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remittances from Palestinians living in
Kuwait any more."
The combination of events — Iraq's
treacherous invasion of Kuwait, and Mr.
Arafat's growing affinity for the Iraqi
strong marl — also strengthens Israel's
traditional demand for solid assurances
from her Arab neighbors before making
concessions in the peace process. "In the
past, the administration tended to focus
more on Arafat's words than on the PLO's
deeds," said an official with one major
Jewish organization here. "Israel always
made the point that you have to look at
their behavior. The same held true for Iraq.
We accepted his assurances that he
wouldn't invade Kuwait — and the next
morning, his troops were marching
through Kuwait City. I think the ad-
ministration has had its eyes opened about
some of the people it was doing business
with."

The Foreign Aid Debate

Another consequence of last week's
dramatic events may be a revision of the
entire foreign aid debate.

Before the Iraqi invasion, pro-Israel ac-
tivists were facing the prospect of new
pressure on Israel's $3 billion in aid as Con-
gress and the administration started to
confront the whopping budget deficit.
In particular, the budget crisis provided
ammunition for legislators who had called
for an end to the protection of large aid
grants to Israel, Egypt, and a few other
countries.
But with the Iraqi aggression, Israel's
aid suddenly looks safer than ever. Even
Sen. Robert Dole, who earlier called for
reductions in aid based on Israel's settle-
ments policies, last week suggested that
now was no time to cut military aid to
Israel and Egypt, the biggest recipients of
American dollars.
At least one legislator — Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz.) — actually called for an
increase in aid to Israel.
At the same time, the massive deploy-
ment of U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia and
the sudden jump in the price of oil carry
an economic price tag that will increase the
overall pressure on the federal budget.
"This operation is an important one, and

:.*.4014,0!4:14,1***46,.**,

one that we support," he said. "But it will
not be cheap. So when Congress comes
back, the budget will be under even more
pressure than it was a week ago."
So any attempt to single Israel out for
cuts will probably fare poorly in the post-
Kuwait environment. But Israel may be
more susceptible if across-the-board aid
cuts are enacted.

American presence:
Troops from Fort
Bragg, N.C. prepar-
ing to board
transport planes for
Saudi Arabia.

UPI Photo

Peace Process On Hold

Even less clear is the impact the current
Iraqi crisis will have on the stalled Middle
East peace process.
In the short run, at least, the situation
in the Gulf will relieve some of the pressure
on the new Israeli government to accept
U.S. plans for negotiations on the future
of the territories.
But Jewish activists are also concerned
that after the initial U.S. outrage against
Iraq has spent itself, the administration
may feel compelled to make some conces-
sions to Arab governments to prove their
"evenhandedness" in the Middle East.
"We made this tremendous break-
through in convincing the Saudis to let us

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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