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32
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2a 1988
Changes, Reorganization
Are In Store At AIPAC
• WEIGHT
CONTROL
• INDIVIDUAL
COUNSELING
HEALTHY OPTIONS, INC.
BIRMINGHAM
Washington Correspondent
I
n the middle of last
week's upheavals over the
U.S. agreeing to talk with
the Palestine Liberation Or-
ganization, the premier pro-
Israel group in the nation —
the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC) —
was going through its own
agonies.
By midweek, it was learned
that AIPAC's legislative
director and top lobbyist,
Douglas M. Bloomfield, was
leaving the organization.
Bloomfield, who has earned
a reputation as one of the
shrewdest and most effective
lobbyists on Capitol Hill, was
reported to be- unhappy with
the group's recent focus on ad-
ministration lobbying. There
was immediate speculation
that his resignation signaled
a further reduction in the
legislative department's
power — and a corresponding
increase in the clout of the
political and the foreign
policy arms of the big group.
At the same time, another
struggle was shaping up over
the future of the Near East
Report, the weekly pro-Israel
newsletter that once was
edited by AIPAC's founder,
the late Sy Kenen.
NER is published by a semi-
autonomous organization,
Near East Research, Inc.,
with its own board of
directors.
But key AIPAC staffers
have long argued for more
direct control of the publica-
tion. This summer, according
to sources close to the publica-
tion, friction reached the boil-
ing point over efforts to force
publication of material that
some NER staffers considered
overly partisan.
These issues were hotly
debated at a meeting between
the two boards last week. A
number of proposals are
under consideration, in-
cluding placing several
AIPAC board members on the
Near East Research board.
"I have maintained that it's
desirable to maintain some
separation," said Stuart
Eizenstat, a Near East
Research board member and
former adviser to President
Jimmy Carter. "There are
some tax advantages and
possibly a postal advantage.
And there's an intangible ad-
vantage, in terms of providing
additional journalistic judg-
ment.
"At the same time, I can
understand AIPAC's position;
people think AIPAC and Near
East Report are already one
and the same, and they want
to use it as their newsletter.
If they want to bring it in-
house, that's their right."
The PLO And
Budget Cuts,
Too?
Israel may be hopping mad
over the U.S. decision to begin
talks with the PLO, but on
one front, the recent decision
may actually work in the
short-term interests of the
Jerusalem government.
In recent weeks, pressure
has mounted on the approx-
imately $14 billion foreign
aid budget, part of the
general assault on the
massive federal deficit. Any
attempt to impose cuts on
Israel's $3 billion appropria-
tion would meet stiff new
resistance because of a
widespread feeling that the
precarious Jerusalem govern-
ment has suffered enough
jolts in recent days, said one
legislative aide.
But this "sympathy factor"
will not last forever.
"If the foreign aid budget
takes awhile to get through —
and if the Israeli government
is seen as dragging its feet —
then the advantage may
disappear," said an aide to a
legislator who will play a key
role in hammering out the
foreign aid budget. "But for
now, I expect that it will help
insulate Israel from any cuts."
Last week, the State De-
partment revealed that it
would seek legislation
establishing a new category
of potential emigres. The new
category would provide fewer
benefits than the current
"refugee" classification, but
would be an easier route to
citizenship than the "parole"
status under which Attorney
General Dick Thornburgh is
currently admitting some
stranded Soviet Jews.
"We see some real pro-
gress," said Mark Talisman,
director of the Council of
Jewish Federations Washing-
ton Action Office and a major
player in the Soviet Jewry
movement.
Dymally May
Head Foreign
Affairs
Committee
Even though Congress is
still out of session, ferocious
jockeying continues for choice
positions in the upcoming
Congress.
And one emerging struggle
in the congressional trenches
could have serious implica-
tions for Israel in coming
months.
In a three-way deal for
1989 Funds
Being Spent On
1988 Visas
While attention was riveted
on the dramatic events in
Tunis, some Jewish activists
here spent the week working
on the visa crunch in Moscow
and Rome, where thousands
of fleeing Soviet Jews are
backlogged because of a
shortfall in the U.S. refugee
budget.
And by the end of the week,
Soviet Jewry activists were
claiming at least a partial
victory.
On Thursday, the State
Department indicated that it
would begin "frontloading"
funds and refugee allotments
slated for the second half of
the fiscal year, a temporary
fix designed to buy time un-
til Congress opens for
business in January. And
unused refugee slots from the
Indochinese immigration pro-
gram are being shifted to ac-
commodate Soviet emigres.
Tom Lantos: Part of the deal.
distributing subcommittee
chairs in the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, it now ap-
pears that the chairmanship
of the International Opera-
tions subcommittee will go to
Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally, (D-
Calif.).
In the deal, which still must
be approved in January, two
Jewish congressmen — Rep.
Sam Gejdenson, (D-Conn.),
and Rep. Ibm Lantos, (D-
Calif.) — will head the Inter-
national Economic Policy and
the Western Hemisphere Af-
fairs subcommittees, respec-
tively.