CUNTON page 1
with the Bush administra-
tion's Middle East team to
avoid any slackening of mo-
mentum during the transition
period.
"One of the first decisions
he has to make is whether or
not he wants to name some-
one as his special represen-
tative (to the peace process)
during the transition, before
a cabinet is in place," said
Stuart Eizenstat, former do-
mestic affairs adviser to Pres-
ident Jimmy Carter and a
likely nominee to the new
Clinton government.
"This would be somebody
who can keep in touch with
the Bush people during the
transition, to make sure that
the talks are kept on track
and that all parties under-
stand that the new president
will remain engaged."
This close cooperation could
be especially important if Sec-
retary of State James Baker
returns to the Middle East for
one last spurt of shuttle diplo-
macy.
"During the lame duck pe-
riod, there are a lot of reasons
why Baker would try to use
the last two months to try to
get something going," said
Mr. Indyk. "Most important
would be the personal con-
sideration. He would much
rather be remembered for a
successful agreement than for
a failed presidential cam-
paign. But he won't do it un-
less he thinks he can
succeed."
Another early decision for
the Clinton transition team
will involve the exact shape
of future American participa-
tion in the ongoing peace
process.
"There are some who are
saying that the United States
should continue its involve-
ment in the peace process, but
stay out of the substance,"
said Gail Pressberg, co-direc-
tor of the Center for Israeli
Peace and Security, the
Washington office of Ameri-
cans for Peace Now.
"There are others arguing
that the process is ripe at this
stage for a more active Amer-
ican role — not to put pres-
sure on any of the parties, but
to put new options on the
table to get things going."
So far, there are no indica-
tions of how Mr. Clinton feels
about this crucial debate.
Jewish input on the issue
will be important in the new
administration, and Jews will
be well represented among
top appointees. But these
Jews will reflect a wide range
of opinion on critical Middle
East issues.
Likely nominees for top
posts include liberal Ameri-
cans for Peace Now activists,
as well as Jewish neo-conser-
vatives like Richard Schifter,
a former official in the Bush
State Department.
"We've always had good ac-
cess in Democratic adminis-
trations," said Abraham
Foxman, executive director of
w
(I)
w
the Anti-Defamation League.
"The question becomes one of
influence. Once you have ac-
cess, how much influence do
you have? One hears that
there are a lot of Jews around
the governor. But that does
not resolve the question of in-
fluence."
The number of Jews close
to Mr. Clinton, he said, could
even work to limit the access
of Jewish groups, since the
administration may decide
that it already has enough
Jewish input internally.
Another piece of the Middle
East puzzle that will confront
President-elect Clinton is the
problem of developing a good
working relationship with the
Israeli government. Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin,
while maintaining an official
neutrality, was unofficially
said to have favored Mr.
Bush.
"It will take time to estab-
lish relationships, and right
now, time is the enemy of the
peace process," said one pro-
Israel lobbyist in Washington.
"Mr. Clinton must move very
quickly to reassure the Is-
raelis that he doesn't have
any surprises up his sleeve
and that he will not back off
from the strong economic and
military commitments to Is-
rael of the past two adminis-
trations. He doesn't enjoy the
personal relationships that
Bush and Baker had, and he
will have to develop them
very quickly."
Mr. Clinton is expected to
begin that process by sending
a personal emissary to Israel
during the transition period.
In the longer term, some
Clinton advisers are debating
the merit of appointing a spe-
cial negotiator to oversee U.S.
involvement in the peace
process, a move that would
signal a strong ongoing com-
mitment to the peace process.
All local
election photos
by
GLENN TRIEST
w
LU
4
Keeping a tally as the votes came In.
Clinton supporter holds up an early edition of the morning paper.
Recently, Israeli leaders re-
acted with anxiety to the ru-
mor that former President
Jimmy Carter would get the
nod as special negotiator. But
a top Jewish Clinton sup-
porter dismissed those re-
ports.
"There was no foundation
to that story," said Mr. Eizen-
stat, the former Carter do-
mestic policy adviser. "I've
checked with the senior peo-
ple in the campaign, and
there's no truth to it."
Mr. Clinton ran a campaign
that barely mentioned foreign
affairs, a strategy that re-
flected the changing mood of
American voters. His election
will inevitably be viewed as a
mandate to place a new em-
phasis on solving this coun-
try's economic and social
problems.
"The conventional wisdom
is that the next administra-
tion will focus more on do-
mestic priorities, and that
foreign policy will take a sec-
ond seat," said Martin Raffel,
assistant executive vice-chair
of the National Jewish Com-
munity Relations Advisory
Council and director of the
group's Israel task force.
"That may be overrated.
There's no avoiding foreign
policy in this world."
But it will be up to Jewish
leaders, he suggested, to re-
mind Mr. Clinton of the need
for balance between domestic
and international affairs.
Further, Mr. Clinton's at-
tention may be distracted by
the other international crises
that threaten to turn the "new
world order" into a particu-
larly disorderly and danger-
ous place.
"The fact that the disinte-
gration of the former Soviet
Union is proceeding at a more
rapid pace than anybody pre-
dicted will create a very se-
rious international problem
that the next president will
have to face early in his ad-
ministration," said Shoshana
Cardin, chair of the Confer-
ence of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organiza-
tions.
She pointed to the skidding
economy in Russia and the
growing activity of both ultra-
nationalists and communist
groups, and suggested that
the dangerous instability in
that part of the world will
necessarily detract from Mr.
Clinton's involvement in the
Middle East.
But with hundreds of thou-
sands of Jews remaining in
these volatile regions, the
American Jewish community
also has a strong interest in
U.S. efforts to avert the loom-
ing economic and political cat-
astrophe, she said.
"Mr. Clinton has to do more
than make gestures in this
important area," she said. "He
has to develop a very strong
and visible position on human
rights, which has been the
center of U.S. policy in deal-
ing with these countries in re-
cent years."
On the domestic front, the
incoming Clinton adminis-
tration will be a welcome
change for many liberal Jew-
ish groups whose social and
economic agendas have been
thwarted by the Bush ad-
ministration.
Mr. Clinton favors the fam-
Top Clinton advisers
insist that the
continuity of
Middle East peace
talks will be a
major goal.
ily and medical leave legisla-
tion that Mr. Bush has
repeatedly vetoed — a top
priority for many Jewish
groups. He is pro-choice and
has promised to appoint pro-
choice judges, and he has in-
dicated a determination to
deal forcefully with the wors-
ening health care crisis, both
positions favored by most
Jewish groups.
But new and beefed up so-
cial programs will be a tough
sell in a Congress — even a
Democrat-controlled one —
that has heard the clamor to
cut the deficit and turn
around the sagging economy.
"It's not going to be
Camelot," said Sammie
Moshenberg, Washington di-
rector for the National Coun-
cil of Jewish Women. "The
new Congress was elected
with a mandate to cut the
deficit. This could be very bad
for entitlement programs,
which are very important to
the Jewish community."
Mr. Clinton has run a de-
termined course down the
middle of the road — a fact
that has not escaped the no-
tice of politically conservative
Jewish groups.
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