What Kind Of Coalition?

Seeking Muslim, Arab allies in terror war, U.S. pressures Israel relationship.

that attacks another Muslim country.
Predictably, the coalition effort is
already producing pressure to change
U.S.-Israel relations and the adminis-
tration's generally hands-off approach
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
Freedman said.
Some countries have already made it
clear that they won't participate in a
coalition that includes Israel.
That was the word from Pakistan, a
critical element of any U.S. attack
against bin Laden bases in neighboring
Pakistan. On Sunday, the government
in Islamabad said it would not partic-
pate if Israel or India — its longtime
adversary — is included.
Over the weekend, the Egyptian
government-controlled press demand-
ed that any joint fight against terror-
ism exclude actions by Palestinians
against Israel and that Israel's treat-
ment of the Palestinians be described
as terrorism.
Jewish groups will play a significant
role in the days ahead in urging a bal-
anced approach that does not produce
a U.S. cave-in to Islamic demands,
Freedman said.
"Part of the message has to be that if
we are pushed into telling Israel what
to do, it will be a victory for the ter-
rorists," he said.
At the same time, he said, U.S. Jewish
leaders should make it clear to Israel's
Ariel Sharon that he cannot "exploit"
the current situation to radically escalate
his battle against the Palestinians — or
to expand settlements.

JAMES D. BESSER

-Washington Correspondent

1p

resident George W. Bush
has dubbed it "the first war
of the 21st century," and
promises to enlist a coalition
of nations to root out the terrorists
responsible for last week's catastrophic
attacks in New York and Washington.
But Jewish leaders are worried about
exactly who may be included in that
coalition and what the impact could
be on U.S.-Israel relations.
"The danger is that in trying to build
an Arab-Muslim coalition, some may
demand that we deliver Israel as the price
of getting their support," said Robert 0.
Freedman, a top Mideast expert.
At the least, some potential coalition
partners will insist that Washington
take a firmer hand in pressing for an
Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire, something
many Arab leaders have demanded as
out of control.
the fighting a has raged
b
Those concerns were brought into
focus over the weekend when it was
revealed that administration officials
have been talking to representatives of
a number of Arab and Moslem coun-
including Iran and Syria,
tries
themselves state sponsors of terrorism.
"Inevitably, the broader the coalition
the narrower the objectives," said
David Harris, executive director of the
American Jewish Committee.
Harris said that the administration
saying it wanted to
began its effort by saying
"frame this as a war against terror and
those countries — plural — that har-
bor and support terror. The State
Department's own terror list provides
a convenient guide to the chief cul-
prits. Foremost among them are Syria
and Iran."
If the object is only to attack Osama
bin Laden — identified by the admin-
istration as the probable mastermind
behind last week's attacks — such a
broad coalition might make sense,
Harris said. "But if the objective is to
truly go after the major states support-
ing and bankrolling terrorism, Iran
and Syria are clearly not our allies."

Seeking "Islamic Cover

"

Monitoring the evolving U.S. response
and its participants — and resisting

An Israeli boy looks at pictures of Israeli victims of terrorist attacks during a
ceremony in Jerusalem Sept. 12.

foreign pressure to change U.S.
Mideast policy — are top priorities for
Jewish leaders as the realities of last
week's attacks sink in to a sobered,
scared nation.
Over the weekend, a number of
Jewish leaders held talks with adminis-
tration officials over the rumored nature
of the coalition being pieced together by
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Press reports indicated that the
administration believes support from
allies such as Saudi Arabia is essential,
even though it has been more hin-
drance than help in past terror investi-

gations. At the same time, U.S. offi-
cials are trying to line up at least nom-
inal support from states such as Syria
and Iran, whose leaders offered unex-
pected condolences after last week's
twin tragedies.
"What the administration is looking
for is Islamic cover," said Freedman.
"Bush does not want this to be a war
of civilizations, of the West against
Islam."
But that effort may prove daunting.
Early this week, clerics in Egypt and
Jordan issued religious edicts against
participation in any coalition effort

What Israel Seeks

Abraham Foxman, national director of
the Anti-Defamation League, said
what the Bush administration is really
seeking is a series of coalitions in the
fight against the terror network, each
serving specific purposes, not the sin-
gle alliance that made pursuit of the
1991 Gulf War so difficult.
"One coalition would be purely mil-
itary," he said. "Another would be of
countries that help us with intelli-
gence. And there could be a third
coalition — of countries that remain
neutral. So there will different levels of
participation." Presumably, countries

COALITION on page 26

9/21

2001

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