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THE JEWISH
NEWS
e‘we
No Woe",
30
FRIDAY. MAY 6. 1988
Washington Correspondent
I
n Washington, leaks to
the press are rarely ac-
cidental. So Israel's sup-
porters here in the capital are
scratching their heads over
the recent revelations about
administration intentions to
increase arms sales to a large
number of countries — in-
cluding Israel and her Arab
neighbors.
The arms-sale list is full of
goodies for the Jerusalem
government, to the tune of
almost $3.6 billion in sales for
the current year.
But the job-lot arms scheme
also includes advanced
weapons like the controver-
sial Stinger missile for a
number of other Middle
Eastern nations, including
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Ku-
wait and the United Arab
Emirates. It also includes
some $2.7 billion in sales to
the Egyptians, a deal that in-
cludes the controversial pro-
posal to allow that country's
budding arms industry to
assemble American M1A1
tanks.
"There's nothing really new
in this list," said Malcolm
Hoenline, executive director
of the Conference of Presi-
dents of Major American
Jewish Organizations. "But
it's the magnitude of the sales
that's overwhelming. And the
fact that Stingers are in-
cluded is a matter of great
concern to us because they
are so transportable."
According to some sources
on the Hill, the information
was deliberately leaked by
supporters of the administra-
tion plan as a way of end-
running the pro-Israel lobby
— and defusing the angry
reaction in Congress against
the Saudi's acquisition of
Chinese "East Wind"
missiles.
"By piggybacking all these
sales to Arab countries on top
of the $3.6 billion in sales to
Israel, they were probably
hoping to make it harder for
Israel's friends here to mount
any kind of concerted opposi-
tion," said one aide to a
legislator who has a strong
record of support for Israel.
But others insist that the
leak, first reported by the
New York Times, came at the
hands of Israel's supporters
here, who have traditionally
operated under the assump-
tion that early revelations of
arms sales to Arab countries
increases the chances for ef-
fective opposition.
Rep. Howard Wolpe: Irate
ADA Foul-Up
Angers Jews
The liberal Americans for
Democratic Action struck a
raw nerve last week with its
report on minority members
of Congress. And a foul-up in
ADA's Washington offices, ac-
cording to some reports, has
a few of the Jewish delegation
on the Hill hopping mad.
One section of the ADA
report rated the voting
records of Jewish senators
and congressmen. The report
contained few surprises: Rep.
Ted Weiss (D-N.Y.), who also
happens to be the president of
ADA, came in near the top of
the heap, with a 98 percent
rating, while Sen. Chic Hecht
(R-Nev.), the ultra-
conservative protege of Sen.
Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), came in
with an equally unsurprising
2 percent.
The problem is that some
members — especially liber-
als — feel that the ADA
report will be a political kiss
of death. "If you're a liberal,
you don't need an ADA rating
to know who's on your side,"
said one aide to a Jewish
legislator who was angered
by the report. "And if you're
a Jewish guy from a district
that's marginal, the last
thing you need is for a good
ADA rating to be trumpeted
across the country."
Adding to the ire of legisla-
tors like Rep. Howard Wolpe
(D-Mich.) and Rep. Barney
Frank (D-Conn.) was a bur-
eaucratic foul-up at ADA.
"We'd prepared a general
release on several groups in
Congress—women, blacks,
hispanics and Jews," said
Marc Pearl, executive director
of the liberal group.
"Thgether, these traditional
coalition partners comprise
some 17 percent of the Con-
gress, and represent a con-
siderable block of support for
the social justice agenda."
But when ADA staffers
mailed the evaluations to the
Hill, they included only the
evaluations of Jewish mem-
bers — an error that gave the
impression that ADA was
singling this group out for
special attention.
Rep. Frank was still seeth-
ing, despite the ADA explana-
tion. "I thought it was a
stupid idea," Frank said in an
interview. "I don't think they
thought this through. There
is a black caucus and a
Hispanic caucus — but no
Jewish caucus. I know what
they were trying to do — but
to single Jewish members out
like this is not helpful."
Non-Jewish
Orthodox Friend
When Orthodox groups
need help in Washington, one
of the first people they turn to
is Mike Lewan. Lewan is
widely known as a central
contact point for Orthodox
groups interested in having
input into the congressional
process — a political
phenomenon that is on the
upswing.
And Lewan, for 14 years a
top aide to Rep. Stephen
Solarz (D-N.Y.), isn't even
Jewish.
On Sunday, Lewan was
honored by the American
Friends of B'nei Brak
hospital, a group dedicated to
financing and building a
hospital to serve the large Or-
thodox suburb of Tel Aviv.
During the ceremony, Lewan
gave a five minute speech in
fluent Yiddish.
Lewan, who has a reputa-
tion for legislative savvy as
well as for working effective-
ly with Solarz's large Or-
thodox constituency, was
honored with the group's
Distinguished Public Servant
Award at a New York dinner.
On his own time, Lewan has
helped the group with public
relations and fund raising. In
his official role, he has provid-
ed a sympathetic ear for Or-
thodox activists — and a large
dose of political expertise.
"Mike isn't Jewish," said
one of his colleagues. "But
Orthodox rabbis all over New
York consider him a real
mentsch. He has been a real
friend to the Orthodox corn-
munity."