Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2003 Page: 4 of 24
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4
Texas Jewish Post
*
In Our 57th Year
November 13,2003
Washington Watch
By lames D. Besser
TJP Washington Correspondent
Confusing signals
on peace plans
The Bush administration contin-
ues to insist its Mideast road map
offers the only route to peace in the
region, but in recent days it has sent
out hints of a flirtation with other
peace proposals, including the con-
troversial “Geneva agreement"
worked out between leading Israeli
doves and Palestinian activists.
The result: anxiety and uncer-
4
tainty on the part of pro-Israel
leaders here.
“I would prefer to believe it’s con-
fusion on their part rather than a
thought-out readjustment in policy,”
said Abraham Foxman, national
director of the Anti-Defamation
League. "What we’ve seen in recent
days doesn’t make sense to me.”
But if the administration IS signal-
ing interest in the unofficial peace
negotiations, “it would undermine
the authority of the Prime Minister
to move forward when the time
comes to do so,” Foxman said.
I'he puzzling administration actions
included Secretary of State Colin Pow-
ell’s letter last week praising the authors
of the controversial Geneva agreement,
which is based on proposals on the
table at the 2000 Camp David summit
and the follow-up meetings at I aha —
proposals rejected by the current Israeli
government.
The letter was revealed in Israel by
one of its recipients, former justice
minister Yossi Beilin.
But State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher downplayed the
exchange, saying that Powell merely
“expressed appreciation lor their efforts
to sustain an atmosphere of hope," and
that the secretary stressed Washington’s
continuing commitment to the stalled
international road map.
Other observers suggested that
Powell’s letter — and oblique com-
ments by Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz citing widespread
popular support in the region for
another unofficial peace plan, the
“Ayalon-Nusseibeh” initiative — were
intended to be warnings to Sharon
not to use the hiatus in U.S. peace-
making to intensify his war against
Palestinian terror groups or push too
far into the West Bank with Israel’s
controversial security barricade.
“The press has made more of these
comments than the facts justify,” said an
official with a major pro-Israel group.
“What thev could be is a low key US
effort to create a feeling < if hope among
Israelis and Palestinians that peace
efforts are still possible, and maybe to
generate a little pressure on their gov
emments to try a little harder to find
ways to make the road map work.”
Daniel Pipes, president of the Mid
die Hast Forum and a longtime peace
process critic, downplayed the signifi
cancc of the diplomatic smoke signals.
In a period of relative U.S. inactiv-
ity on the Israeli-Palestinian front,
“the general assumption is that any
talks between Israel and the Palestini
ans are a good thing," Pipes said. “It’s
in that spirit that the Secretary wrote
the letter; I don’t take it as a specific
commitment to the details. It’s say-
ing, bravo, you’re talking to each
other, that’s good."
But the Zionist Organization of
America blasted Powell for “publicly
praising Yossi Beilin’s rogue operation
to promote a plan that pushes Israel
back to the indefensible pre-1967
borders and tears Jerusalem in half’
The Israel Policy Forum, a pro-
peace process group, was also in a
writing mood. In a letter to Wol-
fowitz, the group thanked him for
"supporting a rejuvenated peace
process and specifically the Ayalon-
Nusseibeh initiative.”
Gephardt rising
Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), the
veteran lawmaker running for the
2004 Democratic presidential nomi-
nation, has jumped into the lead in
polls of likely participants in the all-
important Iowa caucuses on January
19. rhat could put the House veteran
in a position to be the favored alter-
native if the current frontrunner,
former Vt. Governor Howard Dean,
implodes.
According to a Des Moines Regis
ter survey, Gephardt was the first
choice of 27 percent of those who
indicated they would attend their
precinct caucuses, with Dean scoring
20 percent.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) was in
third place with 15 percent. Sen. Joe
Lieberman (D-Conn.), who is not
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actively campaigning in Iowa,
dropped to 5 percent.
But the poll also indicated that
most voters are not strongly commit-
ted to any single candidate.
Benjamin Ginsberg, a Johns Hop-
kins University political scientist, said
that Gephardt may not electrify the
Jewish community, but he could be a
comfortable alternative — especially
because of the Jewish community’s
preference for established, main-
stream politicians.
“Gephardt has had cordial rela-
tions with the Jewish community for
many years, and has been a staunch
supporter of Israel,” he said. “For Jew-
ish Democrats who are somewhat
uneasy about Dean, he will be a
familiar and congenial alternative.”
Gephardt will make a good “turn-
to" candidate if Dean — whose
penchant for verbal gaffes continues
to land him in hot water — stumbles
in the early primaries, Ginsberg said.
Last week it was Dean’s comment
that his campaign needs to attract
Southerners “with Confederate flags
in their pickup trucks.” Earlier, he
generated anxiety in pro-Israel circles
with his call for a more balanced U.S.
policy in the region.
Gephardt’s slow, steady rise is
another blow to the troubled cam-
paign of Sen. Joe Lieberman
(D-Conn.), who continues to do
every well in national polls but has
failed to gain traction with Democra-
tic primary voters.
Gephardts rise is “terrible news for
Joe,” said Allan Lichtman, a political
historian and expert in presidential
prognostication.
It’s also a definite downer for
Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, who just
a few weeks ago was the brightest star
in the Democratic cosmos.
“Everybody thought Clark would
be the Dean alternative, but he hasn’t
gotten any better than his resume,”
Lichtman said. “He hasn’t shown he
can be a truly effective, charismatic
alternative. Ever so slowly, Gephardt
is doing that.”
Gephardt’s Jewish outreach has
been minimal in the early stages of
the race, other observers say, because
of the campaign’s overwhelming
focus on the Iowa caucuses.
“All his eggs are in the Iowa bas-
ket,” said a leading Jewish Democrat.
“It’s a must-win race for him — and
let’s face it, Jewish Democrats are not
going to play a very big role in Iowa.”
A leading Gephardt supporter pre-
dicted his candidate will gain Jewish
support as his campaign accelerates.
“He meets regularly in St. Louis
with a group of Jewish friends, and
has been doing so for 15 years,” said
Michael Newmark, a longtime com-
munal leader in that city and former
chair of the Jewish Council for Pub-
lic Affairs. “He has very close contact
with the Jewish community here.”
Newmark cited Gephardt’s long
support for the Soviet Jewry move-
ment and a “strong social justice
streak that will definitely appeal to
Jewish voters. He has the kind of bal-
ance the Jewish community looks for.”
Debates on yontif?
Maybe someone should send the
deep thinkers who run the Commis-
sion on Presidential Debates a Jewish
calendar, and a list of just who the
potential Democratic candidates are.
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Last week the nonpartisan group
announced the schedule for next year’s
debates between the major candidates,
and it could be a problem for a lot of
Jews who want to watch — and one
Jew who wants to be President.
The problem: the first debate,
which will take place at the University
of Miami, is scheduled for the first
night of Succoth, on September 30.
And the second is supposed to be
on October 8 at Washington Univer-
sity in St. Louis. In case you don’t
have your Jewish date book handy,
that’s Simcah Torah.
That could pose a big problem for
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), an
observant Jew who is well known for
his refusal to work on Saturday and
on Jewish holidays.
After the Commission announce-
ment, Lieberman campaign officials
hurriedly contacted the Commission.
“It’s a problem,” said a campaign
spokesman. “They were aware of the
Simcah Torah conflict, not Succoth.
But the message they gave us was
this: the debate schedule is not set in
stone. There is flexibility. Should
Lieberman get the nomination, there
is no question they will be wiling to
change the dates.”
No mention from the Commis-
sion about what that will mean for
Jewish voters who may be otherwise
occupied on those nights.
Texas Jewish Post
Since 1947
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Wisch, Rene & Wisch-Ray, Sharon. Texas Jewish Post (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 13, 2003, newspaper, November 13, 2003; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth754927/m1/4/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .