Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000 Page: 4 of 48
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Opinion TEXAS JEWISH post, Thursday, December 7,2000 - in our sath year! - hanuka issue
Washington Watch
By James David Besser
TJP Washington Correspondent
Policy Roulette in Israel
Prime Minister Ehud Barak,
forced into a high-stakes battle
for reelection, is being urged to
send phalanxes of hasbaraniks
to this country to line up
American Jewish support.
But PR hired hands won't help
Barak with his biggest problem
with American Jews: epidemic
confusion over his peace
process tactics.
Supporters say that despite
appearances, Barak has been
unwavering in his core goal—to
produce a peace agreement that
he believes Israel's citizens are
ready to accept despite the
ongoing violence.
But to get there, he has pursued
so many seemingly contradicto-
ry tactics that American Jews are
just as confused as the Israeli
voters he will face in a few
months-voters who, according
to the polls, have had enough of
his pinballing policies.
Barak doesn't need American
Jews to fend off the Likud elec-
toral challenge. But Jews here
will play a critical role in guar-
anteeing a steady
and support-
ive course in
U S. Mideast
policy-a challenge
that could become far more
daunting in the months ahead.
Since he took office in July,
1999, Barak has been a perplex-
ing blend of strategic consisten-
cy, tactical chaos, inept manage-
ment and utter indifference to
how his actions look to others.
Barak continues to signal his
desire to return to the peace
table. But to get there, he
improvises from day to day,
snatching new policies and just
as quickly discarding them.
In recent weeks Barak has
insisted that a quick deal with
the Palestinians is still possible-
-even as he literally begged for
a unity government with Likud
leader Ariel Sharon, the devil
incarnate to most Palestinians.
This week. Labor sources
hinted that unity talks were still
underway even as the nation
prepared for new elections.
One day Barak holds the
Palestinian Authority responsi-
ble for horrific acts of violence,
the next his government hints
of new concessions, or of an
interim agreement that would
give the Palestinians a state
without settling any of the most
contentious issues.
ANALYSIS
The rhetoric du jour can go
from tough and threatening to
imploring in a matter of hours.
He woos the Orthodox Shas
party, trying to keep his govern-
ment together, and then threat-
ens a secular revolution that
would undercut them, then goes
back into courtship mode
Getting a headache?
Supporters say the maneuver-
ing is all part of a Herculean
effort to keep his government
afloat so he can finish a peace
deal, his overarching goal.
But what comes across is utter
desperation and a kind of policy
roulette-hardly the image of
clear-headed leadership Israeli
voters want at this critical junc-
ture, and hardly an image likely to
bring American Jews to the polit-
ical barricades on Israel's behalf.
Barak, the Lone Ranger of
Israeli politics, has failed to build
the kind of support within his
own government that would give
him the latitude to maneuver on
the international chessboard, and
he has failed to build support
with an Israeli elec-
torate that is
"Trust me, I know what I'm
doing" is not enough to galva-
nize rank-and-file Jews to pro-
tect Israel's interests in
Washington, especially not after
months of growing confusion.
Nor will it be enough to send
surrogates to soothe American
Jews—surrogates who, in the
end, are in the dark themselves
about Barak's plans because of
the Prime Minister's reclusive
management style.
Barak has generally pursued
policies American Jews like-
negotiating, not fighting, mak-
ing even painful compromises.
But he has buried that mes-
sage in endless maneuvering, in
rhetorical shifts that defy the
understanding of his con-
stituents in Israel and here. He
has ignored or bungled the
POLITICS of fighting for
peace; that has undercut his
support at home, and it threat-
ens to weaken the activism of
Jews in this country at a partic-
ularly important juncture in
U.S.-Israel relations.
FOCUS ON ISSUES
U.S. Jewish Divisions Resurface as
Peace Groups Launch Initiatives
on the verge
of tossing him
out on his ear.
That has important conse-
quences in this country, as well
as in Israel.
U.S.-Israel relations could be
heading back into rough water
as the repercussions of the new
Intifadah begin to affect other
U.S. foreign policy priorities.
A new administration is com-
ing to Washington in January,
and it will likely be cooler
toward Israel and less tolerant
of Israeli actions that upset
other U.S. allies, especially oil
producing allies.
A fully engaged, active
American Jewish community is
vital to keep executive and leg-
islative officials focused on the
importance of Israel and of
strong U.S.-Israel relations.
Instead, the Jewish communi-
ty here is increasingly confused
and divided. Barak s credibility
has plummeted as his zigs and
zags have sowed doubts about
his ultimate goals; his day-to-
day tactics leave us dizzy.
Maybe a case can be made that
he knows what he's doing, or at
least that he is making the best of
a bad situation. But Barak isn't
making it, and his top aides don't
seem to know enough to make it.
By Michael J. Jordan
NEW YORK — Reports of the
peace camp's demise have been
greatly exaggerated.
Although weeks of Middle East
violence stunned them into si-
lence, self-doubt and soul-search-
ing, those American Jews most
out front in promoting the peace
process are rediscovering their
voices.
Groups like the Reform move-
ment’s Union of American He-
brew Congregations and Ameri-
cans for Peace Now are launch-
ing new campaigns to promote
their vision of the way out of the
current crisis.
In contrast to the view of many
American — and Israeli — Jews
that the peace process is dead and
Palestinian Authority President
Yasser Arafat is no longer a ne-
gotiating partner, these groups
are focusing less on the Palestin-
ians and more on what they be-
lieve Israel should be doing to
bring the two sides together.
The Reform movement, for in-
stance, is calling for dismantling
Jewish settlements buried in the
heart of Arab populations and
reaching out to Israeli Arabs,
some of whom erupted into vio-
lence against Israeli forces in the
early days of the latest fighting.
By speaking out, the peace
camp may wipe away the veneer
of “unity” and “solidarity” that
has enveloped the Jewish com-
munity since violence broke out
two months ago.
It may also re-expose the deep
communal fissures that emerged
along the rocky road in search of
peace.
Ever since the Oslo peace pro-
cess began seven years ago,
American Jews — like their
see PEACE GROUPS pg. 12
Editor and Publisher
Texas Jewish Post
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Wisch, J. A. & Wisch, Rene. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 49, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 7, 2000, newspaper, December 7, 2000; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754264/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .