his fingernails, one who couldn't even
uster the temporary bipartisan
amity as .U.S. troops went into battle?
Clinton, sources here say, felt the
need to respond to Hussein with
force, but partisan attacks necessitat-
ed a cautious, low-risk policy. The
results of the air strikes, not surpris-
ingly, were limited.
So this is what a distracted presi-
ent has to deal with now: Hussein is
ill in power, still holding on to his
precious chemical and biological
stockpiles. His standing in the Arab
world seems to have grown, and now
he won't have to put up with intru-
sive U.N. weapons inspectors.
Likewise in Israel, instability jeop-
ardizes important policy initiatives,
damages relations with allies, encour-
ges enemies and erodes the confi-
dence of allies.
Since his election in 1996,
Netanyahu has displayed political
hand-to-hand combat skills that,
combined with the ineptness of his
opposition, has brought resiliency
that amazes even critics.
Nleanwhile, the Israeli-Palestinian
eace talks have been whipsawed by
Netanvands efforts to balance an
Israeli public that strongly favors the
Oslo process and the demands of
right-wingers who comprise a critical
part of his government.
The result: Israel is more divided
than ever. Polarization almost certain-
ly will grow now that the peace
process is essentially suspended, a
freeze that most observers expect will
lead to new Palestinian violence and
political pressure from both ends of
the political spectrum in Israel. •
Worse, the political instability in
Jerusalem has vastly complicated the
ever-important relations with the
United States.
And political chaos in Jerusalem
may encourage Palestinian leader
Yassir Arafat to continue his two-
faced game. This will do little to con-
vince other Arab leaders — starting
with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad
— to deal seriously with Jerusalem.
Of course, with elections looming
the Israeli political environment may
give birth to a much-discussed new
centrist alignment that can craft bold
new policies. But in Washington, all
signs point to protracted and raging
partisan battles, at least until voters
express their frustration at the polls.
That confluence of events is likely
to be bad for Israel and for U.S.
interests in the vital region.

40 % 0FF

In Europe,
Ambivalence

On All Jewelry

London

A leading Italian film director has com-
pared Europe's ambivalent approach to
Iraq with its earlier ambivalence toward
prewar Nazi Germany. Describing
Europe as "blind, cowardly, ungrateful,
incorrigible," director Franco Zeffirelli
highlighted the deep fissures within the
European Union over the recently con-
cluded military campaign against Iraq.
These disagreements over how to
deal with Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein have fueled doubts among
some of the European Union's 15
member states over whether their group
will be able to achieve a common
European foreign and defense policy
We are presented with a scenario
which exactly resembles what we wit-
nessed more than 50 years ago,"
Zeffirelli wrote this week in the London
Thnes. Then, he wrote, the world was
"shamefully divided" over the challenge
presented by Hitler, "and it was only
because of the moral conviction and
forceful actions of the Anglo-Saxon
peoples that mankind was saved."
Britain was alone among European
states in offering wholehearted diplo-
matic and military support for the
just-concluded Operation Desert Fox.
This stood in stark contrast to the
1991 Operation Desert Storm, for
which the United States had the solid
backing of European and Arab states.
Britain's partners in other
European capitals tended to blame
Hussein rather than support the
Anglo-American initiative.
In France, whose sights are set on
rich economic pickings in a post-sanc-
tions Iraq, President Jacques Chirac
said, "Once again it is the Iraqi people
that are suffering and will suffer, and
they should be in our thoughts." He
added, "Once again, the Iraqi presi-
dent clearly bears responsibility."
Germany's Social Democratic
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
endorsed the military action. But his
foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, said
the strikes were regrettable.
The divisions within the European
community were evident in Italy,
where Prime Minister Massimo
D'Alema said the military offensive
against Baghdad was "a sad day for
Italy" and appealed to Washington
and London to halt the strikes. 7 1

Douglas Davis

Jewish Telegraphic Agent) ,

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