of conducting foreign policy, the Constitutional responsibility of the President of the United States, he steps beyond his elected office and into the one the people of this country did not elect him to undertake.

I do not believe the Speaker is a bad person. I remember when he was elected to that position in January 1995 and I wrote that many in this country had high hopes that he would bring intelligence, determination and a fresh approach to the legislative branch of our government. I was one of those people. To a lesser extent I still am except for times like this when he steps well beyond his role as Speaker and tries to be the president.

There is a big difference between a citizen, be he Speaker of the House or a speaker in a public park, who challenges our government and its policies while home in the United States and that same person who goes abroad and speaks against a government position. Most people may not be aware of the difference but it has to do with the conduct of foreign policy by those empowered by our Constitution to do so. If everyone were free to go abroad and spout off a different view, especially during very sensitive and difficult negotiations over matters of national security, you can see how such action could give aid and comfort to the enemy -- especially in today's world in which perception is often far more powerful than reality.

So when Gingrich goes into the heart of the Middle East and, presumably speaking with the authority of the U.S. Congress, tells one side in the negotiations that they, in effect, are 100 percent right and the other, by definition, that they must be 100 percent wrong, he is conducting a brand of foreign policy-making that is not within his job description.

As much as Newt would like to be president the fact remains that he is not. It is President Bill Clinton and he alone who sets our foreign policy and who is responsible for carrying it out. He has chosen Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to help him fulfill that responsibility to the American people. I know of no order, executive or otherwise, in which the President has asked Newt to give him a hand.

And, as much as I believe that the Speaker's heart is in the right place regarding Israel and the difficulties she faces trying to find a just and secure peace, so am I equally convinced that his mouth is in the wrong place.

His utterings sound good for a political speech but they do nothing to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. It is no secret in Washington that Gingrich studied the situation long and hard before he went to Israel last week so his untimely and meddlesome utterings can not be judged a simple mistake. They were deliberately designed to bolster Netanyahu's standing within his own party -- a meddling Mr. Gingrich would not tolerate if the shoe were on the other foot -- and to drive a wedge in the foreign policy efforts of the United States -- read that seeking a political win at home -- during this most sensitive and delicate stage of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

What he did was wrong. Period. He owes his country an apology. He owes us more than that.

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