"I think Winton] is going to come down on the side of strong aclivity." THE DETROIT J EW ISH NEWS Ted Mann 16 cautious; the last thing Israel wants is new American pressure over things like the recent expul- sions of llamas activists. Some members of the Israeli negotiating team at the peace talks have even privately ac- knowledged that a little Ameri- can "arm twisting" might be necessary to help move the talks forward — as long at that pressure did not fall unfairly on Israel's shoulders, or compromise Israeli security. "The change in the Israeli gov- ernment allows the United States to play a different and more facil- itating role in the process," said Jonathan Jacoby, president of Americans for Peace Now. "Before, the administration's goal was just to keep the negotia- tions going long enough until the Israeli government's position changed — or the Israeli govern- ment itself changed. Now, it has an opportunity to play a facilitat- ing role substantively, not only procedurally." But other Jewish leaders have urged a continuation of the low- profile role adopted by former Sec- retary of State James Baker since the first sessions in Madrid. "I would hope they will carry on much in the same manner as be- fore," said Mr. Pollack of the Pres- idents' Conference. "There has been progress in the talks. I hope they will keep it going in much the same manner, and play the same role the American govern- ment played in earlier rounds in trying to be a consultant and a fa- cilitator." Others have urged a kind of "benign neglect" from Washing- ton — just enough American pres- ence to keep the parties at the table, and no more. Any signal that the Clinton administration plans to play a more active role in the substance of talks would re- duce the incentive of Arab par- ticipants to negotiate seriously, they argue. Finding the perfect middle ground between those strongly held positions will require all of the political skills Mr. Clinton and his team can muster. Mr. Clinton is also hearing dif- ferent points of view on the exact mechanisms for the conduct of his Mideast policy. With Mr. Christopher preoc- cupied with reshaping the State Department after 12 years of GOP control and with crises in other parts of the world, some have sug- gested the need for a special Mideast negotiator who can work full time to get the talks off the mark. In recent days, the Washington rumor pipeline has been filled with talk about the imminent an- nouncement of a special envoy; the name most frequently men- tioned has been Tom Pickering, the current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and a former ambassador to Israel. "I think he will appoint a spe- cial negotiator," said Mr. Mann of Projct Nishma. "There are so many other problems around the world. The president will need someone who is close to him, who has his ear. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone with experi- ence in Mideast affairs." But Mr. Clinton is also hearing from some pro-Israel activists who worry that the appointment of a special negotiator would signal that the peace talks will not be a major, personal priority for Mr. Clinton and Mr. Christopher — something that could further de- plete the negotiations' flagging momentum. Beyond those basic decisions, the Clinton administration is ex- pected to move rapidly to estab- lish a good working relationship with leaders in Israel and the Arab states. It is expected that Mr. Clinton will contact leaders of all the na- tions participating in the negoti- ations in the first weeks of his administration. There is also talk that Mr. Christopher may make an early trip through the Mideast to give the negotiations a boost. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is due in Washington in March for AIPAC's annual policy confer- ence, and it is expected he will meet with the new president and his top foreign policy advisers then. But outgoing Israeli am- bassador Zalman Shoval has been busy trying to arrange an earlier meeting, which Israel would like to take place before the planned resumption of the peace talks in mid-February. "An early meeting makes a lot of sense," said Dan Mariaschin, director of public, international and Israel affairs for B'nai B'rith. "The Bush administration kept the Shamir government at arm's length because of policy differ- ences. A warm political welcome would be an important indication of a very different kind of working relationship." Mr. Mariaschin also suggested that Israel needs some words of reassurance — preferably from in- coming Secretary of Defense Les Aspin— about the continuing com- mitment to strong U.S.-Israeli military ties. One more aspect of the complex U.S.-Israeli relationship may sur- face in the first days of the Clin- ton administration — the always-sticky issue of foreign aid. "One issue we will be watch- ing is the new administration's initial posture on foreign aid, par- ticularly in an administration that is so committed to economic growth and domestic issues as a priority," said Martin Raffel, as- sistant executive vice-chair of the National Jewish Community Re- lations Advisory Council and di- rector of the group's Israel task force. "I think there will be a reex- amination of foreign aid, of how we use it and whether it achieves our goals," Mr. Raffel continued. "Obviously, we are concerned that this examination lead to conclu- sions that are in Israel's interests, which are also in the interests of the United States. An economi- cally strong Israel is an Israel that will be able to proceed with confi- dence in the peace process." Mr. Clinton will give a "state of the budget" message to Congress in late January, which will include his proposals for the aid budget for the upcoming fiscal year. "We don't expect any great shocks in his foreign aid budget," said Rep. Cardin. "But the way he presents it to Congress will be crit- ical. What language he uses, in terms of our commitments to Is- rael, will be very important, and we will be watching very close- ly•" And then there is oil, yet an- other touchy point when it comes to American policy toward Israel and the Mideast. While the cur- rent worldwide glut has tem- porarily decreased the ability of the Arab states to use oil as a lever to influence American Mideast policy, that could change quickly — and the Clinton administration, which has promised to address the issue of energy independence, could find its foreign policy deci- sions affected by Arab oil suppli- ers. "It's still obvious that nobody would pay much attention to Sau- di Arabia if it didn't have oil," said Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). "It's a given that we do not sup- port the Saudis because of their fidelity to democracy. Clinton has talked about reducing our depen- dence on foreign oil. The pro-Is- rael community should get behind that." But Mr. Schumer conceded that with oil relatively plentiful, it may be difficult to get Congress, the administration and the pro- Israel community to focus on the _ long-term dangers of American dependence on Arab oil. ❑ Asking For Too Much Jewish leaders should stop carping about Clin- ton's cabinet selections. In politics, no one gets everything they want. LEONARD FEIN Special to the Jewish News H ere we go again. Jewish leaders, it seems, are up- set with the Clinton cabi- net; not enough Jews. Or — it's really not clear — not enough Jews who are passion- ately devoted to Israel. Bill Clinton may have wanted a cabinet that looks like America; the largely unnamed sources who have been quoted in The New York Times and elsewhere on the subject evidently want a cabinet Leonard Fein comments on the American Jewish scene from his home in Boston. that thinks like the Zionist Or- ganization of America. How do we know that those who have thus far been appoint- ed are inadequately sanitary? Here, as nearly as one can discern from what we're told, is the evi- dence: Warren Christopher worked for Cyrus Vance and An- thon.y Lake worked for Warren Christopher, and Cyrus Vance worked for Jimmy Carter, and, well, you know, don't you, about Jimmy Carter? You remember, he's the one who forced peace be- tween Israel and Egypt at Camp David. Tsk tsk. Anyone who prefers peace to dessert is obviously sus- pect. And anyone who worked for anyone, who worked for anyone who is suspect is himself (or her- self, as the case may be) suspect. Carter policy on the Middle East, says Abe Foxman, executive di- rector of the Anti-Defamation League, "was simplistic" and "preachy."