This Week

Summit Agenda

Bush and Sharon to discuss Iran, Palestinians.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

"OrAt.

2/8

2002

71P

111U .S. outreach to Iran is on hold
— and Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, due in
Washington late this week for
meetings with President George W Bush
and his top foreign policy aides, wants to
make sure it stays that way.
That has emerged as one theme for this
week's Sharon-Bush summit. The meeting
comes against the backdrop of new rumbles
of conflict between Israel and Iran and -
Bush's designation of the Teheran regime as
a key part of the "evil axis" of terrorist states.
But the focus on Iran is also handy
Prime Minister Sharon with President Bush at the White House.
because both sides want a friendly, non-
contentious summit. "Obviously, Sharon
been cut or held at current levels, but the proposed
has a strong interest in focusing as much
reductions are not been as deep as many feared.
attention as possible on areas where there is agree-
"My budget provides the resources to combat terror-
ment between Israel and the United States, and
ism
at home, to protect our people and preserve our
away from areas of disagreements — such as 'target-
constitutional
freedoms," Bush said at the unveiling.
ed killings,'" said a leading pro-Israel activist. "Iran
Highway
and
environmental programs are taking
is a good issue because there can be no doubt it is
the biggest hit. But some social service programs that
working against both U.S. and Israeli interests."
Jordan's King Abdullah, in town late last week, added serve many Jews are also scheduled for sizeable cuts.
Diana Aviv, vice president for public policy for the
to the crisis atmosphere by reportedly warning that
United Jewish Communities, said that Section 202
Iran is planning to wage a new terror campaign against
Israel, possibly using Jordanian territory as a base.
Reports in.the Israeli press say Sharon will ask Bush to
cut relations with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
But Mideast observers say that he's unlikely to
press the issue in Washington, and that in any event,
the administration is not likely to agree.
"Sharon wants Bush to personally stay away from
Arafat, and to keep (Secretary of State Colin) Powell
from spending too much time chatting with him," said
Stephen P. Cohen, a consultant to the Israel Policy
Forum. "He's not going to push for a U.S. break in ties."
The fact that Sharon met with PA officials last week,
while continuing to snub Arafat, was a clear signal to
the administration that Israel is not ready to abandon
een s epti
the Palestinian leader they have dubbed "irrelevant."
A parade of Palestinian and Arab leaders have
BEHIND THE ISSUE
marched through Washington in recent days, adding
their voices to the chorus calling for a continued
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Shaton; BUs
U.S. contacts with Arafat and his government.
Administration National Security Advisor
Condoleeza Rice and U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell all reacted to the Palestinian writings by
Even-Handed Budget
calling for action to back up Palestinian words.
They said the Palestinian Authority needs to act
President George W. Bush has rolled out his pro-
posed budget for Fiscal Year 2003, and while Jewish
strongly to end the terrorist threat against Israel by
social service agencies aren't celebrating, the news
arresting terror organization leadership, breaking
up terrorist cells and bomb factories, and disman-
could have been a lot worse.
The $2.13 trillion budget proposal includes huge
tling the infrastructure of terror organizations.
increases in military and homeland security spending,
--Allan Gale, jewis.1.1 Community
and a big jump in appropriations for bioterrorism
Council of Afetropolitan Detroit
preparedness. Many social and health programs have

housing for the elderly, a program that many Jews
depend on, would be cut from $783 million to
$774 million. "That's a big one for our community,"
she said. "There already are long waiting lists for
housing; there wasn't enough money to begin with."
The Office of Refugee Resettlement and the Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP) would go from $1.7 to 1.4 million.
"And we are disappointed by the proposal for Title
XX Social Service Block Grants," she said. "Under the
president's budget, it would stay at the same level, with
no adjustment for inflation. This is a program that
delivers flexible social service money to the states; for
the Jewish federation system and the social service agen-
cies it supports, it's a very important source of funds."
An additional billion dollars, promised as part of a
compromise faith-based plan, was not incorporated
into the administration budget proposal.
There are also big cuts in areas of vocational coun-
seling and training, she said, which may impact a
number of Jewish programs.
But Aviv stressed that the news could have been
much worse. "Given the fact that the White House
and the president have set the fight against terrorism
as their top priority, one could have seen much big-
ger cuts in programs for poor people," she said.
And some got modest boosts, including the popu-
lar Meals on Wheels program — which would go
from $176 million to $225 million.
Senate Democrats will try to add money to social
service programs; House Republican will likely try
to cut even more. And the budget squeeze could get
a lot worse if the recession deepens, if new GOP-
sponsored tax cuts are passed or if the war on terror-
ism produces unexpected new costs.

Author Arafat

Jewish leaders reacted much as the Bush administra-
tion did to Yasser
Arafat's debut as a New York Times opinion writer
over the weekend: they scoffed, and they told him to
focus more on policy than public relations. •
In the article, Arafat presented what he called the
"Palestinian vision of peace." He insisted that his
goal has always been a Palestinian state "living as an
equal neighbor alongside Israel," and repeated his
condemnation of "attacks carried out by terrorist
groups against Israeli civilians."
But Jewish leaders pointed out that he forgot to men-
tion that many of the attacks have been carried out by
members of his own militias — and that the New York
Times is not daily reading material in West Bank cafes.
"It doesn't matter what he tells the New York
Times; it matters what he tells his own people," said
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-
Defamation League. "And there's no indication he's
giving his own people the same vision."
Foxman called the op-ed a "comic act of despera-
tion. He's being handled by crisis managers and PR
mavens, but it still reads hollow — and the adminis-
tration responded to it correctly."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking on CBS's
"Face the Nation," said that he was "pleased" that
Arafat condemned terror. "But now what we need is
action against terrorists ... He has to do a lot more
to get the violence under control, to persuade the

