Gir
o\,, JERUSALEM page 130
JEWISH BUSINESS EXCHANGE
DET ROIT
to serve as an honest broker.
More and more, it is evident that
the Israeli-Palestinian talks re-
quire strong American interven-
tion as a mediator and as a
source of new ideas to bridge the
huge gaps between the two sides.
To play that role, Washington
needs to be regarded by both
sides as fair. That doesn't neces-
sarily mean that officials here
have to match each gesture to the
Israelis with an equal nod to the
Palestinians, but it does mean
that Washington can't be seen as
taking Israel's side on the most
important issues in the negotia-
tions before they are thrashed out
in bilateral sessions.
And the most important issue,
the deal breaker of deal break-
ers, is Jerusalem.
THE JEWISH NEWS
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Attorney
Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone
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For U.S. diplomats
who have invested
enormous energy in
the faltering Middle
East peace talks,
Jerusalem
represents a world-
class monkey
wrench.
That's the reason the Clinton
administration opposed legisla-
tion requiring the embassy move
by 1999 and ultimately let it be-
come law without the president's
signature; that's the reason the
State Department has not moved
to implement the law.
The issue becomes even more
complex because of the different
motives of those who push the
cause of Jerusalem in this coun-
try.
Many support issues such as
the embassy move because of the
deep resonance of the city and its
rich symbolism in Jewish life. But
others do it out of a right-wing
strategy that sees raising the is-
sue as the surest way of destroy-
ing a peace process they despise.
Politicians play the Jerusalem
card because they believe in the
cause -- or because it's a sure-fire
way of winning approval from
pro-Israel campaign contributors.
Washington has responded to
this churning mess by continuing
its policy of promoting the status
quo on Jerusalem. It is doing
nothing to suggest an American
position on the issue before it
reaches the final-status table,
even though the outcome of that
process is not hard to predict: an
undivided Jerusalem under Is-
raeli control.
Despite critics on the right,
leading members of the adminis-
tration's Mideast team accept Is-
rael's right to the city as its
capital. Unlike an earlier era
when "Arabists" dominated the
State Department, there are few
today who would welcome a re-
division of the city, or the kind
of self-serving, unworkable in-
ternationalization that Christian
groups continue to advocate.
But turning that belief into
overt American policy before the
issue is negotiated by the Israelis
and Palestinians would severe-
ly limit Washington's ability to
serve as a broker in the fragile,
critical peace process.
Mainstream Jewish groups
that press for a stronger U.S.
recognition of Jerusalem's status
as Israel's capital are in many cas-
es acting on age-old religious and
cultural imperatives; it's hard to
imagine them doing anything
else.
But the administration, which
is responsible for guiding Amer-
ican policy through this high-
stakes, high-risk peace process,
is acting on the imperative of pre-
serving negotiations that are
deemed vital to American inter-
ests in the region.
That means more fence-sitting
and more straddling on
Jerusalem, no matter how angry
it makes the Jews and no matter
how indignant it makes the self-
proclaimed defenders of the city
in the House and Senate. Ili
Violent Attitudes
Palestinian support for terror is up, but
experts say it's still reversible.
ERIC SILVER ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT
I
he Palestinian Authority
had a resounding propa-
ganda success recently in
convincing 134 countries
at the United Nations to de-
nounce Israeli construction at
the disputed Har Homa site in
Jerusalem. But lasting joy is
fleeting at the quasi-govern-
ment's offices these days.
That's because they know
that the United States — which
joined Israel and Micronesia as
the only three votes against the
resolution — remains their best
bet to bring Israel Prime Minis-
ter Binyamin Netanyahu back
to the negotiating table.
"We know it's cheaper for
them to pressure us than pres-
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