VT 14._ bilt6OLTISivi& MEWS_

Jewish vote which makes up
a large percentage of the
state's total vote. (About
300,000 Jews reside in Il-
linois •)
Percy got that Jewish sup-
port despite the fact that
many Jews were concerned
and angered by his
statements and actions
beginning in 1975. Then, Per-
cy stunned the Jewish com-
munity by characterizing
PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat
as a "relative moderate"
among Palestinian leaders
and telling Israeli leaders
there was no chance for peace
in the Middle East unless
Israel withdrew "essentially"
to its 1967 borders and began
talking to the PLO.
Those positions were a
complete reversal from the
straight pro-Israel stance
Percy had assumed since his
election to the Senate in 1966.
And they weren't all. They
were followed by Percy's
sharp criticism of Menachem
Begin's settlements policy
and by his vote to sell F-15
warplanes to Saudi Arabia.
In a masterful re-election
campaign in 1978, Percy ex-
plained away his actions. He
was aided by a lackluster op-
ponent and a lack of organiza-
tion among Jewish leaders
who had vowed to defeat him.
He won the support of promi-
nent Jewish leaders and was
able to hold onto a large share
of the Jewish vote that he
had received in his first two
Senate races.
"The Jews voted for Per-
cy," explained one Jewish
leader, "because of the feeling
that he had learned his
lesson, he knew how mad we
could get and so he'll never
do it agian."
But that Jewish leader and
others warned that they
would be watching Percy. If
he didn't reverse his anti-
Israel course, he would be in
trouble when he was up for
re-election again in 1984.
Percy did change. For the
worse.
In December 1980, while in
Moscow, Percy called for a
Palestinian state to be head-
ed by Yassir Arafat. In Oc-
tober 1981, he led the suc-
cessful battle to sell AWACS
radar planes to Saudi Arabia.
He used his position as For-
eign Relations Committee
chairman to secure a favor-
able report on the sale. He
scheduled hearings so as to
give the Reagan administra-
tion the time it needed to ral-
ly the votes it needed. In Ju-
ly 1982, he called to cut off all

U.S. aid to Israel because of
its invasion of Lebanon. In
February 1983, he refused to
sign a Senate resolution op-
posing the sale of
sophisticated missiles to
Jordan.
"From 1978 on," said a
political operative who has
long followed Percy's career,
"Percy has had the closest
relationship of any member
of the Senate to the Saudis
and to the PLO. He's been
the only respected member of
the Senate advocating a pro-
Palestinian position. And
he's played a leading role in
the sale of arms to the
Arabs."
What makes all that so
"devastatingly dangerous,"
continued this staff member
of a pro-Israeli group, is that
"as chairman of the Foreign
Relations Committee and as
someone seen as a moderate,
Percy has tremendous in-
fluence with other senators
and with the administration.
He has the most damaging
vote in the Senate because of
his ability to carry others
with him."
Because of that, some Jews
in Illinois decided that what
happened in 1978 was not go-
ing to happen in 1984. In ear-
ly 1983, they approached
Paul Simon, a popular former
state legislator, former lieute-
nant governor and a five-
term member of Congress
from rural downstate Illinois.
Simon is a soft-spoken lib-
eral. He was asked to give up
his safe seat in the House and
challenge Percy. He was pro-
mised massive financial sup-
port from the Jewish corn-
munity around the country
and a good share of the
Jewish vote in Illinois.
"We promised to mobilize
the Jewish community," said
Rabbi Victor Weissberg, dir-
ector of To Protect Our
Heritage, a pro-Israel PAC.
"We said we'd make sure the
average Jewish voter would
get the message and wouldn't
forget what's happened since
1978."
Weissberg has spent
$3,000 of his own money to
publish a-pamphlet detailing
Percy's record. His group, he
said, has spent the past two
years spreading the message
that "Percy has hectored
Israel, vacillated and shifted
on promises he's made and
supported things that jeopar-
dize the state of Israel. He's
gone out of his way not to be
friendly to Israel."
Weissberg said his PAC
has contributed $10,000 to

) --g6kUbein

b84 .5 21

Challenger Paul Simon: Chokes up when he hears "Hatikvah."

Simon's campaign, registered
new Jewish voters and set up
precinct organizations to get
out that vote.
Other pro-Israel PAC's in
Illinois and the rest of the
country have contributed
more than $200,000 to
Simon, allowing him to
almost equal Percy's $4
million campaign war chest.
Simon has used that money
to communicate his long-
standing support for Israel,
noting he first visited the
country in 1957 as a young
journalist paying his own
way to David Ben-Gurion.
He returned in 1967 aboard
the first commercial flight in-
to Israel after the Six Day
War and realized "I had
something more than an in-
tellectual commitment to
Israel when I returned from
that trip and attended an
Israel Bonds dinner. When
they played Hatikvah, I got
choked up. -
That commitment, says

Simon, has been translated
into an almost 100 percent
pro-Israel voting record,
something seen most notably
in his opposition to the
AWACS sale and in his sup-
port of moving the U.S. Em-
bassy to Jerusalem from Tel
Aviv.
Simon adds that he is "on
the same wavelength as the
Jewish community" on other
issues. Unlike Percy, he said,
he opposes school prayer and
supports a nuclear freeze.
But it's on Israel, he says,
that Jewish voters can best
see that "my record is solid.
Charles Percy is a good sup-
porter of Israel one year out
of six. I will be one six years
out of six."
In saying that, Simon
notes, he's not looking only
at 1978 when a number of
last-minute pro-Israel actions
convinced Jewish voters Per-
cy deserved another chance.
The same thing, he says, is
happening now. Simon and

his supporters are worried
that it may have the same
result as it did back then.
This year, in fact, Percy
has been virtually consistent
in his support for Israel. In
February, he called for in-
creased aid to Israel to help
with its severe economic pro-
blems. In March, he co-spon-
sored an amendment ap-
propriating $400 million to
help develop the Lavie,
Israel's new fighter plane. In
July, he supported the
establishment of a Free
Trade Area between the US
and Israel.
The political operative says
he hopes Jews won't be "foil-
ed by such moves. Whenever
the fight is between Israel
and the Arabs, Percy is for
the Arabs. When there is no
cost involved, he's for the
Jews. Even so, he always
works behind-the-scenes on
aid to Israel. He only sup-
ports them in the end when

.

Continued on Page 40

