Diplomatic Macher MAN IN THE MIDDLE from page 23 when Iranian Jews, caught in the tur- moil of the Islamic revolution, were fleeing for their lives. These members of the world's old- est continuous Jewish communities were arriving in Vienna or Rome only to be turned back when their requests for visas were denied by U.S. immi- gration officials; the United States had yet to declare them group refugees fleeing persecution. Eizenstat had been reading about U.S. inaction in the face of the Holocaust. He saw the same principle at stake here. We couldn't simply force these people to return to Iran," he said. "If we did, it meant we didn't learn anything from the Holocaust era." President Carter, subjected to Eizenstat's quiet persuasion, agreed: the visa laws must be reinterpreted. Two decades later, Eizenstat still gets Jewish New Year's greetings from grateful Iranian Jews in this country. Eizenstat's growing interest in the Holocaust also led him to write a 1978 memorandum to President Carter proposing a special commis- sion to create a memorial to victims. It became the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, which created and now manages the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. "Put simply, the museum wouldn't have happened without him," said Mark Talisman, the former Council of Jewish Federations Washington representative and himself one of the museum's founders. Talisman pointed to another of Eizenstat's unsung contributions: in the late 1970s, he convinced the adminis- tration to try a pioneering "match grant" program with CJF for funding refugee resettlement. The result has been hundreds of millions of dollars for community resettlement assistance. "[The program] became a model for refugee resettlement — and again, Stuart was absolutely indispensable," Talisman said. The Door Closes Eizenstat's enormous access came to a sudden end in 1980 after Jimmy Carter's defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan, which ushered in 12 years of Republican Party rule. Eizenstat went back to the law firm of Powell, Goldstein, Frazer & Murphy, this time in its Washington office. While his accent still belied a Georgia upbringing, he had become the consummate Washington insider. Friends knew a return to public life was inevitable. 3/5 1999 24 Detroit Jewish News Their predictions proved accurate, as did Eizenstat's political instincts; he was an early supporter of a relatively unknown governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton. In the final days of the 1992 presi- dential campaign, Eizenstat worked tirelessly to mobilize the Jewish vote in such key states as Illinois. Following Clinton's election, Eizenstat held a series of high-profile administration posts — ambassador to the EU, assistant secretary of com- merce, and his present post. In 1995, while still in Brussels, another job was added to his portfo- lio; Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke, at the suggestion of the World Jewish Congress, appointed him special envoy on property restitu- tion in Central and Eastern Europe. With Eastern bloc archives now open, WJC officials were intensifying their effort to win paybacks of private and communal property looted by the Nazis; the key to success before the last of the survivors died, they knew, was massive involvement by the U.S. government. So in the midst of his other duties, Eizenstat roamed Europe, negotiat- ing, prodding, imploring govern- ments to remove long-standing obsta- cles to payment for personal and communal property. He coordinated a groundbreaking Washington conference on Holocaust era assets that produced what's known as "The Eizenstat Report." Largely because of his stature, 44 countries participated. Eizenstat played a major role in delicate negotiations over a settlement by Swiss banks. But again, many Jewish leaders wanted more. In the Swiss gold talks, some privately raged against Eizenstat, claiming that he was trying to strong-arm them into accepting an early version of a settlement with the Swiss they felt was inadequate. The unflappable Eizenstat never wavered. Some of the Jewish participants had, he said, "unrealistic expecta- tions" about his role. "I was the chief enunciator of the government's position, which was that we wanted a settlement," said Eizenstat. We wanted to see justice, but we did not want to see sanctions imposed, or conditions put on the merger of Swiss banks. So I was caught in the middle again." Several veterans of Eizenstat's marathon negotiations on Holocaust property restitution describe a patient but relentless negotiating style. Eizenstat, they say, excels at listen- ing to all sides, encouraging partici- pants to have their say, and then sum- marizing positions in a way that high- lights points of agreement. He never gets mad and rarely expresses frustra- tion, according to several — but he brings to the discussions a quiet intensity that pushes participants to go the extra mile to reach agreement. In 1996, Eizenstat received the Foreign Affairs Award for Public Service, the highest award possible for a non-career ambassador. His balancing act continues with the current effort to carve out an umbrella settlement for victims of Nazi slave labor. About two weeks ago he met with class-action lawyers, a top German official and World Jewish Congress representatives. Although they still sometimes grumble, Jewish activists involved generally agree that Eizenstat has transformed the restitution issue, making it a government priority. As WJC director Elan Steinberg - agreed, "There is no more passionate or effective advocate than Stuart Eizenstat." Today, more than two decades after he arrived in Washington, Eizenstat is a man with a full plate — a kosher one, to be sure. The restitu- tion issue, the Far Eastern economic collapse, the sinking of Russia's exper- iment in free-market economics and the economic aspects of the Mideast peace talks all demand his attention. "Our foreign policy is shifting from the emphasis on containing communism to harnessing the forces of the global economy," he said. "We have to deal with both the pluses and the minuses — the dark side of globalization." With his penchant for hard work and his keen perception, few doubt that Eizenstat is up to the job. There also is little question that if there is an Al Gore administration in 2001, Stuart Eizenstat, with his skills, pas- sion and experience, will play an important role. Some observers are already saying that he would make an excellent Secretary of State. For the•Jewish community, there's an added dimension. As Talisman, the former CJF Washington chief puts it, "Smart is a modern-day example for our children; all the rest is just detail. I believe in Jewish and political life, there's a convergence. It's the street language of Torah. Stuart Eizenstat is the paragon of that notion." L Born: Chicago, Ill. (1943) Family: *wife: Frances Carol; two children: Jay and Brian *Education: University of North Carolina honors in political science); Harvard University (law) Pfovernment Expe ence. 1967-68 Johnson administra- • Humphrey presidential campaign r arc director Carter presi s entia campaign, top adviser 77-81 Carter administration domestic policy adviser 1993-95 U.S. ambassador the European Union U.S. special envoy on property restitution in Central and . Eastern Europe. 996-97 Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs ast Jewish Involvement: oards of Weizmann Institute f Science, The Jerusalem oundation, Brandeis University, ouncil on Foreign Relations; American Jewish Committee, UJA Federation of Greater Washington, Feinberg Graduate School of the Weizmann Institute. Past President of the Jewish Community Center of Greater \X'ashington.