The Sports Club is a G r eat Dea l... Bett e r than other fitness clubs Nevvly Expanded & Renovated Locker Rooms Individual Memberships just $50/month Couple Memberships just $85/month The ei aports "Club of West Bloomfield 8343 Farmington Road, just north of Maple G28-9880 56 Above monthly rate is for a three-year fitness membership. Monthly dues and initiation fee vary for shorter term memberships. PLO Aid In Limbo Once Again JAMES D. BESSER WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT L \ R enewal of the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act (MEPFA), the law allow- ing American aid to Yas- sir Arafat's Palestinian Authority, is still not a done deal, despite months of fierce lobbying by pro-Israel forces and a truce by anti-PLO aid legisla- tors in the wake of the Rabirps- sassination. t..... _ Recently, Congress passed 3iet another temporary extension of the law, which expired in June. But passage of a new, some- what more restrictive MEPFA was held up by a series of unre- lated parliamentary maneuvers. The measure is now part of the foreign operations appropriations bill., which recently emerged from a House-Senate conference com- mittee. But final approval is in limbo because of controversial provi- sions introduced by anti-abortion legislators — legislation that has nothing to do with the question of aid to the Palestinian Author- ity. That reflects a strategy that is driving Democratic lawmak- ers to distraction — the pen- chant of the new Republican majority, and especially the highly conservative freshmen, to attach anti-abortion language and other elements of their do- mestic agenda to the spending bills that are now backlogged on Capitol Hill. Ironically, the last real oppo- sition to MEPFA — from Rep. Michael Forbes, R-N.Y. — dried up after the Rabin assassination when the legislator decided not to press forward with a much more restrictive version of MEP- FA. The only remaining contro- versy has to do with a last-minute deal that extended the term of the new MEPFA from 12 to 18 months, a change that incensed groups that had been fighting PLO aid. But there is talk that when the measure finally does return to the House and Senate floors for final approval, the Republican leadership will split the differ- ence and pass MEPFA for a pe- riod of 15 months. Choking Off Jewish Extremist Groups? In the days after the Rabin as- sassination, administration of- ficials hinted they were looking for ways to crack down on Amer- ican Jewish groups that raise money for right-wing extremists in Israel — the kinds of groups implicated in the apparent plot to kill the prime minister. But while mainstream Jewish leaders applaud the concept, few believe the government will be able to dry up the flow of Amer- ican dollars to right-wing Israeli groups. Early this year, the adminis- tration froze the American assets of a number of groups associated with Mideast terrorism and banned outright contributions to those groups from American sup- porters. Included on the list were Hamas, Islamic Jihad — and two Jewish organizations, Kahane L--` Chai and Kach, which represent the followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. Yigal Amir, the confessed killer of Yitzhak Rabin, was a member of the Eyal group — a shadowy organization reportedly influ- enced by Rabbi Kahane's philos- ophy. But the executive order has re- sulted in only a partial cutoff of funds to these groups because much of the money is raised through other organizations not directly tied to Mideast politics. And it doesn't affect the groups in New York that are currently collecting money for Mr. Amir's defense — a function that is not included under the presidential authority. The anti-terrorism bill passed by the Senate but hung up in the House would impose additional prohibitions. But those provi- sions, already watered down in c , the Senate and facing an uncer- tain future in the courts, will still allow numerous loopholes for in- direct fund raising. "The reality is that while these kinds of measures reduce the pos- sibility that honest givers will be duped into inadvertently giving money to terror groups, they can- not stop the flow of money from dedicated supporters who are willing to work to get around the law," said a Jewish activist here who has been working on the anti-terrorism package. "It might eat into perhaps 30 percent of the U.S. funding for these groups. But hardcore supporters will al- ways find a way around the law." c--\ This week, the Anti-Defama- tion League asked the Treasury Department to add Eyal to the list of banned groups — a large- ly symbolic move, observers here conceded, but one that could help shape the tone of the emerging debate over ties be- / tween Israeli and American L\ Jewish extremists.