the top of its agenda. "The groups
solely committed to the peace
process have been distracted by
projects on other fronts."
Project Nishma, for example,
has focused heavily on "public
diplomacy" — efforts to develop
a growing nexus of economic and
personal relationships between
American Jews and Arabs de-
signed to facilitate the peace
process. Americans for Peace
Now (APN) has been heavily
involved in promoting investment
funds to help Palestinian self-rule
get off the ground, a goal fully in
accord with the priorities of the
Rabin government.
"The result is that a small mi-
nority has been able to create the
false impression [among legis-
lators] that the peace process is
very controversial in the Jewish
community," said Mr. Smerling.
Instead, he added, "the most
evidence suggests that the vast
majority strongly supports the
peace process."
The problem is compounded by
the fact that many legislators
who privately welcome the deci-
sions made by the Israeli gov-
ernment still reflexively sign any
congressional letter or amend-
ment that seems critical of the
PLO or Syria, out of a well-con
ditioned expectation that to do so
will win a positive response from
the Jewish community.
, "What the right-wing groups
are doing now falls into the fur-
rows that have been cultivated
on the Hill for decades," said
Jonathan Kessler, a Mideast pol-
icy consultant who has been
active in the public diplomacy ef-
fort. "Bashing the PLO, bashing
the Syrians is very familiar
territory. Figuring out how
to use the legislative process
to support and advance a com-
pletely new paradigm involves
significantly more creative think-
ing. ”
Since "the world is changing
very rapidly," he said, "the initial
advantage lies with people who
are replanting old ground."
But whatever its causes, the
relative invisibility of peace
process supporters on Capitol
Hill has resulted in a political free
ide for the political right — an
unexpected gift that the hard-lin-
ers have adroitly exploited.
The result has been a frenzy
of finger-pointing — and many
fingers have pointed at AIPAC.
The big pro-Israel lobbying group,
according to some sources, is
reluctant to make the leap from
being a supporter of the peace
process to an active advocate.
One reason for that reluctance
is purely pragmatic: AWAC's first
priority is always on foreign aid,
on U.S.-Israeli military and
economic cooperation. AIPAC
officials insist they are trying
to support the peace process
without losing sight of the broad-
er, delicately calibrated mecha-
nism of pro-Israel lobbying. CI

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