Clinton administration's
expectations for
Ehud Barak are soaring

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

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Washin on
he Clinton administration got part of
what it wanted in Monday's landslide
defeat of Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, the man it regards as most
responsible for suffocating Mideast peace talks.
But it will take weeks to know if the adminis-
tration got the rest of what it wants — a quick
jump-start to the stalled Israeli-Palestinian negotia-
tions and a possible resumption of talks with Syria.
There is widespread relief that Prime Minister-
elect Ehud Barak will craft a centrist coalition that
will attempt to move the peace process forward,
but a growing realization that the cautious new
leader may move slower than officials here want or
Palestinians demand.
"There will be strains," said Jess Hordes,
Washington director for the Anti-Defamation
League. "Barak is not going to make concessions
across the board without regard to Israeli positions,
and some of those are not identical with American
positions. But the dialogue between the two coun-
tries will be more like it was during the Rabin-
Peres years."
But soaring expectations among the
Palestinians, fanned by the administration's letter
to Palestinian Authority Chairman siasser Arafat
earlier this month expressing strong support for
Palestinian national aspirations, may quickly pro-
duce some squabbles, Hordes added.
And that will put new pressure on the American
Jewish groups that are hastily readjusting their
positions and their rhetoric to cope with a very
different Israeli government.
Officially, the Clinton administration reacted
to Monday's stunning election results with deco-
rous praise for Israel's democratic system and for
the outgoing prime minister. Privately, they were
ecstatic.
"You could almost hear the sigh of relief cross-
ing the Atlantic from
Washington," said Joel
Singer, the former legal
adviser to the Foreign
Ministry and one of the
EXPECTATIONS on page 25

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