INSIDE WASHINGTON
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JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
ast week's elections
could have an impact
on the massive depar-
ture of Jews from the Soviet
Union.
"We're in the middle of a
Biblical exodus," said Mark
Talisman, director of the
Washington Action Office of
the Council of Jewish Fed-
erations. "This kind of
movement of more than a
million people can be dealt
with only in Biblical terms."
But Congress, shell-
shocked by the recent Battle
of the Budget and the sharp
rebellion at the ballot box
against higher taxes, is
reading the election returns,
not the Bible.
"People in Congress don't
want to touch it now," Mr.
Talisman said. "The money
situation on the Hill is ex-
treme; as a result, we're fac-
ing the prospect that the
election results, and the
growing attitude of caution,
could have an impact on the
migration."
The fact that federal pro-
grams that help resettle
Jews in this country involve
cost-sharing between the
government and the Jewish
community helped those
programs survive the recent
budget crisis, Mr. Talisman
said.
But Congress will be
unlikely to increase these
programs to cope with the
rising emigration numbers,
or provide additional funds
to help resettle Jews in
Israel.
Programs like the $400
million in loan guarantees
for Israel, which do not affect
the federal budget, are more
attractive. But even here,
there's a wariness in Con-
gress over how such pro-
grams are viewed by the
public.
The bottom line, Mr.
Talisman said, is that the
ongoing budget crisis will
put new pressure on the
American Jewish commun-
ity to support the un-
precedented exodus.
"It will require wall-to-
wall Judaism," Mr.
Talisman said. "The only
thing that can impede Soviet
Jews now are other Jews."
California Politics Offer
Opportunities For Jews
The political pot is bubbl-
ing over in California, where
the unexpected announce-
ment that Sen. Alan
Cranston, a Democrat,
would not seek re-election in
1992 has opened the doors
for several ambitious Jewish
politicians.
Mr. Cranston's decision
comes on the heels of Sen.
Pete Wilson's victory in the
gubernatorial election. The
result will be two Senate
seats up for grabs in 1992.
The unusual double elec-
tion could prove providential
for Rep. Mel Levine, one of
the most vigorously pro-
Israel members of the
House, who has long been
known to covet a seat in the
upper house.
Mr. Levine has stated nu-
merous times that he would
not challenge Mr. Cranston.
With that obstacle removed,
and two seats available,
1992 could be Mr. Levine's
golden opportunity.
But there are other Jewish
politicos waiting in the
wings. Rep. Barbara Boxer,
a Democrat, is also rumored
to be ready for a Senate run.
Ms. Boxer is a dynamic cam-
paigner who has won the
allegiance of women's
groups in the state.
Former San Francisco
mayor Dianne Feinstein,
who this week lost a tighter-
than-expected race against
Mr. Wilson for the
statehouse job, is already be-
ing talked up as a possible
Senate contender.
And there is the question
of who will be appointed to
fill Mr. Wilson's seat on an
interim basis; a strong
Republican appointee could
throw a monkey wrench in
the planning of the Jewish
Democrats.
Israel's New U.S. Envoy
Getting High Marks
Whether or not this week's
decision by the Israeli
cabinet to accept a United
Nations emissary succeeds
in defusing U.N. efforts to
intervene in the Palestinian
situation, pro-Israel activists
here are giving high marks
to Israel's new ambassador
to Washington, Zalmen
Shoval.
"Shoval came to Washing-
ton with this issue already
on the table," said Seymour
Reich, chairman of the Con-
ference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, "He went
right into the frying pan on
this. He's been at the State
Department and the White
House almost daily, trying
to work out a solution."
More importantly, say
sources here, Mr. Shoval is
close to Israeli Prime Min-
ister Yitzhak Shamir, and
has good access among the
inner circle in Jerusalem.
Past Israeli ambassadors
have been hobbled by virtue _
of their status as com-
promise choices represent-
ing coalition governments.
As a result, they have
tended to be bystanders to
major diplomatic exchanges
between the two countries.
Mr. Shoval, with his direct
line to Mr. Shamir, has been
Many Will Miss
Boschwitz On Hill
Pro-Israel activists in
Washington are trying to
come to grips with the star-
tling loss by Sen. Rudy
Boschwitz, who lost his bid
for a third term to political
newcomer Paul Wellstone.
It's not that Mr. Boschwitz
was particularly beloved by
Jewish groups; many times,
the conservative senator
locked horns with Jewish ac-
tivists over issues like civil
rights and abortion.
But for those concerned
primarily with the pro-Israel
agenda, Boschwitz's depar-
ture will leave a void.
"He was unique in that he
was a Republican Jew who
spoke the same language as
the president, as the Senate
Republican leadership," said
one top Jewish activist here.
"When there was a problem
— like on foreign aid —
Rudy was the one who could
Sen. Rudy Boschwitz
go to (Sen. Robert) Dole and
try to work it out."
Mr. Boschwitz was
unusually willing to serve in
the role of middle man for a
pro-Israel community that
increasingly found itself
frozen out of an administra-
tion with a decidedly chilly
approach to Israel.
Activists Push To Keep
Rights Agenda Straight
Almost unnoticed in last
week's avalanche of news
was a meeting between
Soviet Jewry activists and
Deputy Secretary of State
Lawrence Eagleburger.
The purpose? To keep the
human rights agenda firmly
planted in the minds of a
State Department that is
pre- occupied with the
dangerous standoff with
Saddam Hussein.
"It was one of our periodic
meetings to talk about the
Helsinki process," said
Mark Levin, associate na-
tional director for the Na-
tional Conference on Soviet
Jewry. "Specifically, we
were there to talk about the
upcoming Conference on
Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) summit in
Paris next month."
That meeting will help
shape a newly unified
Europe in the wake of the
breakup of the Soviet Bloc.
The CSCE process consists
of three elements — econ-
omic cooperation, security
and human rights. "With so
many other issues literally
exploding at once," Mr.
Levin said, "we wanted to
make sure the human rights
component is well covered."
The group discussed Soviet
emigration policies, the
cultural renaissance among
Jews remaining in the
Soviet Union and the issue
of direct flights. Mr.
Eagleburger was unable to
shed additional light on
whether direct flights will be
resumed in two weeks, as
promised.
B'nai B'rith Struggles
With $4 Million Deficit
Zalmen Shoval:
Into the frying pan.
able to convince the stub-
born Israeli leader that U.S.-
Israeli relations require a
show of flexibility.
At a time when many Jew-
ish groups are struggling to
keep up with a recessionary
economy, B'nai B'rith Inter-
national is scrambling to
deal with a deficit of up to $4
million.
"We can't sustain this
deficit forever," said Tom
Neumann, the group's exec-
utive vice president and top
professional. "It's clear
we're going to have to
tighten our belts. We're try-
ing to do that in a way that
isn't going to hurt."
Thanks to several recent
bequests, the group faces no
immediate fiscal emergency.
But by the beginning of
the new fiscal year in July,
BBI will have to make some
tough choices.
"The decision is whether
you continue to build up debt
— or whether you bite the
bullet," said B'nai B'rith's
president, Kent Schiner.
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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Election Could Affect
USSR Jews' Immigration