Missile Debate

Al Gore, Bibi Netanyahu quiet Israeli and American
Jewish opposition to Russian missiles for Iran.

Farralthan To Go
To Australia?

Sydney UTA) — Louis Farrakhan'

applied

°t i r u m
a r l , e a c . c o r
ta c n o d u v visit i r t y s u i s n t enag

f°1. visas

J ewish community oiieials

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

ill pro-Israel groups back
off in their push for tou
new sanctions on Russian
companies that contribute
to Iran's missile and non-conventional
weapons programs?
They will if they listen to Vice
President Al Gore, who has been carry-
ing the administration's message on the
proliferation issue. Mr. Gore is urging
Congress and pro-Israel lobbyists to go
slow on sanctions legislation, which was
expected to be on the congressional fast
track early in the new session.
And they will if they listen to Israeli
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,
who reportedly has sent clear signals to
the pro-Israel groups to ease off, at least
for now
At the same time, Israeli officials
seem to be backing off earlier claims
that Iran would deploy a new genera-
tion of missiles capable of hitting Israel
in a year to 18 months, although they
continue to say that Iran represents a
dire threat to the region and to the
world.
What's going on?
"The administration wants some
breathing room to deal with the
Russians — especially since U.S.-
Russian relations are skidding over
Iraq," said a Capitol Hill source. "And
Congress and the Jewish groups seem
willing to give it to them.
Mr. Gore will meet with Russian
Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin
early next month, and sources say he
plans to express strong disappointment
that the Russians have not been willing
or able to limit Russia-Iran high-tech
trade and press for tougher actions by
Moscow. The administration doesn't
want those meetings complicated by a
flurry of new congressional action on
sanctions.
The House passed legislation last
year slapping sanctions on foreign "enti-
ties" that contribute to Iran's missile and
nuclear programs, and similar legislation
is pending in the Senate.

"

k, 4

Israeli tanks perform training maneuvers this month, as Israel warned, of retaliation
if Iraq attacks it with missiles.

But now there's word that Sen.
Trent Lott (R-Miss.), the Senate
majority leader, will let the legislation
stew for a while to give Mr. Gore
more time.
This week, a delegation from the
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations is in
Russia, making a pitch to President
Boris Yeltsin to stop supporting Iran's
weapons programs.
Last week, Israeli Trade and
Industry Minister Natan Sharansky,
the former refusenik who has been
tagged by the Netanyahu government
to handle the issue, was in
Washington, pressing his government's
concerns about Iran's missile and
nuclear programs.
But Mr. Sharansky did not push
the issue on Capitol Hill, where he
remains a popular figure; congression-
al sources say he wanted to avoid
angering the administration over the
issue.

Iraq Transfer Disputed

This week, major news organizations
reported on an ad-hoc congressional
task force report claiming that Iraq has
secreted away up to 400 Scud missiles in
neighboring countries and transferred
some of its chemical and biological war-
fare capability. But the Clinton adminis-
tration doubted the dire findings, and
pro-Israel leaders were skeptical.
The House Republican Task Force
on Terrorism and Unconventional
Warfare reported that Iraq was conduct-
ing joint programs with Sudan and
Libya that could make U.S. air strikes
aimed at those weapons ineffective.
The report also said that Iraq has
transferred nuclear materials to Sudan
and Libya, and that Iraqi experts were
helping the Libyans develop new biolog-
ical warfare facilities.
Administration officials agreed that
Saddam Hussein has gone to great
lengths to hide his chemical and biologi-
cal weapons capability, a fact that is

2/20

1998

39