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Washington will be next week's Middle East
focus; AIPAC hosts heavyweights;
Administration shuffle begins.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
ith the Israeli-
Palestinian peace talks
again in turmoil — this
week there were major
riots and confrontations between
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police,
but also revelations of secret talks in
Sweden — Prime Minister Ehud
Barak's visit to Washington next week
is taking on greater importance.
Barak.is coming to address dele-
gates to the annual policy conference
of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC), the pro-Israel
lobby. •
But his schedule is getting clogged
with high-level meetings on Capitol
Hill and with administration officials.
High on Barak's agenda in meet-
ings with congressional leaders is the
possibility of additional aid to help
cover the costs of Israel's impending
unilateral withdrawal from southern
Lebanon, and both civilian and mili-
tary aid to back up a final-stattis
agreement with the Palestinians.
The Clinton administration has
hinted that it is willing to provide
some extra money for Lebanon, but
getting Congress to actually appropri-
ate dollars will be a tough sell.
Israeli sources say Barak will begin
that selling job next week.
Israel's controversial arms dealings
with China are certain to come up,
especially in a session with Defense
Secretary William Cohen.
Military officials from both coun-
tries met this week on the issue.
Israeli sources say the Barak govern-
ment is pushing hard to find a com-
promise formula that will allow Israel
to go through with the sale of a sin-
gle airborne radar plane to China.
But they would impose new proce-
dures to regulate further sales.
"These discussions go far beyond
just this sale," said one Israeli official.
"There is a very active dialogue
underway to deal with this issue. The
hope is enough progress will be made
by next week that this won't be a sore
point for the Prime Minister's visit."
And Barak, President Bill Clinton
and Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright will discuss the faltering
Israeli-Palestinian talks. This week
marked yet another missed deadline
as negotiators remained far apart in
discussions over a "framework" agree-
ment, and as new violence reminded
all parties of the potential conse-
quences of a total breakdown.
That framework agreement was
supposed to be completed by May 13.
Israeli sources confirm that Barak
will ask Clinton to wait before intro-
ducing any American proposals to
bridge the wide gaps between the two
sides.
AIPAC Line-up
The AIPAC policy conference, which
begins on Sunday, will feature an all-
star cast headlined by Prime Minster
Ehud Barak, both major U.S. presi-
dential candidates and a supporting
cast of lawmakers, Israeli officials,
political hopefuls and pro-Israel
activists from around the country.
But a surge of violence on the
West Bank and the coalition crisis in
Jerusalem could cast a shadow on the
proceedings.
Despite events in. the region, there
appears to be less controversy than
.usual surrounding AIPAC's annual
"action agenda," a-document laying
out broad principles for the coming
year's lobbying efforts.
Most observers say the draft of this
year's plan, which must be approved
by the AIPAC executive committee at
the conference on Sunday, steers close
to the peace politics of the Barak gov-
ernment.
"There are no bombshells, at least
not in the initial draft," said an offi-
cial with a pro-peace process group.
"There's not much in here the gov-
ernment in Jerusalem could object
to.''
Anti-peace process groups regis-
tered their complaints. But the policy
debate before the conference was
remarkable mostly for the absence of
serious controversy.
The initial draft says the usual
things about supporting the U.S.-