I UP FRONT .. r I IN A F.E DAKF? 4 AF, CHIN . E • ,- B t pop z' TV- • '*` 1 . '' c) L4.4 B v. `* e . A — C • '44 Al4sE R rq i:EA C. - , t.g - E P . rd., br (-PEA C. A A C. 91..-1 Otorac. I. Rawl saostra Do.Dx. 0.113 r06an5ia COVIGIENCAIDDEASK. Bush And Baker Disagree On Israel Washington Jewish officials say the president's loan guarantee delay speech was aimed as much at Baker as it was at Israel. JAMES D. BESSER Washington Correspondent I s there a growing rift between President Bush and his top State Department appointees over the conduct of Middle East diplomacy? That is one of the urgent questions that has kept Jew- ish activists in Washington busy as they try to decipher confusing and sometimes conflicting signs coming from the administration. Three weeks ago, ad- ministration sources were dropping broad hints that while President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker agreed on broad U.S. objectives in the Middle East peace process, the two leaders disagreed on tactics. Specifically, the White House was ready to take a hard-line stand on Israel's settlements policies. Mr. Baker, while opposing those policies of the Shamir government, was convinced that any direct linkage bet- ween $10 billion in loan guarantees to Israel and set- tlements policies could throw a monkey wrench into the Middle East peace con- ference. Mr. Baker pushed for a delay in the loan guarantee process, something the ad- ministration ultimately ac- cepted. But the White House bungled the push for a 120- day delay by directly attack- ing the pro-Israel commun- ity, according to some ad- ministration sources — which added to the possibil- ity that the October peace talks would be adversely af- fected by the loan guarantee issue. Another body of opinion suggests that Mr. Bush's tough talk at his Sept. 12 news conference was a deliberate effort to box in his secretary of state, who was due to arrive in Israel for talks on the Middle East peace conference the follow- ing week. "There was a feeling here that James Baker wants this peace conference no matter what," said an official with a major Jewish organization. "He wants his Nobel Peace Prize, and he doesn't want anything to get in the way. The White House is less op- timistic. They don't want Baker to give away the shop to the Shamir government." The gap between the White House and State sur- faced again last week when Is the White House looking to stick Israel with the blame for a failed Middle East peace process? Mr. Baker was on his way back from Israel. Aboard the secretary's plane, an anonymous ad- ministration source —Mr. Baker himself, the State Department later admitted — made it clear that the underlying reason for Mr. Bush's demand for a 120-day delay in the loan guarantee legislation was the presi- dent's fury at the continuing expansion of Israel's set- tlements. Immediately, White House machinery swung into ac- tion to "clarify" the state- ment. But Mr. Baker was telling the truth, according to most observers. Despite White House protestations, the administration is clearly de- termined to link the badly needed loan guarantees to Israel's settlements policies, either now or in 120 days. Why did Mr. Baker give an honest answer to the ques- tion of Mr. Bush's motives in lashing out against pro- Israel forces? "It's obviously that he was trying to position himself with respect to the White House," said a top pro-Israel activist in Washington. "What's not clear is exactly what he was after. This is a very complex game that's taking place, and there's a tremendous amount we do not yet understand." One emerging possibility is that the administration — with its high ratings in the polls, its Persian Gulf triumph and the fast- changing situation on the global chess board — no longer expects much from the upcoming Middle East peace conference. The White House, accor- ding to this scenario, is ready to cut its losses in the drive for a Middle East peace conference. If Israel could be goaded into backing out of the upcoming peace con- ference, so much the better. By putting a heavy em- phasis on the settlements question — Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's political Achilles heel — the ad- ministration may be pursu- ing a strategy designed to put the onus for the expected failure of the peace con- ference squarely on Israel. Despite its protestations that a 120 day delay is necessary to protect the up- coming peace process, the administration may be less concerned with the peace THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11