awesome

Washington Watch

Lebanon Connection

exhilarating

A present for Spence; nerve endings raw;
blast from Nader; trade with Jordan.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

S

en. Spencer Abraham (R-
Mich.) got a nice gift from
the Republican leadership
recently: $17 million in extra
aid for southern Lebanon. And Jewish
groups are quietly applauding the
move.
Abraham, the only Arab American
in the Senate, is locked in a tough race
to win a second term; he needs a
strong turnout by Michigan's big
Arab-American community on Nov. 7
to fend off a strong challenge from
Rep. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat.
With the Mideast in crisis and
Congress piqued about Yasser Arafat,
Abraham has been caught between
Arab-American constituents and pro-
Israel groups — which have worked
well with the lawmaker over the past
six years.
Earlier this year, Abraham and Rep.
Joseph Knollenberg, also a Michigan
Republican, pushed through a $3 mil-
lion increase in aid to Lebanon, bring-
ing the total up to $18 million.
The amendment to the Foreign
Operations Appropriations Bill —
the foreign aid spending measure that
also includes Israel's $2.8 billion allot-
ment — "only begins to address
Lebanon's great need for assistance,"
Knollenberg said.
The aid is directed at southern
Lebanon, where the withdrawal of
Israeli troops in April left a shattered
infrastructure, Knollenberg said.
Recently, Abraham asked for even
more money for Lebanon — and the
GOP leaders, eager to give him a
boost with Arab-American voters,
agreed. Without fanfare, the total was
increased to $35 million.
Abraham was so eager to get the
news out that he issued a press release
about the increase before it had offi-
cially been approved by congressional
negotiators.
Officially, pro-Israel groups are not
taking a position on the additional aid
for Lebanon, but they have quietly
telegraphed their support to congres-
sional leaders.
The funds all go to the Agency for
International Development, which in

turn supports a variety of American
non-governmental organizations pro-
viding direct services in Lebanon.
That, pro-Israel lobbyists believe,
could undercut Hezbollah forces and
help stabilize southern Lebanon in the
wake of the Israeli withdrawal.

Mideast Nerves

Jewish leaders and administration offi-
cials had something in common this
week: a case of the jitters over possible
Mideast-related terrorism, both here
and abroad.
On Monday, the Pentagon put some
U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf region
and Turkey on the highest state of
alert because of "specific threats
against U.S. forces."
The warning to forces in Bahrain,
Qatar and Turkey comes two weeks
after an explosion tore through the USS
Cole, which was refueling in Yemen.
Officials continue to believe that the
bombing, which killed 17 Americans,
was related to the surge of violence in
Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
At the same time, American Jewish
leaders, worried about the worldwide
wave of violence and vandalism
directed at Jewish targets since the
new Mideast crisis began, were work-
ing on ways to safeguard Jewish insti-
tutions.
On Tuesday, a delegation of Jewish
leaders met with representatives of
the Justice and Treasury departments,
the FBI and other agencies. Also
present were representatives of the
Justice Department's church arson
task force.
The goal was to "share information
and make sure lines of communication
are open" in case Jewish institutions
are targeted, said Kenneth Stern, a
specialist in extremism and anti-
Semitic activity for the American
Jewish Committee.
"The tone was very low-key and un-
panicky," said another participant.
"They did a very good job of convinc-
ing people that they are watching the
situation and that they can respond
effectively if something happens."
The federal officials did report a
"spike" in incidents involving Jewish
WASHINGTON WATCH on page 32

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