NEWS

Senators Urge Japan
To Drop Israel Boycott

Washington (JTA) —
Japan's compliance with the
Arab economic boycott of
Israel is being targeted by
those in the United States
who believe that the suc-
cessful outcome of the Per-
sian Gulf war provides an
opportunity to end the
boycott.
Nine U.S. senators,
describing themselves as
"supporters of a strong
U.S.-Japanese relationship,"
have sent a letter to
Japanese Prime Minister
Toshiki Kaifu urging that
Japanese businesses end
their compliance with the
boycott.
"The end of the boycott is
an important first step" to
realize .the opportunities
presented by the Gulf crisis
in bringing about a solution
to the Arab-Israeli conflict,"
the senators said in the
letter.
Secretary of State James
Baker is believed to have
discussed the boycott with
Japanese Foreign Minister
Taro Nakayama when the
two met at the State
Department.
But a State Department
spokesman would only say
that Japan was urged to play
a more active and "more

evenhanded" role in the
Middle East. He also re-
ported that Mr. Nakayama
said he would like to make
an official visit to Israel "in
the near future."
Mr. Baker has urged Arab
countries to drop the boycott
as one of the confidence-
building measures he would
like to see both the Arabs
and Israelis make in order to
foster an atmosphere con-
ducive to a settlement of the
Arab-Israel conflict.
The letter to the Japanese
prime minister was drafted
by Sen. John Rockefeller
(D-W.Va.), who made a
pledge March 18 at the 32nd
annual policy conference of
the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee to per-
sonally work to get Japan to
end its compliance with the
boycott.

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Also signing the letter
were Sens. Claiborn Pell
(D-R.I), chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations
Committee; Alan Cranston
(D-Calif.), Bob Packwood (R-
Ore.), Richard Lugar (R-
Ind.), Timothy Wirth (D-
Colo.), Max Baucus (D-
Mont.), Jim Sasser (D- Tenn.)
. (R-
and Nancy Kassebaum
Kan.)

ROLEX

Agudah Pushes To Shut
Ben-Gurion On Sabbath

Jerusalem (JTA) — In a
new attempt to enforce
Sabbath observance on all
walks of life in Israel, the
Agudat Yisrael party is
pushing for the closure of
Ben-Gurion Airport on Sat-
urdays.
The issue appears likely to
lead to another basic conflict
between the secular state
and its religious minority,
which has considerable po-
litical clout.
The international air ter-
minal, a major source of
revenue, has always func-
tioned seven days a week. Its
closure over the Sabbath
could mean disastrous econ-
omic losses, say opponents of
the plan, including
Transport Minister Moshe
Katsay.
But the Agudah, which
held out longer than any of
the other Orthodox parties
before its five Knesset mem-
bers joined Prime Minister
Yitzhak Shamir's coalition
government last year, is in a
position to impose its will.
The initiative was taken

by veteran Agudah Knesset
member Menahem Porush,
who, as deputy minister of
labor and social welfare,
controls the issuance of
Sabbath work permits.
His sub-cabinet status is
the result of the non-Zionist
Agudah's ideological reser-
v at i o ns about holding
cabinet rank in a secular
government. Although
Shamir nominally holds the
labor portfolio,. he lets Mr.
Porush run the ministry.
Mr. Porush has renewed
the airport's Sabbath work
permit until June. At the
same time, he set up a com-
mittee of officials from his
own ministry and the
Transport Ministry for a
detailed examination of the
airport's functioning.
He has served notice that
he proposes to severely limit,
if he cannot altogether
abrogate, the airport's work
permit.
Civil servants and politi-
cians of the major parties say
the move is a potential
disaster.

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