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Quiet Diplomacy Seen As Way
To Oppose Visa For Arafat
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
ewish activists here
spent much of last
week trying to get a
sense of how Congress and
the major Jewish organiza-
tions will play the latest con-
troversy over a visa for Yassir
Arafat. Early indications sug-
gest that quiet diplomacy, not
a full-scale public battle, will
be the order of the day.
Last week, it was learned
that the PLO leader might
seek to address an Arab-
American group here in
April.
Officially, the major Jewish
organizations are staking out
positions opposing a visa. The
Conference of Presidents of
Major Jewish Organizations
last week issued a statement
arguing that an Arafat visit
would "impede the Middle
East peace process and
damage our country's
credibility in the war against
terrorism."
But leading players in the
pro-Israel community, in-
cluding the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), have not yet sig-
naled whether a serious cam-
paign to oppose a visa will be
launched. And staunchly pro-
Israel legislators have reacted
cautiously to the visa
question.
The Bush administration
has offered few clues about
how it would react to another
visa request. During his con-
firmation hearings last week,
James Baker, the incoming
secretary of state, intimated
that a visa request for a
political speaking engage-
ment might carry less weight
than a request to speak before
the United Nations — but he
artfully avoided making any
commitments.
Pro-Israel activists inter-
ested in "going to the mat" on
the visa issue received a boost
with revelations that the
State Department now has
tapes of Arafat's New Year's
Day speech, in which the PLO
leader reportedly threatened
Arabs who speak out against
the intifada. Israeli leaders
have attempted to portray
Arafat's comments as a viola-
tion of group's renunciation of
terrorism — a key condition
for the ongoing U.S.-PLO
dialogue.
"I think this is a major
development," said Seymour
Reich, the new president of
the Conference of Presidents
of American Jewish Organi-
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1989
zations. "We feel there's pro-
bably more where this came
from. It's a point we want to
press with the State Depart-
ment."
1990 Hopefuls
Are Courting
Jewish Groups
The new Congress is just
cranking up, but many
legislators are already laying
the groundwork for 1990.
According to Capitol Hill
sources, Rep. Dan Glickman,
(D-Kan.), and Rep. Ron Wy-
den, (D-Ore.), are both plan-
ning runs for the Senate.
Several years ago, Glick-
man was contemplating a run
against Sen. Robert Dole.
Because of the importance of
Dole's position as Senate
Republican leader, pro-Israel
groups met with Glickman
and urged him to back down.
A similar situation occur-
red when Wyden was con-
sidering a challenge to Sen.
Robert Packwood. Although
Wyden is Jewish, Packwood's
status as a leading opponent
of arms sales to Arab nations
and his long history of work-
ing closely with Jewish
groups counted for more.
Wyden, too, backed out of the
race.
Neither candidate should
face similar obstacles this
time around. Kassebaum and
Hatfield are not favorites of
the pro-Israel community,
and both prospective candi-
dates are well regarded by the
pro-Israel community.
Groups Split
On Trade
With Soviets
Glickrnan:
Kassebaum Successor?
Both are working hard to
court the national Jewish
community, and both have
had some problems in their
past dealings with pro-Israel
groups.
Glickman has been identi-
fied with a number of issues
high on the agenda of Jewish
activists, including last year's
successful drive for a bill
making certain kinds of
"hate crimes" federal
offenses.
There are reports that
Glickman wants to run for
the seat now held by Sen.
Nancy Landon Kassebaum, a
Republican. In the past,
Kassebaum has indicated
that she does not want to
serve beyond her current
term.
Wyden, a fifth term con-
gressman representing Port-
land, has emerged as a lead-
ing spokesman on health and
aging issues. He has devel-
oped a reputation as a hard-
working and savvy legislator
who works well behind the
scenes. He is currently consid-
ering a run against the
venerable Sen. Mark
Hatfield.
Depending on how you look
at it, there is either growing
agreement in the Jewish com-
munity about the desirabili-
ty of a "waiver" of Jackson-
Vanik trade restrictions
against the Soviet Union or
an underground split that
threatens to re-open old
wounds.
In recent weeks Soviet
Jewry activists have worked
overtime to develop a consen-
sus on the easing of trade
restrictions against the Sov-
iets as a reward for recent im-
provements in emigration.
"This is a real crossroads,"
said Dan Mariaschin, director
of public affairs for B'nai
B'rith. "It's important that
groups line up before taking
a stand on an issue of such
gravity. There is still a lot of
unfinished business as far as
the Soviets are concerned!'
But just below the surface,
some traditional rivalries
have threatened that unity.
The Washington Jewish
Week recently reported on a
secret "deal" between busi-
ness leaders favoring in-
creased trade with the Soviets
and top leaders of the Soviet
Jewry movement. There were
reports of an agreement in-
volving support for a Jack-
son-Vanik waiver in return for
support for direct flights to
Israel for fleeing Soviet Jews.
The existence of such a deal
was vigorously denied by Sho-
shana Cardin, president of
the National Conference on
I