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FRANKLIN
CLUB APARTMENTS

A Luxury Retirement Community

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28301 Franklin Road, Southfield, Michigan 48034

W IS H N E V

(313) 353-2810

PHONE 35'7-4000
HOURS' Monday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm

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SUNSEI' STRIP 29536 Northwestern Highway, Southiield,

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Discourits

Struggle For Control

JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT

F

or supporters of Israel, the
story is disturbingly fa-
miliar.

Once again, the American-Is-
rael Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) is trying to right itself
after the resignation of a key of-
ficial in a storm of controver-
sy. Once again, AIPAC
supporters are worried that an
embarrassing and highly pub-
lic incident points to broader
structural problems that could
ultimately atrophy the group's
political muscle.
And once again. AIPAC —
the nation's leading pro-Israel
lobbying group indisputably one
of the most,effective lobbying
organizations of any kind in
Washington — is struggling to
maintain its credibility in a po-
liticarenvironment in which an
image of weakness and disar-
ray can become a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
The question that now has
Washington buzzing is this:
Will AIPAC's influence dimin-
ish because of the loss of its
most visible lobbyist? Or will
AIPAC once again muster its
legendary ability to land on its
feet after a period of adversity?
Contrary to the opinions of both
AIPAC supporters and detrac-
tors, the answers to these ques-
tions are far from clear.
On the surface, the facts sur-
rounding this latest AIPAC
controversy are fairly straight-
forward.
Officially, executive director
Tom Dine's resignation late last
month was sparked by com-
ments that were widely re-
garded as slurs against
Orthodox Jews. Those remarks
were included in a recently pub-
lished book, Piety and Power:
The World of Jewish Funda-
mentalism, by Israeli journal-
ist David Landau.
The AIPAC board, according
to the group's president, Steven
Grossman, decided that the "po-
larizing and divisive" quotes at-
tributed to Mr. Dine made it
impossible for him to continue
effectively serving as head of a
broad-based organization.
But while Mr. Dine's com-
ments were deeply offensive to
many observant Jews, there
were other factors at work that
contributed to the unusually
abrupt and harsh parting of the
ways between AIPAC and its
longtime leader.
One factor involved the in-
cessant tug of war between an
assertive lay leadership and
AIPAC's cadre of professional
lobbyists. That internal tension
periodically boiled to the sur-
face as lay leaders sought to

stamp their imprint on AIPAC's
day-to-day activities, efforts that
clashed with Mr. Dine's grand
vision of an AIPAC whose lob-
bying operations were conduct-
ed by an independent, highly
professional staff.
In the past year, that tension
had again been on the rise. Ac-
cording to sources close to
AIPAC, the board was happy to
find a convenient pretext for re-
moving the independent and
outspoken Mr. Dine from his
post — an argument that Mr.
Grossman vehemently denied.
But several close observers
of the lobbying group, including
former staffers, tell a different
story.
`This is an inevitable kind of
tension in this kind of organi-
zation," said a longtime Jewish
activist-in Washington who has
worked closely with AIPAC.
"It's like the tides. There's con-
stant shifting with respect to
lay power versus professional
power. But Dine's removal rep-
resents more of a hurricane.
The worry here is that it repre-
sents a fundamental shift in the
balance of power at AIPAC in

Dine's departure
creates a leadership
vacuum at a time
when AIPAC faces
some formidable
challenges in
Congress.

the direction of micro-manage-
ment by a group of lay leaders
who are not political profes-
sionals."
Mr. Dirie came from the in-
bred world of Capitol Hill, and
during his 13 years at AIPAC,
he seemed more the generic
Washington insider than a Jew-
ish communal professional.
That was one source of fric-
tion with his board. But it was
also a key element in AIPAC's
development as an effective lob-
by, and some of AIPAC's friends
on Capitol Hill now worry that
a tilt toward the lay leadership
could erode the hard edge of
professionalism was part of Mr.
Dine's vision for the pro-Israel
lobby.
On a more immediate level,
Mr. Dine's departure leaves a
leadership vacuum at a time
when AIPAC is facing some for-
midable challenges in Congress.
Last month, the foreign aid
bill cleared the House without
any serious effort to cut Israel's