) by AP/). Sco tt Applewhite

This Week

"In recent times, Washington has
tried to make Israel conform to its
own plans and timetables," Bush told
more than 1,700 conference attendees.
"But that is not the path to peace."

Chiding Arafat

Vice President Al Gore
gestures. AIPAC President
Lonny Kapland, left, and
AIPAC President-elect Tim
Wulligen applaud!

Your
Best Friend

Presidential candidates tout their pro-Israel
positions at AIPAC.

SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

yti

5/26

2000

32

hoever the next president of the United
States might be, the pro-Israel commu-
nity seems to like what he has to say.
Then again, the messages Texas
Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore
conveyed to delegates at this week's annual policy
conference of the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee seemed indistinguishable.
It will be up to pro-Israel Americans to make further
distinctions as the presidential campaign intensifies —
or to determine the candidate's position on Israel is not
the defining issue that it once was for many Jews.

Both candidates reiterated a strong relationship
— and commitment — to Israel, condemned Iran
for its trial of 13 Jews accused of espionage and
expressed support for the Middle East peace process.
Bush, who spoke Monday, received a standing
ovation as he promised conference participants in
Washington that he would move the U.S. embassy
in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The move has been legislated by Congress, but
the Clinton administration has said it would be
counterproductive to the Israeli-Palestinian talks if it
were moved now Gore did not address the issue.
Bush also repeated the Republican stance that the
United States must not interfere with Israel's democ-
ratic process, intimating that the Clinton adminis-
tration pushes Israel too much on various issues.

Gore, who spoke Tuesday morning,
touched on similar issues and defend-
ed the administration's involvement
in Middle East peace negotiations.
He said the United States "facilitates
but does not force" peace.
He also chided Yasser Arafat and
other Palestinian leaders for not
quelling the recent violence in the
West Bank. It is their responsibility to
prevent violence, Gore said.
"This is a test for them," he told
the packed hotel ballroom.
Bush said 13 Jews facing espionage
charges in Iran are unjustly impris-
oned. "The leaders of Iran should
know that America will judge them
by their conduct and treatment of
those 13," he said.
Bush also said the special relation-
ship between the United States and
Israel would continue, no matter the
outcome of the peace process, and
that economic cooperation between
the two countries strengthens the rela-
tionship.
Gore used the occasion to punctu-
ate his long-standing relationship to
Israel and his foreign policy expertise.
"Commitment to Israel is not new
to me," Gore said in an implicit swipe
at Bush's lack of experience.
This year was the first time AIPAC
hosted both presidential candidates at
its policy gathering.
Despite welcoming receptions for
both candidates, judging by the

Republican presidential candidate
George W Bush gets a hug from former
AIPACpresident _Mayer Mitchell in
front of a picture of Yitzhak Rabin,
Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat.

