Washington Watch
Lobbying Time
Israeli delegation heads for Washington to lobby on the peace process.
JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent
I
sraeli officials are heading to
Washington to pave the way for
the July 29 visit by Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon —
moved up from September by the
Bush administration, which wants to
keep up at least the appearance of
momentum as it pursues its potholed
road map to Palestinian statehood.
The visitors include the Israeli mili-
tary chief of staff, here this week for
meetings with his Pentagon counter-
parts, and Foreign
Minister Silvan
Shalom, due in
next week for
wide-ranging talks
that will set the
stage for the
Sharon visit.
But it's Sharon's
impending appear-
ance that has
diplomats on both
sides of the ocean
working overtime.
President George
Sharon
W. Bush and his
foreign policy team
want to press the Israeli leader on sev-
eral issues, including settlement out-
posts and the controversial security
fence, which critics say is encroaching
into Palestinian territories — but not
press too hard. "Those issues will
come up, but I don't know that they
are likely to come to a head at this
point," said Jess Hordes, Washington
director for the Anti-Defamation
League.
The visiting Israeli officials, for their
part, want to make sure administra-
tion nudging on those issues does not
supplant continuing strong pressure
on the Palestinians to move forward
on dismantling the terrorist infrastruc-
ture.
"Israel is prepared to accept some
pressure on the fence and on settle-
ments," said a top pro-Israel activist
this week. "But that has to come with
much stronger, much more direct
pressure on the Palestinians to keep
moving forward on security, and not
to let Arafat regain more control over
the process."
7/18
2003
24
Palestinian Authority President
Yasser Arafat, whose feud with P.A.
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas
ostensibly ended with a new power
sharing agreement this week, will be a
persistent subtheme to the Sharon
visit. The Israeli leader will press the
administration to keep pressuring the
Palestinians to isolate the longtime
leader; the administration will argue
that without more Israeli gestures,
Abbas will lose ground to Arafat — or,
worse, to Hamas.
Mostly, the administration wants to
maintain the small but important
momentum that has devel-
oped around its road map.
"Yes, it's symbolic, but there
is also substance here," said
the ADL's Hordes. "It will be
more than just a photo op
visit; there is a process under-
way that is still in its incipi-
ent stages and still very frag-
ile.
"The goal here is to put it
on as firm a footing as possi-
ble, so that it can withstand
the inevitable buffeting in
the future."
Judith Kipper, director of
the Mideast program at the
Council on Foreign Relations, said
that the unusually warm relationship
between Sharon and Bush is "not fray-
ing at all," but that the two leaders
now have a better understanding of
each other. "This is a president who
says what he means and means what
he says, and there are no gray areas at
all," she said.
"Sharon understands that; he under-
stands that it's not in his or Israel's
interests to defy the president."
Visa Issue
The Israeli foreign minister
will also spend time during
his Washington visit dealing
with an issue that has
angered Israelis and many
others around the world:
new, tighter U.S. visa poli-
cies as part of the war on
terrorism.
Israelis who want to travel
to this country are chafing
under the new require-
Shalom
Judge Pryor
ments, which include personal inter-
views and additional paperwork. That,
Even Jewish groups that religiously
Israelis complain, will inevitably lead
avoid judicial nomination battles are
to long delays and aborted trips.
weighing in on the controversial nom-
And officials of U.S. Jewish organi-
ination of William Pryor to United
zations say it's already harder for them
States Court of Appeals for the
to bring in Israeli guests.
Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta.
On Monday, Israeli media reported
Recently the Anti-Defamation
that the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv was
League asked the Senate Judiciary
swamped by prospective tourists hop-
Committee — which could vote on
ing to beat the impending deadline for Pryor this week — to "closely consid-
the new policies. But Israel wants to
er" the nomination. In a letter to the
go further; the Jewish state wants to be chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah,
added to the list of 27 countries,
ADL leaders cited four areas of con-
mostly Western European, in the Visa
cern:
Waiver Program, whose citizens do
"Mr. Pryor's record of active hostili-
not need visas to enter the United
ty on church-state
States.
separation; his
According to the State
relentless opposition
Department, Israel does not
to reproductive free-
meet its top requirement for
dom; gay and les-
that status — a rejection rate
bian rights; and fed-
of no more than 3 percent for
eralism."
visa applications. But even
As attorney gener-
visitors from those favored
al of Alabama, "Mr.
nations could face problems
Pryor has frequently
in the months ahead; after
used his platform to
Oct. 1, they will be required
promote an exclu-
to have machine-readable
sive, Christian
passports. Many European
notion of America
nations are just now getting
and American law,"
Pryor
the advanced passports in the
ADL officials wrote.
hands of travelers.
The group cited a
Last week, the Israel visa
1997 speech in which Pryor asserted
issue came up at a hearing of the
that "the challenge of the next millen-
House Government Reform
nium will be to preserve the American
Committee. Rep. Henry Waxman, the
experiment by restoring its Christian
ranking Democrat, said Israel should
perspective."
be on the list of nations without a visa
And the group pointed to another
requirement.
speech in which Pryor gave his own
But the biggest complaints came
unique take on church-state separa-
from the U.S. travel industry, which
tion. "I will adhere to and uphold the
claims the tightening requirements for
separation of governmental powers
getting a visa and the machine-read-
because that is the ultimate security of
able passport requirement for nations
a free people," he said in 1977. "With
whose citizens do
trust in God, and His Son, Jesus
not need visas will
Christ, we will continue the American
cripple a U.S.
experiment of liberty in law."
tourism industry
B'nai B'rith, another group that usu-
that has not yet
ally avoids nomination fights, went
shrugged off the dis-
further by calling on the committee to
astrous impact of the reject the nomination. In a letter to
Sept. 11, 2001, ter-
the committee, B'nai B'rith President
ror attacks.
Joel S. Kaplan cited Pryor's "unques-
Israeli officials say
tioned disregard for the separation of
the visa issue will be
church and state and for the constitu-
high on Shalom's
tional protection of women's reproduc-
agenda.
tive rights."