ELECTION '84
CONGRESSION AL
RACES THAT
AFFECT
JEWS
Here and there around the country, a
number of legislative jobs are up for grabs,
and many of them are vital to our interests.
BY ARTHUR J. MAGIDA
Special to The Jewish News
North Carolina's Jesse Helms:
Urged U.S to - shut down" rela-
tions with Israel if it did not
withdraw from Beirut.
Bank is "the block to a com
prehensive settlement" of the
Arab-Israeli problem. During
the 1982 Israeli invasion of
Lebanon, Helms proposed
that the U.S. "shut down re-
lations with Israel" if Prime
Minister Menachem Begin
did not agree to a ceasefire in
Beirut.
Helms is next in line to suc-
ceed Charles Percy as chair-
man of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. With
Percy's reelection fairly
shaky, there is a good chance
that Helms might replace
him. But Helms has said at
least three times that he
would remain as head of the
Agriculture Committee rath-
er than move to the head of
Foreign Relations.
the president carries the state
by about 60 percent, there's
a good chance he'll bring
Helms into office along with
him.
Since entering the Senate
in 1973, Helms has voted al-
most consistently against Is-
rael. He backed the 1978 and
1981 sales of armaments to
Saudi Arabia and has op-
posed virtually every aid pro-
gram for Israel.
In 1979, Helms said that
Israel's insistence on "retain-
ing control" of the West
Helms was galvanized last
Spring when his opponent,
Jim Hunt, charged that a
third term for Helms could
produce an anti-Israeli chair-
man of Foreign Relations.
Helms showed up in the Se-
nate on May 16 with a promi-
nent right-wing member of
the Knesset, Michael Kleiner,
and formally introduced him
on the Senate floor. The next
day, he said the U.S. "should
never pursue any plan that
envisions a separation of the
West Bank from Israel." The
U.S. he also said, should
ith the entire House
and a third of the
Senate up for re-
election, at least 11 congres-
sional races around the coun-
try could affect U.S.-Israeli
relations. Some of these con-
tests could decide the chair-
manship of key congressional
committees. Others could
propel into the national
spotlight politicians who
have the potential to become
leaders on Capitol Hill and
could even find their way in-
to the White House.
HELMS vs.
HUNT
Perhaps the tightest —
and, certainly, the noisiest —
race is between one of the
darlings of the Moral Majori-
ty, Senator Jesse Helms, and
North Carolina's second-term
governor, Democrat Jim
Hunt. Despite one of the
costliest media blitzes in the
country, the Helms/Hunt
race has been neck-and-neck
for months. Until Walter
Mondale's recent surge in the
polls, Hunt kept his distance
from the Democratic presi-
dential candidate, while
Helms did his best to hang
onto Ronald Reagan's coat-
tails. North Carolina is ex-
pected to go. for Reagan. If
.
move its embassy from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem.
In his eight years in the
North Carolina governor's
mansion, liberal Jim Hunt
has established a program for
scholars from Israel and
North Carolina to teach and
study in each others' coun-
tries. He has also created the
North Carolina Council on
the Holocaust. Hunt has
stated that Israel is "one of
America's strongest friends
and surest allies." U.S.
military and economic aid to
Israel, he said, "is a sound in-
vestment" that reflects a
"moral and strategic commit-
ment."
with the polls showing him
ten points ahead of Growe,
Boschwitz clearly has the
edge. And with the senator's
campaign coffers overflowing
with about $5 million to
Growe's $1 million, he clear-
ly has a better — and easier
— chance of getting his
message across to voters.
BOSCHWITZ vs.
GROWE
Another member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee,
Minnesota Republican Rudy
Boschwitz, has a better
chance than Helms of retur-
ning to the Senate. A Jew
born in Germany in 1930,
Boschwitz is a passionate
defender of Israel. As chair-
man of Foreign Affairs' Near
Eastern Affairs Subcommit-
tee, Boschwitz is well placed
to push for Israel. For in-
stance, he has militantly
fought the Administration's
sale of AWACS to Saudi Ara-
bia and its plans to enhance
F-15's already sold to the
Saudis. He charged that the
Saudis wished to turn the
F-15's into offensive wea-
pons. One staff member of a
pro-Israeli group in Washing-
ton said Boschwitz is "al-
most a lobbyist for Israel on
the Senate floor."
Boschwitz' opponent, Joan
Growe, appears to be as pas-
sionately pro-Israel as the in-
cumbent. Many Minnesota
Jews are backing her because
they disapprove of Bosch-
witz ' conservative record on
most non-Israeli issues. But
Minnesota's Rudy Boschwitz:
"Almost a lobbyist" for
Maryland's Clarence Long: A
friend of Israel who heads a
key House subcommittee.
LONG vs.
BENTLEY
Pro-Israel activists in Wash-
ington say that the re-election
of Rep. Clarence Long (D-Md.)
is at the top of their priority
list. That's because Long, an
11-term Congressman, heads
the House Subcommittee on
Foreign Operations which
doles out U.S. aid to foreign
governments. Long has been
extremely active and outspo-
ken in supporting Israel
throughout his career.
But Long is vulnerable this
year. He's 75 now and he was
redistricted two years ago so
that hardly any Jews are in his
district. Further, his opponent,
Helen Delitch Bentley, a
former maritime reporter and
Federal Maritime Administra-
tion head, received 47 percent
of the vote last time around.
She readily admits that foreign
policy and the Mideast are not
her major concerns; she's based
her campaign on dredging the
Baltimore harbor and creating
new jobs.
Long is running hard this
year and has received much
support from Jews around the
country. In fact, about 75 per-
cent of his campaign chest of
about $450,000 has come from
Jewish contributors.
If Long loses, Rep. David
Obey (D-Wis.) would probably
succeed him as chairman of
Foreign Appropriations and
Continugck on Page _2.6...