The Gro Outdoors!
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Spri g is here and
it is time to move Aid To Israel
outdoors!
In Political Squeeze
Visit any of our
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three locations to
find a terrific
selection and
great sale prices
like these:
Wrought Iron 5 piece set
(without cushions) Reg. $650
Now Only $429
Watch for us at the
Orchard Mall's
Home & Garden Show
April 23-May 2, 1993
ALSO in-stock: • Hundreds of umbrellas from $99
• Barbeque grills • Replacement cushions and
also custom replacement cushio;is!
-
NOW
CASUAL & OUTDOOR RA9NITURE
48700 GRAND RIVER - 348 - 0090
R US 7 7 LS
LIVONIA
522 - 9200 - 29500 W. 6 MILE RD.
BIRMINGHAM
644 1919 - 690 S. WOODWARD
-
Completely Casual fir
Over 46 Years
STORE HRS: Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri., 10-8 • Wed., Sat., 1Q-6 • Sun., 11-4
WE SHIP I
FURNITURE
Pacli . agtonare
COTTON
SEPARATES
FROM OUR
CHRISTINE
ALBERS
COLLECTION
2717 Woodward Ave.
(Just No. of Catalpa)
Berkley
542.2500
2523 W. Maple
(at Cranbrook)
Bloomfield Hills
433-3070
6453 Farmington Road
W. Bloomfield
855-5822
WOOD DECK
WASHING
al SEALING
APPLEGATE SQUARE
SOUTHFIELD
8
351 -0044
Call Now For An Estimate
STEVE'S POWER WASH
3E...5163
JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
I
sraeli politics may be a new
and dangerous wild card in
efforts to protect that coun-
try's $3.2 billion in American
foreign aid — or at least that's
the perception of some top Is-
raeli and American Jewish
leaders.
Specifically, the Israelis are
alarmed at the suggestions by
some conservative columnists
that Israel should voluntarily
accept a reduction in aid be-
cause such cuts are inevitable.
They are also alarmed by a de-
tectable undercurrent on Capi-
tol Hill suggesting that some
Jews may not actively oppose
the cuts. A number of Israeli of-
ficials are convinced that these
hints of a break in the tradi-.
tional Jewish consensus on aid
are — at least in part — the re-
sult of partisan efforts to bring
down the Rabin government.
"The debate on aid policy is
not just legitimate, but wel-
come," said an Israeli official in
Washington. "But we are less
sanguine about criticism of Is-
rael by American Jews on par-
tisan grounds. Raising the issue
of aid to Israel in this particu-
lar context is harmful."
The intimations of a new
willingness to accept an aid cut
will only "give those in Congress
and elsewhere who have always
wanted to reduce aid to Israel
a hook to do so," said Robert
Lifton, president of the Ameri-
can Jewish Congress. "Reduc-
ing aid would produce all the
wrong signals. Any indication
that America is distancing it-
self from Israel would have se-
rious political implications for
the Rabin government, and
therefore for the peace process."
The rumblings from the right
couldn't come at a worse time.
With the administration fight-
ing for congressional support for
its $1.6 billion Russian aid pack-
age, pro-Israel activists were al-
ready worried that it could be
difficult to beat back
across-the-board cuts to other
recipients when the foreign aid
bill comes before Congress.
For months, there have been
hints of such cuts. Last week,
those hints became a little
stronger, when Rep. Dick
Gephardt D-Mo., the powerful
House majority leader and a
good friend of the pro- Israel
community, said that all aid re-
cipients would have to "take a
hit" to help pay for the new
Russian aid.
The administration vigor-
ously rejected Mr. Gephardt's
dark warnings. Moreover, this
week a group of prominent Re-
publican legislators led by mi- it
nority whip Newt Gingrich,
R-Ga., circulated a letter early
promising not to take Russian
aid out of Israel's hide.
But it is far from clear just -)
how much of their precious po-
litical capital the administra-
tion or the GOP will risk if
serious cutting amendments
are offered when the aid bills
get to the House and Senate
floors. If a groundswell in Con- '\
gress forces the administration
to choose between modest, -`
across-the-board aid cuts that
would include Israel and Egypt,
and its $1.6 billion injection of
aid to Russia, many pro-Israel
activists are worried that the
president will have little polit-
ical wiggle room.
Russia's aid needs
could put Israel's
second.
(
"The politics of this could be
very tricky," said a pro-Israel
member of Congress. "
The real fear here is that the
move to cut assistance could
gain momentum such that it Th
would put the administration
and even Israel's friends in Con-
gress in a very difficult spot, be-
cause the Russian aid package
is so clearly in our national in- -/
terests."
Groups like the American Is-
rael Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) have been extraordi-
narily active in recent weeks,
defending the aid package and
making the linkage between
continuing high levels of aid and
the peace process.
That zealousness, according
to Capitol Hill observers, re-
flects the fact that the under-
tow from the right is just one
more factor in a very unstable
political situation. 111
The first Jewish Cabinet
member in this country was
Oscar Straus. He served as
secretary of commerce and
labor in President Theodore
Roosevelt's administration.
Oscar's father, Lazarus
Straus, turned a small
crockery store into the giant
Macy's department store
chain.