Washington Watch

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Embassy Firefight

Disinformation in the final week
of the campaign.

JAMES D. BESSER

Washington Correspondent

Washington

he perennial political
debate over moving the
U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem has produced
a barrage of charges, counter charges
and outright disinformation in the
frenzied final days of the presidential
campaign.
The fusillade began last week, when
the National Jewish Democratic
Council (NJDC) accused Republican
nominee George W. Bush of switching
his position on the embassy issue.
In the past, Bush promised to
"begin" the process of moving the
embassy on the day after his inaugura-
tion, a formulation that candidates in
both parties have used to appease
Jewish audiences while providing some
policy wiggle room.
NJDC's evidence of a flip? A "letter
to U.S. Muslims" by former Rep. Paul
Findley, one of Israel's most implacable
foes in Washington.
Findley, in urging Muslims to "vote
en bloc for Gov. George Bush for
President," said that the candidate
"has already changed his mind on
moving the U.S. embassy from Tel
Aviv to Jerusalem. As president, he
will have the freedom of action to
change his mind on other issues too."
But Findley offered nothing to cor-
roborate his claim, and a Bush cam-
paign brushed it off. "The Governor's
position has not changed one bit," the
spokesman said.
But the Republicans, too, were play-
ing the embassy game. On Monday
the Bush campaign accused Gcre, who
has said the embassy should be moved
only after Israeli and Palestinian nego-
tiators settle the issue of Jerusalem, of
"trying to shore up support among
Arab-American voters" by reversing his
position on moving the embassy.
The Bush campaign called Gore's
alleged reversal "a blatant display of
pandering. Al Gore is once again
showing that he can't be counted on to
take a principled stand."
But the only proof of the allegation
were comments in a wire service story
by several participants in an Oct. 29

meeting between Gore and a group of
Arab-Americans in Dearborn, Mich.
Gore's troops returned the fire,
berating Bush for the "false accusa-
tion," and trotting out two experts to
support the fact that the candidate has
been consistent — Jim Zogby,
President of the Arab American
Institute and a senior advisor to the
Gore-Lieberman campaign, and for-
mer Rep. Mel Levine, once among the
most vocal supporters of Israel in the
House.
"Al Gore has always said that
Jerusalem is Israel's capital but that the
issue of the embassy must be resolved
in context of the peace process.,"
Levine said. "He has never wavered
from those principles."
The Jerusalem embassy firefight is
about politics, not policy, Jewish lead-
ers here say; it may change a handful
of votes, but it's unlikely to affect
when ground is broken for the
embassy in Jerusalem.
"What this reflects is how close the
race really is, and the fact that
Michigan has become one of the real
battleground states," said Jess Hordes,
Washington director for the Anti-
Defamation League. "It means that
both campaigns are trying to reach out
to the Arab-American community, but
also signaling that the American
Jewish community is very important."
And Hordes pointed out a historic
fact rarely acknowledged by activists
who have pushed candidates to sup-
port the embassy move: "Statements
and assertions on the embassy made
on the campaign trail are not always
reflected in policy, once a candidate is
elected," he said.

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A Barak Visit

Israeli and American sources say that
Prime Minster Ehud Barak will proba-
bly come to Washington after next
week's presidentiarelection, if the
renewed Intifadah — and his own
political woes — allow it.
But Barak and President Bill
Clinton may have radically different
agendas when they get back together.
Clinton, administration sources say,
is focused almost entirely on his efforts

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