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32
FRIDAY, JULY 10, 1987
-
-
Jewish Groups Concerned
About Bork's Nomination
JAMES DAVID BESSER
Special to The Jewish News
T
he appointment of
Judge Robert Bork to
a pivotal seat in the
Supreme Court, a move that
has set off a groundswell of
opposition ' in the
Democratic Congress, has
not yet produced a cor-
responding reaction among
the Jewish political
leadership.
But,
according
to
numerous political activists
for Jewish causes, Judge
Bork's judicial record is-be-
ing carefully scrutinized for
opinions that might have
special interest to the
Jewish community.
"On the whole you'd have
to say that the initial reac-
tion to Bork pretty much
follows party lines," said
one Washington lawyer who
has argued Jewish causes
for years. "Jews, of a conser-
vative bent are generally
pleased; liberals are climb-
ing the walls. So far, there's
nothing in his record that
stands out as offensive to
the Jewish community per
se. But that doesn't mean
that something won't be
revealed in the days to
come; that's usually the way
things work in these mat-
ters. I'd be especially in-
terested in seeing his record
on school prayer, which, as
far as I am concerned, is the
premier judicial issue facing
American Jews."
According to Rabbi David
Saperstein, co-director and
counsel for the Religious Ac-
tion Center of Reform- Jud-
aism, the Bork nomination
represents a broader kind of
danger to American Jews.
"More than just about any
other segment in American
society," Saperstein said in
a telephone interview,
"Jews have been the
benefactors of the broaden-
ing of our constitutional
liberties during the last 30
years, a broadening that has
been due in large measure
to the decisions of the
Supreme Court. It's no acci-
dent that Jews have moved
into the center of America's
economic, political and
cultural life during this
period when the Court ac-
tively supported the rights
of minorities over the power
of the majority. The threat
of seeing that reversed poses
a serious challenge to the
Jewish community."
Saperstein added that
other minority groups are
mobilizing for an all-out bat-
tle over the Bork nomina-
tion. Feminist groups and
blacks are especially con-
cerned because of the
nominee's positions on abor-
tion and civil rights legisla-
tion. "We need to be mind-
ful that these people will be
looking to the Jewish com-
munity for support,"
Saperstein said. "How we
respond will be evaluated
very carefully by our tradi-
tional coalition partners."
So far, the only Jewish
group to take a public
stance on the nomination is
the American Jewish Con-
gress. "We find the nomina-
tion regrettable," according
to Marc Pearl, Washington
representative of the power-
ful group. "While Judge
Bork may have the intellec-
tual qualifications to be a
judge, his legal decisions,
articles, and speeches
evidence a profound
disagreement with a long
series of judicial precedants.
These precedants have
become deeply embedded in
American law, and par-
ticularly affect the areas of
minority rights and church-
state separation."
This latter issue is par-
ticularly significant to
Pearl. Bork, he contended,
has demonstrated a very
narrow view of the need to
protect religious minorities
against the tyranny of the
majority. Jews, he sug-
gested, may be particularly
vulnerable to a Suprenie
Court that takes a much
less restrictive view of
issues like prayer in public -
schools.
There is a purely political
thread running through the
confirmation debate, as
well. The chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Commit-
tee, Sen. Joseph R. Biden- (D-
Del), is also a presidential
aspirant who has been par-
ticularly successful in cour-
ting Jewish support. It is ex-
pected that Biden will be
mindful of the positions of
the major Jewish groups
when his committee begins
to thrash out the
nomination.
Jewish political leaders
here generally agree that
the confirmation battle will
revolve around broad ques-
tions of judicial activism
and the proper role of the
Senate in the confirmation
process, and that the major
political controversies will
center on Bork's opposition
to abortion and his par-
ticipation in President Nix-
on's "Saturday Night
Massacre." So far, at least,
there is no "smoking gun"
to galvanize the Jewish
community in opposition to
the appointment.
But there is a palpable
undercurrent of unease
among many Jewish
political activists on the
Hill—a sense that Bork's
popularity among ultra-
conservative groups, in-
cluding much of the Chris-
tian Right, is in itself an in-
dication of lurking danger
for the Jewish community.
Rabin: looking for opposition in
Washington to the Lavi.
Rabin's Visit Here
Sought Lavi
Opposition
Israeli Defense Minister
Yitzhak Rabin's recent swing
through Washington only
partially clarified the ques-
tion of future American par-
ticipation in the troubled
Lavi fighter project, accor-
ding to sources here. It did
even less to clear up the ques-
tion of the Israeli govern-
ment's official position on the
controversial warplane.
In Congress, the Lavi ques-
tion revolves around whether
the project represents the
best use of American aid
money, and whether the Is-
raeli economy can sustain its
development if American aid
is reduced. "On paper, it still
looks like a very good air-
plane," one defense analyst
for a Congressional commit-
tee said. "But the question is,
is it sufficiently different
from the F16 to justify this
kind of cost?" Apparently,
there is no more of a consen-