A veteran of U.S.-Israel tensions
returns as the Jewish state's envoy.

MATTHEW DORF
Special to The Jewish News

IV

hen Zalman Shoval
arrived in Washington
last month, a Middle
East analyst gave Israel's
new ambassador a bottle of aspirin.
But Shoval, a veteran of the
Washington political minefield,
remained one-step ahead. Pulling a
small container from his suit pocket,
Israel's chief diplomat in the United

Matthew Dorf writes for the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency.

States told the-audience gathered for
his inaugural speech that he already
carries aspirin with him.
This should come as no surprise,
given his first tenure as ambassador
earlier this decade. Shoval said at the
time the years 1990 to 1993 were
"probably the difficult period ever" in
the history of U.S.-Israel relations.
It was marked by open strife
between Jerusalem and Washington
over the expansion of Israeli settle-
ments, U.S. loan guarantees to assist
Israel with the mass immigration from
the former Soviet Union, the 1991
Gulf War and the start of Arab-Israeli

peace talks in Madrid later that year.
For his experience of managing
bilateral tensions while serving the last
Likud prime minister, Shoval, 68, was
tapped by Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu to return to Washington.
This time around, too, Shoval's tenure
is likely to be fraught with difficulty.
He returns to the embassy at a time
of friction between the White House
and the Israeli government over the
peace process, specifically over a U.S.
proposal for Israel to transfer an addi-
tional 13 percent of the West Bank to
the Palestinian Authority.
Shoval also is likely to find himself
doing battle with the Israeli opposi-
tion — on American soil.
Indeed, Labor Party chairman Ehud
Barak was in Washington last week,
leading a delegation of senior officials
from his party in meetings with
administration and congressional offi-
cials, as part of an ongoing lobbying
drive to push Netanyahu's hand in the
peace process.
But Shoval also faces a challenge
that he did not
Zalman Shoval:
encounter on his
Israel's Mr. Fix-It? last tour -- the
task of rebuilding
the embassy's stature. Many pro-Israel
activists hope that Shoval's arrival will
mark the end of what many call a "sad
chapter" in the embassy's history.
His predecessor, former Likud
Knesset member Eliahu Ben-Elissar,
was the subject of frequent rumors —
he flew -to Israel twice to fight to keep
his job — and of embarrassing
reports. Visiting Israeli Cabinet mem-
bers left him in the car outside the
State Department at least once. Ben-
Elissar was also once left cooling his
heels in a hotel lobby so that he would
not overhear an important conversa-
tion.
While Ben-Elissar's two-year tenure
was marked by isolation and by con-
flict with Netanyahu, Shoval, a Likud
centrist, has direct access to the Prime
Minister's Office. In fact, during an
hour-long interview at the ambas-
sador's office, Shoval received his
"daily" call from Netanyahu.
Ben-Elissar is now serving as
ambassador to France.
By all accounts, restoring the
embassy's reputation will not be easy.
Middle East analysts from all sides
of the political spectrum say U.S.-
Israel relations are likely headed for
renewed confrontation. Even if Israeli
and Palestinian negotiators reach an
agreement on a U.S. plan to break the
deadlocked peace process, many fun-

Global Digest

Cotti Rejects
Anti-Semitism

Bern (JTA) — Switzerland
President Flavio Cotti called on the
Swiss to reject anti-Semitism,
despite what he called "unjustified"
attacks against Switzerland for its
dealings with Nazi Germany.
Cotti's call came in a radio and
television address as part of celebra-
tions of Swiss National Day. Swiss
Jewish leaders welcomed the
remarks, which they called long
overdue.
Meanwhile, Swiss police
detained about 30 skinheads in
central Switzerland who displayed
swastikas and gave the Hitler salute.

Youth March
Planned For N.Y.

New York (JTA) — Organizers of
the Million Youth March are
threatening to hold the event in
Crown Heights if New York City
officials continue to deny a permit
to march in Harlem.
Jewish residents have flooded
the mayor's office with alarmed
phone calls, fearing a fresh out-
break of violence should the
national march, scheduled for
Sept. 5, take place in Crown
Heights, home to a large Chasidic
population and the site of racial
riots in 1991.
Modeled after the 1995 Million
Man March in Washington, the
march is being spearheaded by for-
rner Nation of Islam spokesman
Khalid Abdul Muhammad, whose
inflammatory, anti-Semitic
remarks have been condemned by
both houses of Congress.

Deutsche Bank
Admits Dealings

Germany's
New York (JTA)
largest bank admitted that it dealt
in Nazi gold during World War II.
In a report released recently, the
Deutsche Bank said it purchased
more than 4.4 tons of gold from
Nazi Germany's central bank at a
wartime value of some $5 million.

8/14
1998

Detroit Jewish News

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