Washington Watch

The Retaliation Card

Israel steps carefully over Al Qaida's attacks in Kenya.

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

A

s evidence mounts tying Al
Qaida to last week's terror
attacks against Israeli targets
in Kenya, so does official
concern in Washington that Israeli
retaliation could be an explosive com-
plication in the U.S.-led war against
terrorism.
But that concern has not produced a
new administration squeeze on Israel,
U.S. sources say.
An Al Qaida-affiliated group
claimed responsibility for the bomb-
ing, saying, "At the same place where
the 'Jewish Crusader coalition' was hit
four years ago ... here the fighters of
Al Qaida came back once again to
strike heavily against that evil coali-
tion. But this time, it was against
Jews."
"Crusader" is an Islamist euphe-
mism for "Christian." Three Israelis
were among the 13 dead in the bomb-
ing of an Israeli-owned hotel in
Mombassa, and anti-aircraft missiles
fired by terrorists narrowly missed an
Israeli charter airliner.
Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
has ordered Israeli intelligence forces
to hunt down those responsible.
Washington has not pressured Sharon
to forego retaliation, but has urged
him to take U.S. interests in the
broader war against terrorism into
consideration, sources say. They aren't
pushing, but they are having ongoing,
excellent consultations," said Judith
Kipper, director of the Mideast pro-
gram at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "They talk
frankly with each other; this is the way
allies behave with one another."
Robert Lieber, a professor of inter-
national relations at Washington's
Georgetown University, said harsh
Israeli retaliation against Al Qaida
could be a major complicating factor
for the Bush administration. But "it
remains to be seen if Israel will retali-
ate," .he said. "You have to have an
address to retaliate against. Let's not
forget that the U.S. has been going
after Al Qaida for 14 months, and
they're still operating."
The Kenya attacks, he said — the
first publicly attributed to the Bin

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Laden terror network against Israeli
targets — may have been part of a
"deliberate strategy to drag the Israelis
in, to turn the battle into a religious
issue or an Israel issue," Lieber said.
The Bush administration has let Israel
know that high-profile reprisals against
Al Qaida — or against Iraq if Saddam
Hussein responds to U.S. military
action by hitting Israel — could play
into that strategy, other Jewish leaders
say. And Sharon has responded in kind..
"This is a leader with a very good
understanding of what Washington
needs and wants right now," said an
official with a major Jewish group.
"Sharon isn't going to sacrifice Israel's
interests to the Bush agenda, but he's
proven remarkably adept at working
with the administration and taking
U.S. needs into account."
A bigger factor restraining Israel
could be the huge new Israeli aid
request pending in Washington. Last
week, the Sharon government asked
for up to $14 billion - in loan guaran-
tees and extra military aid. "Sharon
understands that Israel has to play
along if it hopes to get the new aid,"
said Robert 0. Freedman, a professor
at Baltimore Hebrew University.
"Obviously, there's a connection
between Israel's recent restraint" and
the aid. "But the U.S. doesn't have to
make that case; Sharon just under-
stands that Israel has to play along if it
wants the money.

"

Two Messages

How's this for confus-
ing? The Bush adminis-
tration has for the first
time imposed sanctions
on the Palestinian
Authority for failing to
live up to its peace com-
mitments — and simul- Ackerman
taneously waived them.
The sanctions and waiver came after
the White House reviewed a yet-to-be-
released annual report to Congress
required by earlier PLO compliance
legislation. Based on that report, the
President determined that the P.A. had
not lived up to "certain commit :
ments." The White House did not
specify which commitments the P.A.
had shirked, but sources said it was

probably the one requiring them to
renounce the use of terrorism and to
force compliance by all PLO factions.
Based on a toughened Palestinian
compliance law passed this year, Bush
then chose one of several possible
sanctions: downgrading the status of
the PLO office in Washington. But
then came the kicker. "Furthermore, I
hereby determine that it is in the
national security interest of the United
States to waive that sanction," Bush
wrote in a memorandum to Secretary
of State Colin Powell.
Net result: no sanctions. But a
Jewish lawmaker who has been a key
sponsor of Palestinian compliance leg-
islation said he was satisfied. "This is a
very positive development," said Rep.
Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y. "This is the
first time we have had an administra-
tion clearly state that the Palestinians
are not in compliance. The symbolism
is very important."
But some critics were furious.
Morton Klein, president of the Zionist
Organization of America, called the
move a "continuation of the appease-
ment policies of the Clinton adminis-
tration. For President Bush to
acknowledge noncompliance and
refuse to invoke the consequences this
law requires is to whitewash noncom-
pliance in the interests of creating a
Palestinian state."

Regents," which upheld the use of
race in deciding which students to
accept but struck down quotas. In
recent years, an increasingly conser-
vative Supreme Court has gradually
chipped away at affirmative action
programs in hiring, contracting, gov-
ernment grants and other areas; civil
rights groups fear the justices are
now poised to do the same with
affirmative action in higher educa-
tion.
Several Jewish groups, including
the Anti-Defamation League and the
American Jewish Congress, said they
have not decided how to respond to
the court's decision to hear the
Michigan case. A representative of
the American Jewish Committee said
the group will file to support the
"principals" behind the Michigan
program.
The National Council of Jewish
Worn-en said that it isV reviewing the
case, Nivhich the justices will decide by
June. "We have been and continue to
be very supportive of affirmative
action as a key strategy in providing
equal opportunity for all," said
Sammie Moshenberg, NCJW's
Washington representative.
Several Jewish leaders said affirma-
tive action is no longer . a hot-button
issue in the Jewish community.
"Many Jews have watched affirmative
action and concluded that it really
hasn't hurt Jews that much," said an
official with a major Jewish group.
"There isn't the strong passion for
civil rights on one side, or the strong
fear of being excluded on the other."
The result: while some Jewish
groups may weigh in with the court,
the issue will not generate fireworks in
the Jewish world.

Yawn Over U-M?

Two decades ago, Jewish groups were
in the thick of the battle over affirma-
tive action — on both sides of the
explosive debate. But with the
Supreme Court about to revisit the
question of affirmative action in
higher education, many Jewish
groups are now hanging back.
On Monday, the justices agreed to
hear two challenges of the affirmative
action policies at the University of
Michigan. The school argues the
ongoing program is necessary to rem-
edy past discrimination and promote
diversity; the plaintiffs say they were
unfairly denied admission because
they were not minorities.
The case represents the first time
the Supreme Court has revisited
affirmative action in education since
the 1978 "Bakke v. Board of

Representation

Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.,
is a man on the move —
right up the ranks of the
House Republican lead-
ership. And that will help
fill a vacuum created by
the departure of the only
Cantor
other Jewish Republican
in the House.
This week, Cantor was named chief
deputy majority whip for the 108th
Congress. Cantor was appointed by
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who will
assume the position of majority whip
that was formerly held by Rep. Tom
DeLay, R-Tex., who moves up to
become majority leader.
In his new position, Cantor will
play a major role in keeping

12/6
2002

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