YEAR IN REVIEW 5749 YEAR IN REVIEW
NATIONAL
FRED MALEK, a Bush
advisor, was forced to
step down during the
presidential campaign
when old charges of
his cooperation with
Richard Nixon in ridding
the Labor Department
of a "Jewish cabal"
resurfaced. But Malek
may be .getting a post in
the Bush Administration.
JOHN SUNUNU raised
anxiety levels among
American Jews when he -
was appointed George
Bush's White House Chief
of Staff. But the former
New Hampshire governor,
of Lebanese extraction
and a member of
several Arab American
associations, has sought
to steer clear of
Mideast bias.
SECRETARY OF STATE
BAKER infuriated many
Israelis and American
Jews after his carefully
balanced Mideast policy
speech presented at
the annual conference of
the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
in Washington. Critics
challenged Baker's call for
Jerusalem to abandon
dreams of a Greater Israel
and said his equation
made Israel appear to be
equally at fault as the
Arabs for lack of peace
progress.
THE BUSH-DUKAKIS
CAMPAIGN was marked by
negative advertising and charges
of anti-Semitism within both
camps. Despite Bush's decisive
victory, about two-thirds of
Jewish votes were cast
for Dukakis.
tamed its uneasy alliance with
Likud.
At year's end, Egyptian Presi-
dent Mubarak offered a 10-point
elaboration of Israel's peace plan
designed to close the gap be-
tween Israel and the Palestin-
56
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1989
ians. But its emphasis on Israel
trading land for peace has
underscored the division within
Israel over that principle.
Wary Of Washington
American-Israeli relations
were strained most over
Jerusalem's abduction of Hez-
bollah leader Sheik Abdul
Karim Obeid from Lebanon in
an attempt to gain freedom for
three Israeli prisoners of war.
Hezbollah allegedly retaliated by
announcing the execution of an
American hostage, Lt. Col.
William Higgins, though indica-
tions were that the colonel had
been murdered before the Israeli
abduction.
But the Hezbollah's effort to
drive a wedge between Jeru-
salem and Washington seemed
successful when President Bush
did not defend Israel's action
and Republican leader Sen.
Robert Dole criticized Israel for
allegedly endangering the lives