ANALYSIS
Has The U.S. Reduced
Commitment To Israel?
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
I
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THE JEWISH NEWS
66
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1990
FIRST ISSUE DATE:
January 11, 1991
AD DEADLINE:
January 4, 1991
t was not billed as a
debate, but the diverging
interests of the ad-
ministration and the pro-
Israel community were fully
evident when a leading Jew-
ish activist and a top State
Department official, both
Orthodox Jews, shared a
platform in Washington last
week.
Daniel Kurtzer, deputy
secretary of state for Near
Eastern and South Asian Af-
fairs, defended the ad-
ministration's broad Middle
East policies, and urged the
Jewish community to closely
examine the "fundamentals"
of those policies before
criticizing this country's new
relationships with Arab
nations.
Malcolm Hoenlein, exec-
utive director of the Con-
ference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, argued vig-
orously that the administra-
tion has sent very clear
negative signals in the
direction of Jerusalem.
"Clearly there has been a
change in the tone of the re-
lationship," he said, "and
perhaps a change in the
substance. We have to ac-
knowledge that both sides
make mistakes; they're
human beings. But clearly
the wrong signals are being
sent — not just to each other,
but more dangerously, to
others."
The Arab states, Mr.
Hoenlein argued, interpret
much of the current friction
in U.S.-Israeli relations as a
reduction in the administra-
tion's commitment to
Israel's security, a percep-
tion that could have a major
negative impact on the peace
process.
Mr. Kurtzer repeated the
theme that has been taking
shape in the White House in
recent months — that the
administration views the
unprecedented multi-
national coalition now con-
fronting Saddam Hussein as
a framework that might be
applied to other regional
conflicts, including the
Arab-Israeli standoff.
"We've seen in the last
year profound changes in the
international environment,"
Mr. Kurtzer said, "that led
us to believe that once and
for all there may be ways
that major players on the
international scene can deal
not only with superpower
conflicts, but with regional
conflicts."
Israel's low profile status
in the current crisis —some-
thing that increasingly
angers officials in Jerusalem
and their supporters here —
was carefully worked out by
both countries in the early
stages of the fight against
Iraq, Mr. Kurtzer said.
"Early on in this crisis, we
talked very quietly with
Israel about the proper pos-
ture, not only to serve our
own interests, but Israel's
interests as well," he said.
"Through a series of inten-
sive consultations with
senior government leaders
in Israel, both countries
agreed that the best profile
for Israel was a low profile
The State
Department official
conceded that
some earlier arms
sales did not meet
their stated
objectives.
because it would deny
Saddam Hussein the one
card that he might be able to
employ to crack the coalition
arrayed against him."
The new multi-national
approach to dealing with
Saddam Hussein, he said,
could provide the framework
for enhancing Israeli securi-
ty in the future.
Mr. Hoenlein emphasized
that the Gulf crisis, and the
continuing Arab hostility
towards Israel, is part of a
broader problem — the
worldwide Islamic revo-
lution that is affecting
nations as far removed as
China and Morocco.
"It's a worldwide
manifestation that very
little account is taken of," he
said. "And it endangers not
just Israel, but the very fun-
damentals of democracy as
we know it."
And Mr. Hoenlein rejected
the notion that the United
Nations is re-emerging as a
forum for international con-
flict resolution.
"The U.N. votes (condemn-
ing Israel for the Temple
Mount deaths) remind us
that the United Nations does
not yet appear to be the basis
for a 'new world order.' Look
at the countries that voted to
condemn Israel: Romania,
after bringing in the miners;
China after Tienemen