INSIDE WASHINGTON
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JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
Cranston Moves Against
Arms Sale To Saudis
Israel Agonies May Stall
Housing Loan Promises
T
he recent agreement
releasing $400 million
in loan guarantees to
help house Soviet Jews in
Israel was a matter of some
satisfaction for pro-Israel ac-
tivists who worked long and
hard to convince the ad-
ministration to free up the
money voted earlier by Con-
gress.
Less satisfying were the
different interpretations of
the agreement in Washing-
ton and Jerusalem — and
hints that internal Israeli
politics may again jeopar-
dize the badly needed loan
money.
Last week, the text of the
agreement was released by
the State Department in
reaction to Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir's an-
nouncement of new Jewish
neighborhoods in East
Jerusalem.
Mr. Shamir was reportedly
incensed by the provision
that stated that the loan
money would only be used in
areas "which were subject to
the Government of Israel's
administration prior to June
5, 1967."
That would effectively ex-
clude East Jerusalem, a fact
that was hard for most
Likud politicians to swallow.
Only hours after Mr. Levy's
return, Mr. Shamir an-
nounced the new building
plans for the city, a move
that is almost certain to
raise the ante in the ongoing
contest over the loan guar-
antees.
Despite concerns about the
Jerusalem issue, Israel also
won some points in the corn-
(AIPAC), attempted to
discourage Mr. Cranston
from introducing his resolu-
tion. The pro-Israel com-
munity, according to sources
here, had tacitly agreed to
let this Saudi arms deal
through — in return for
more than $700 million in
"offsets" for Israel, military
equipment that would be
taken from current Ameri-
can stockpiles.
There were concerns that
Mr. Cranston's measure
would jeopardize the pro-
gress of an amendment to
the Foreign Operations ap-
propriations bill providing
the badly needed offsets.
But once the measure was
in the hopper, some pro-
Israel activists decided to
take advantage of Mr.
Cranston's move.
"They're trying to make
the best of a dumb situa-
tion," said an aide to a top
Jewish legislator. "Nobody
gives this resolution any
chance of success; none of
Sen. Alan Cranston:
Was his resolution a dumb move?
the pro-Israel groups pushed
it. But it's something they
can't very well oppose. And
maybe they can use it as a
lever on other issues."
German Treaty Slides
Silently Through Senate
David Levy
plex negotiations.
American negotiators ap-
parently backpeddled on the
issue of "fundibility," the
question of whether the U.S.
loans would free up addi-
tional Israeli funds for use in
settling Soviet Jews in the
occupied territories.
And efforts to build into
the agreement tough provi-
sions that would have re-
quired Israel to report to
Washington on its housing
plans apparently ran afoul of
Mr. Levy's well-known stub-
bornness.
In fact, Mr. Levy only
promised to "use my best
efforts to provide annually
as complete information as
possible on the Government
of Israel's financial support
for settlement activity."
"This WAS a good agree-
ment, from Israel's point of
view," said an official with a
major Jewish organization
here. "But it was probably a
mistake for Mr. Levy to go
back and trumpet his vic-
tory."
The treaty ending the post-
war division of Germany
glided past the Senate last
week with hardly a murmur
of interest.
Several weeks ago, when
the Senate leadership defied
the administration by in-
sisting that the treaty re-
quired Senate ratification,
there was talk that Jewish
groups might seek to testify
in hearings on the pact.
But with attention focused
almost exclusively on the
Persian Gulf and on the
titanic Battle of the Budget,
the debate over the German
treaty became a kind of
legislative footnote.
Jewish groups were still
trying to decide on a
strategy for the ratification
process when the full Senate
acted, ratifying the treaty —
which relinquishes Ameri-
can, Soviet, French and
British control over Ger-
many — by a 98 to 0 vote.
Only one legislator — Sen.
Rudy Boschwitz (R-Minn.) —
took the occasion to bring up
Germany's ugly past.
"Germany is Germany,
from the standpoint of its
history," Mr. Boschwitz
said. "I think we need to
have some recognition of
that fact. I have a mixed
emotion about seeing it get
back together again.
Hopefully the feelings and
mentality of the people have
changed."
At least one Jewish group
was not happy with the
swift, silent passage of the
ratification measure.
"My reaction is the same
as it's always been," said
Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of
the Simon Wiesenthal
Center. "The most
remarkable thing about the
document that the Senate
ratified was that it address-
ed the concerns of the four
major powers — but it never
mentioned the word
`Holocaust.' It's an insult to
the memory of the victims
martyred in the Holocaust to
think that in the final
agreement that brought the
two Germanys together,
they didn't rate even one
line."
Ohio Congressman Runs
Afoul Of Arab-Americans
The Persian Gulf crisis has
touched just about every
corner of American political
life. The effects of the crisis
have even reached
Cleveland, where Rep. Ed
Feighan, a Democrat, has
run afoul of a local Arab-
American organization.
In the past, Mr. Feighan, a
four-term legislator, had
received the endorsement of
the Cleveland American
Middle East Organization
(CAMEO), an Arab-
American group, despite the
fact that the legislator has
been one of Israel's staun-
chest defenders in Congress.
Not this time around. This
time, CAMEO endorsed Mr.
Feighan's Republican oppo-
nent, Susan M. Lawko, who
is given almost no chance of
unseating the popular in-
cumbent.
According to some
observers, CAMEO's chang-
ed loyalties are related to
the fact that Mr. Feighan
filed a complaint with the
Federal Elections Commis-
sion.
❑
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
37
IL ATI ON A
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.
The administration's slick
bait-and-switch on the cur-
rent Saudi arms sale pro-
posal may not have been a
deciding factor, but all the
evidence suggests that the
sale, which will include
some $7 billion in high-tech
weaponry for the Riyadh
government, will sail
through Congress.
Several weeks ago, the
administration stunned pro-
Israel activists with leaks
indicating a sale of more
than $20 billion. That figure
was immediately scaled
back to about $7 billion in
what many observers saw as
a clever move to redefine the
range of acceptable sales.
But late last week, Sen.
Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) in-
troduced a "resolution of
disapproval," the first step
in any congressional effort to
reject the administration
proposal.
Pro-Israel groups, in-
cluding the American-Israel
Public Affairs Committee