Republican Quandary
Jewish officials critical of Bush
for urging Buchanan to stay in GOP.
Mideast Aid Battle
Continues On the Hill
JAMES BESSER
Washington Correspondent
DANIEL KURTZMAN
Jewish Teleg-raphic Agency
Wzshin on
ith a maelstrom swirling around Pat
Buchanan and the views he espouses
on Hitler and World War II in his
latest book, the last thing Texas
Gov. George W. Bush wanted to do was become
ensnared in the controversy.
But in asking the Republican firebrand not to
leave the GOP, Bush has drawn criticism from key
Republican and conservative leaders, as well as
some Jewish officials.
The Republican presidential front-runner last
week urged Buchanan to stay in the party, saying
it was "important" if he wins the nomination to
unite the Republican Party. I'm going to need
every vote I can get among Republicans to win the
election."
A Reform
Left:
Party bid by
George W
Buchanan
Bush
could siphon
off at least 4
. • Below:
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percentage
points from
Buchanan
Bush, accord-
ing to most
polls.
Just days
earlier, Bush
had met with
Jewish Republicans and the heads of
several major Jewish organizations to
discuss a range of Jewish concerns,
including the Middle East peace
process, church-state separation and
gun violence.
At that private meeting in Austin,
Texas, Bush said he disagreed funda-
mentally with Buchanan's views, according to of
who attended the meeting. But he indicated
that he did not want to draw more attention to
Buchanan by engaging him in a debate about his
assertions in his book, A Republic, Not an Empire,
that Nazi Germany posed no threat to the United
States after 1940 and that Americans were
deceived concerning the need to enter the war.
Instead, Bush decided to appeal for party unity
by urging Buchanan not to bolt the GOP at a
time when Buchanan appears likely to seek the
Reform Party nomination for the presidency.
Bush's stance places him at odds with GOP
rival Sen. John McCain, who said Buchanan
should be kicked out of the party because of his
fringe views. McCain, echoing a sentiment
expressed by some in the Jewish community, said
10 11
1 9,,9t:
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Bush was putting politics ahead of principle.
Responding to criticism, Mindy Tucker, a
spokeswoman for the Bush campaign, said, "Gov.
Bush is a leader who believes in uniting our parry
much like Ronald Reagan did, instead of driving
wedges between people. The Republican Party is a
contest, a contest of ideas, and Republican voters
will have a chance to express their opinion on this
issue in the primary"
She declined to elaborate on Bush's political
considerations, but said of Buchanan's views:
"Gov. Bush disagrees emphatically with the
strange ideas expressed by Pat Buchanan about
World War II. He believes that World War II was
a great and noble cause.
It remains to be seen what, if any, impact Bush's
reaction to Buchanan will have on his campaign's
outreach efforts to Jewish voters.
By most accounts, Bush — a pro-life governor
who has said he wants church and state to "work
together," has endorsed displaying the Ten
Commandments in schools and once said that
only followers of Jesus can go to heaven — already
has a difficult road ahead in courting Jews, who
have historically backed Democratic candidates.
Jewish leaders, for their part, signaled disap-
proval of Bush's handling of the matter, but avoid-
ed sharp criticism of Bush.
Abraham Foxrnan, national director
of the Anti-Defamation League, said
that while he wa- disappointed with
Bush's response, he was far more trou-
bled by the attitude toward Buchanan in
political circles and what he called a lack
of recognition of the "nature and of the
poison of this man."
"I am troubled that there is a man
who is an anti-Semite, who is a Hitler
apologist, a Nazi war criminal defender,
an Israel-basher, a racist on so many lev-
els, and good, serious people are still try-
ing to waltz around him gingerly," said Foxman,
who attended the meeting with Bush in Austin
last week.
If people were to recognize "who he is and what
he is," he added, "there would be no hesitancy to
say that this man does not belong in the political
mainstream of our country"
Richard Heideman, president of B'nai B'rith
International, said, "I would like to see him reject
Buchanan, and I reject Buchanan. But in the con-
text of the meeting we had Wednesday, I under-
stand the outreach he has expressed" toward
Buchanan at the present time."
Jewish Democrats, meanwhile, were quick to
pounce on the GOP front-runner. "Bush made a
terrible choice," said Ira Forman, executive direc-
tor of the National Jewish Democratic Council. Li
"
Washington
Bic
ideast politics received scant attention
in the capital this week, but at mid-
week, Congress was preparing to pass a
foreion aid spending bill that President
Bill Clinton is almost certain to veto because of insuf-
ficient funding. That veto will signal the start of real
negotiations over a package that includes Israel's rou-
tine $2.8 billion.
Republicans are blaming the administration for
the fact that the $1.8 billion Wye River page is not
part of the current appropriations bills; Democrats
say GOP leaders are playing chicken with the
money by using it to force other cuts in important
administration programs.
This week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) got
into the act by circulating a letter urging the
administration to do more to press for the Wye aid
— though in truth, almost nobody has a real idea
of where the money will come from as lawmakers
head toward the ugliest, most chaotic budget fight
in recent memory.
Anger On Terrorism
Congressional anger is mounting over the Clinton
administration's efforts to block the collection of
damage awards against nations that sponsor terror-
ism.
But winning relief for the family of Alisa Flatow,
the Brandeis student killed in a Gaza terror bomb-
ing in 1995, still looks like a long shot in a
Congress heading toward a frenzy of stopgap spend-
ing bills that should keep them tied in knots for the
rest of the session.
Flatow's family won a $247 million judgment
against Iran — the country that allegedly supported
the terrorists who killed the New Jersey woman —
under a 1996 amendment to an anti-terrorism law
allowing American citizens to sue foreign govern-
ments that support terror groups.
But the administration, citing diplomatic consid-
erations, blocked the seizure of Iranian property in
Washington on the grounds that it would violate
international agreements --- thereby jeopardizing
U.S. facilities in other parts of the world.
And in discussions with lawmakers, administra-
tion officials have argued that turning frozen assets
over to victims could deprive the government of
important diplomatic leverage for dealing with
renegade countries.
Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and Sen. Frank
Lautenberg (D-N.J.) have expressed outrage that
President Bill Clinton is blocking claims, even
though he supported the 1996 law allowing citizens
to sue.