INSIDE WASHINGTON
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
f
I
Jerusalem, Hungary
Fuel Rough Week
t was a week of extraor-
dinary activity as Jewish
activists in Washington
rushed from one crisis to the
next. And there are few
signs that the crisis at-
mosphere will ease anytime
soon.
"By the end of the week, I
could barely remember the
situations that seemed ab-
solutely critical on Mon-
day," said the Washington
representative of one major
Jewish organization.
At the beginning of the
week, the emphasis was still
on the crisis radiating from
President George Bush's re-
cent comments on set-
tlements in East Jerusalem.
Late Thursday night, the
Senate passed a bill offered
by Sen. Daniel Patrick
Moynihan reinforcing U.S.
insistence on an undivided
Jerusalem.
The bill passed with an
overwhelming majority in
the Senate — but only after
being modified in intense
meetings between Moynihan
and the American-Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC), Sen. Rudy
Boschwitz (R-Minn.) and
Sen. Howard Metzenbaum
(D-Ohio).
The group prevailed on
Moynihan to drop language
calling for a more direct
presidential statement on
Shoshana Cardin:
Group discouraged.
Jerusalem as capital of
Israel.
Then AIPAC hit the
Senate corridors in what
several staffers said was an
effective lobbying blitz.
But before Jewish activists
could celebrate their victory,
the cancellation of
Hungarian direct flights for
Soviet Jews exploded on the
scene.
A group from the Con-
ference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations met at the
Hungarian embassy on
Thursday, and came away
discouraged. The group was
headed by Shoshana Cardin,
currently chair of the Na-
tional Conference on Soviet
Jewry — and a leading can-
didate to step up to the Pres-
idents' Conference chair ear-
ly next year.
Several legislators are
planning to take a close look
at the foreign aid bill, which,
was scheduled for debate
early this week, to see if
pressure can be applied on
the Budapest government.
And as if all this was not
enough, the State Depart-
ment issued its report on the
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization mandated by last
year's Mack-Lieberman
amendment. The report,
which suggested that the
PLO was in basic compliance
with the promises that
resulted in the U.S.-PLO
dialogue, touched off a
firestorm of criticism on the
Hill.
Will Soviet Jews' Effort
Dilute Fundraising?
Recent plans by the Union
of Councils for Soviet Jews
to open a Moscow office have
produced some unhappiness
among other Jewish organ-
izations.
The new office will open in
two or three weeks, accor-
ding to Union of Councils'
national director, Micah
Naftalin.
The office, Naftalin said,
will have two primary func-
tions. "First, we hope to pro-
duce joint ventures with the
Soviet Jewish leadership in
the cultural and Jewish
renewal areas. And we'll be
monitoring Soviet human
rights progress, and espe-
cially the growth of anti-
Semitism. We feel it's im-
portant to have an office
there to do this."
But other Soviet Jewish
activists do not entirely
agree. There is widespread
concern that fund raising for
the Moscow office could cut
into efforts by the Federa-
tions to raise money for
resettling huge numbers of
Soviet Jews in Israel.
"There are a lot of
unhappy campers," said
Martin Kraar, executive
vice-president of the Council
of Jewish Federations.
"There's a real lack of
understanding about what
that office will do, and a lack
of information on how it will
interface with other
groups."
American Jews, he said,
can only be confused by the
Union of Councils effort.
"This is a time when the en-
tire universe of Jewish life
should be focused on one
issue —helping Israel settle
Soviet Jews. Anything else
detracts from this goal."
Brazil's Inflation Blocks
B'nai B'rith Conference
Brazil's war on runaway
inflation put the nix on a
major meeting planned by
B'nai B'rith's International
Council.
"We had people coming
from all around the world,"
said Warren Eisenberg, the
Washington-based director
of the International Council.
"Specifically, we had hoped
to take a close look at the
situation in Latin America,
and specifically, on Brazil."
But President Fernando
Collor de Mello's attempt to
cope with inflation as high
as 80 percent per month
made the meetings econ-
omically unfeasible.
"They've blocked the cur-
rency; you can only take out
so much from savings ac-
counts," Eisenberg said.
"That ties up consumption.
And you can't change cur-
rency. One result is that the
hotels more than doubled
our rates."
The chaos in the Brazilian
economy has hit that coun-
try's Jewish community par-
ticularly hard.
"They're primarily in the
professional and business
classes," Eisenberg said.
"But they've been seriously
affected."
Congressman's Victory
Dismays Jewish Dems
Jewish Democrats reacted
with dismay to last week's
primary victory of Rep. Gus
Savage (D-Ill.) , whose cam-
paign featured strong over-
tones of anti-Semitism.
But there was even more
concern about the presence
of two other congressmen at
a campaign rally that in-
cluded strong blasts at Jew-
ish supporters of Savage's
opponent.
Rep. Bill Gray (D-Pa.) has
been a strong supporter of
Israel, and a major figure in
efforts to close the growing
rift between blacks and
Jews. But Gray attended the
Savage rally, although he
left before the speech that
raised the specter of anti-
Semitism.
By early this week, Gray
was still insisting that he
had not read the full
transcripts of Savage's
comments, and would there-
fore not comment.
Also at the rally was Rep.
Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.),
who issued a statement later
condemning Savage's com-
ments.
The uproar puts new
pressure on Jewish
Democrats.
"I'm appalled," said
Hyman Bookbinder, the
longtime Jewish activist
who now heads the Jewish
Democratic Study Group. "I
hope both Gray and Rangel
will express regret at having
anything to do with Savage's
Hyman Bookbinder
`I'm appalled.'
campaign. I'm devastated
that two of our best friends,
who are right on the black-
Jewish question and right
on the Israel issue, have ap-
parently allied themselves
with someone like Savage."
Bookbinder suggested that
loyalty to fellow members of
the black caucus should
have limits, and pointed out
that the Republicans have a
similar problem with Loui-
siana state legislator David
Duke, a former KKK offi-
cial.
Behind the scenes, a
number of Jewish activists
were putting pressure on
Gray and Rangel to repu-
diate Savage.
Chasid Lobbyist
Familiar To Senators
When the Senate began
considering the bill pro-
viding up to $400 million in
loan guarantees for the con-
struction of housing in Israel
for new arrivals from the
Soviet Union, an untold part
of the story was the role of a
Chasidic activist from
Brooklyn.
Rabbi Jacob Bronner, a
leader of the Belzer Chasidic
community, is a one-man
lobbying operation. Bronner
used his personal relation-
ships with a number of key
senators to ignite the spark
that resulted in the Kasten-
Leahy legislation.
According to Bronner, the
legislation had its origins
during a meeting with
former Israeli finance min-
ister Shimon Peres.
"When I met with him in
Israel, he told me they were
expecting within the next
three years 100,000 Soviet
Jews to immigrate,"
Bronner said. "Now it's
turned into 100,000 per
year. At first, they wanted
some kind of grant from the
U.S. government."
But after sounding out his
friends on Capitol Hill,
Bronner concluded that the
tight budget situation
precluded any grants above
Israel's $3 billion in foreign
aid.
"Finally, I got a call from
the embassy," he said.
"They said, 'Listen, there's a
change; there's something
known as a housing loan
guarantee that has a limit of
$25 million. We'd like to
shoot for 400 million.' "
After consulting with
Jerusalem, Bronner began
lobbying.
❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
31