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Washington Watch
Strength in numbers; a Russian winter.
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JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
Washington
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20 Detroit Jewish News
DEAL ER
hen the Orthodox Union
opens its long-discussed
Capitol Hill office in the
coming weeks, its repre-
sentative, Nathan Diament, will join a
small army of Jewish activists. They
have established communal beach-
heads on issues ranging from support
for Israel to federal regulations govern-
ing nursing homes.
Such politically conservative Jewish
groups challenge a Jewish presence
here traditionally skewed to the liberal
end of the spectrum, an emphasis that
still reflects the preferences of a major-
ity of American Jews. But that plurali-
ty of opinions isn't necessarily bad.
"We're becoming more self-confi-
dent, and that means we're more com-
fortable with a variety of voices in
Washington," said Rabbi Seymour
Essrog, president of the Rabbinical
Assembly, which wants to open its
own Washington office to represent
the Conservative Movement.
Rabbi Essrog pointed to another
aspect of the transformation of Jewish
political activism: it's all becoming
more distinctly Jewish. Exploring tra-
ditional texts for insights into solving .
today's problems is in; activism in
which the only thing Jewish is the
group's names is out.
Diament is an aggressive young
attorney representing an organization
not entirely comfortable with
increased political activity.
But there is an existing model for
Orthodox activism. Agudath Israel of
America, with its 10-year-old
Washington office, has become a sig-
nificant player on a carefully selected
range of issues that impact the
Agudah's religious schools and the reli-
gious rights of observant Jews.
Agudah's advocacy for federal sup-
port of private schools clashes with the
long-standing anti-parochial aid posi-
tion of secular Jewish groups, such as
the Reform movement's Religious
Action Center. Still, Agudah's
Washington representative, Abba
Cohen, has won widespread praise
from colleagues representing more lib-
eral groups.
That's because Agudah's lobbying
has provided important access to
conservative decision-makers, chang-
ing how many conservative lawmak-
ers see the Jewish community.
Politicians no longer automatically
assume the Jewish position is the lib-
eral one. So on issues where there is
a Jewish consensus, Agudah has
added an important dimension to
Jewish lobbying.
And the increased competition
from religiously Orthodox and politi-
cally conservative Jewish groups sharp-
ens the efforts of liberal groups; they
may have grown complacent over the
years when they had Washington as a
kind of private playground.
Even the American Jewish
Committee, long an outpost of cool
political rationalism, now hosts peri-
odic sessions at its Washington office
focusing on the relevance of tradition-
al Jewish teachings to today's issues.
A Russian winter
Russia, its economic slide continuing
unchecked, may increase its nuclear
and missile cooperation with danger-
ous regimes, starting with Iran.
Last week the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that
the Russian economic plunge could
worsen in 1999; Jewish leaders fear
that a further deterioration will
increase pressures for big arms sales
and expanded nuclear and missile
cooperation, even if that means new
frictions with Washington.
"The administration has said there
is progress in shutting down Russian
cooperation with Iran," said Malcolm
Hoenlein, executive vice chair of the
Conference of Presidents of Major
American Jewish Organizations. "But
most reports say things are moving in
the opposite direction. The fact is that
desperate Russian scientists are contin-
uing to provide technical assistance
that will advance the Iranian missile
program; the Russians are talking
about expanding nuclear cooperation
with Iran."
Jewish leaders say they will press
the administration to find new ways
to push Moscow, including limiting
U.S.-Russian space cooperation and
joint high-tech ventures in areas such
as surveillance satellites. [7