I NSIDE WASHINGTON I
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
Housing Loan Promises
For Israel Put In Limbo
W
here are the $400
million in housing
loan guarantees to
help Israel build housing for
newly arrived Soviet Jews?
Apparently the loan pro-
gram, a top priority for pro-
Israel activists a few months
ago, has gotten lost in
the shuffle as the ad-
ministration focuses all of its
attention on the unfolding
crisis in the Persian Gulf.
When the loan guarantee
package was passed in June,
there were reports that the
administration would hold
up implementation pending
negotiation with the Israeli
government over a number
of issues, including
assurances that the money
would not be used to settle
Soviet Jews on the West
Bank.
Those negotiations were
supposed to take place dur-
ing meetings between Secre-
tary of State James Baker
and Israeli Foreign Minister
David Levy — meetings that
were canceled, first because
of Mr. Levy's illness, then
because of the explosive Per-
sian Gulf crisis and concerns
that Mr. Levy's presence in
-Washington could aid
Saddam Hussein's quest to
portray the eyeball-to-
eyeball confrontation in
Saudi Arabia as an exten-
sion of the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict.
There were strong indica-
tions that Mr. Levy des-
perately wanted to take back
an agreement on the guar-
antees to shore up his posi-
tion in the Israeli political
fray — and that the ad-
ministration, aware of his
political needs, was prepared
to engage in some tough
bargaining.
All of that is again on hold
until at least early
September, the earliest the
Baker-Levy meeting can be
rescheduled.
As a result, the housing
loan guarantee program is
again on hold — even as
record numbers of Soviet
Jews arrive in Israel each
month, and as tent cities
sprout in response to Israel's
growing housing crisis.
Senator Helps U.S. Firms
Bid On Israeli Housing
Legislators may be off
mingling with constituents,
but the day-to-day work of
government grinds on.
A case in point involved
some fast work last week by
Sen. Rudy Boschwitz (R-
Minn.), who helped convince
the Export-Import bank to
make things a little easier
for American manufacturers
eager to get in on the pre-fab
housing market in Israel.
Pre-fabricated housing is
an important ingredient in
Israel's plans to cope with
the massive influx of Soviet
Jews. The first wave of bids
are due in a few days to
supply up to 3000 units of
housing.
But American manufac-
turers felt at a competitive
disadvantage to manufac-
turers in other countries be-
cause of subsidies by foreign
governments.
At the same time, Israeli
diplomats saw some distinct
political advantages in mak-
ing sure that American
companies — and American
workers — received a piece
of the juicy pie.
At first, the Export-Import
bank was concerned about
the implications of providing
loans on top of the $400 mill-
ion in housing loan guar-
antees already voted by
Congress. There was also a
jurisdictional squabble bet-
ween the bank and the
Agency for International
Development that threaten-
ed to hold up any decision
until after bids were due.
The result was a plea to
Sen. Boschwitz. A top aide to
the conservative legislator
spent several days haggling
Rudy Boschwitz:
Making things easier.
with bank officials. Added
input came from the Ameri-
can-Israel Public Affairs
After many months of
delay, it looks as if the new
organization of Jewish
Hyman Bookbinder:
Right on schedule.
Committee (AIPAC).
Sen. Boschwitz's represen-
tatives urged the Export-
Import bank to get off the
mark in time to meet the
deadline for bids, which
would give American
manufacturers a shot at the
lucrative contracts.
As a result, the Export-
Import bank will apparently
set up a line of credit that
will allow companies here to
bid for the pre-fab housing
contracts, a neat scheme
that apparently satisfies
both politicians interested in
protecting American jobs
and the Israelis, who are
happy about both the hous-
ing and the political benefits
of helping out the American
economy.
Budget Paring May Hurt
Jewish Groups' Funding
The "budget summit"
between the administration
and Congress may be on hold
during Washington's
August lull, but Jewish
groups here are continuing
to look at some of the possi-
ble consequences of the fran-
tic effort to pare down the
federal budget deficit.
One of those consequences
might hit Jewish organiza-
tions where it hurts — on
their balance sheets.
There is growing specula-
tion that one of the items on
the table in the budget talks
are various proposals to cut
back on taxpayer deductions
for charitable contributions.
This would have a serious
New Jewish Democratic
Group Ready To Fly
impact on a wide range of
Jewish and pro-Israel organ-
izations, which get most of
their money from tax-
deductible membership fees
and contributions.
At first, there was talk
about cutting back on deduc-
tions only for those who do
not itemize on their income
tax returns; now, with the
budget crisis growing more
dire by the day, there are
rumors that the cuts may
apply across the board.
The budget summit is due
to resume when Congress
returns in September for its
abbreviated, election-year
fall session.
Democrats is about ready to
fly.
After an extensive search,
the newborn group, which is
the Democratic counterpart
of the National Jewish Co-
alition on the Republican
side, chose an executive di-
rector late last week.
The nod went to Steve
Gutow, a former regional di-
rector of the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) from Texas. Mr.
Gutow, according to sources
here, will be giving up a suc-
cessful law practice to help
Jewish Democrats get their
act together.
"He's a very exiting, very
energetic young man," said
Hyman Bookbinder, the
guiding force behind the
two-year effort to produce a
permanent organization for
Jewish Democrats. "He had
a lot of stiff competition."
Mr. Bookbinder discounted
the importance of the new
group's extended gestation
period.
"Even though it may seem
like it took a long time, we
feel that we're right on
schedule," he said. "We
wanted to phase into the
next presidential cycle; we
didn't really want to be in
business before election day.
So we'll be there, ready for
the presidential cycle."
Ex-KKK Leader Gains
Momentum In Louisiana
The David Duke phenom-
enon continues to send rip-
ples of alarm through the
Jewish community.
Recently, a Louisiana Jew-
ish activist attended a Duke
rally and came away with a
heightened sense of the way
Mr. Duke, a former Ku Klux
Klan leader, has surged for-
ward in his effort to unseat
incumbent Sen. J. Bennett
Johnston.
"It was very frightening,"
said Grace Hudson, a
longtime Jewish activist
who heads the human rela-
tions committee of the local
Federation, as well as serv-
ing as state public affairs
chair for the National Coun-
cil of Jewish Women. "This
is a person who is very
magnetic, very able to re-
spond to his audience. His
speech was extremely well
done; he effectively handled
all the criticisms of his
background."
Ms. Hudson was par-
ticularly struck by the fervor
of Mr. Duke's supporters.
"The rally was at a local
hotel. We arrived early — and
the place was already entire-
ly filled. And people waited
more than two hours stan-
ding up for a second session.
The crowd was far more
vehement than I've ever
seen at a political rally."
Ms. Hudson's experience
at the Duke rally convinced
her that the common stereo-
types about Duke's sup-
porters are dangerously in-
accurate.
"His audience consisted of
hardworking, bright peo-
ple," she said. "Many of
them were neighbors of
mine. They were completely
fed up with the 'system' —
and they found in David
Duke some of the answers
they were looking for."
While Mr. Duke did not
mention Israel, he did blast
U.S. foreign aid. "His
philosophy was couched in
extremely palatable terms,"
Ms. Hudson said. "He was
extremely careful about
what he said, about covering
himself. He was very clever.
But it was obvious that this
is no friend of Israel, or of
the Jewish people."
Currently, Mr. Duke is
running as a Republican
against Sen. Johnston and
against another Republican
officially sanctioned by the
party. Polls in Louisiana
show support growing for
the former KKK leader.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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