Berman, in Valedictory As Head of Presidents Conference, Is’satisfied’ with Relations with Reagan Ad

Julius Berman, the outgoing chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said today that he was “very satisfied” with the relationship the Conference maintained over the past two years with the Reagan Administration.

Berman, who is president of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, said he was equally satisfied with the access the White House and other Administration departments provided to the Conference during his two year tenure as head of the umbrella group of 38 national Jewish secular and religious groups.

He assessed his past two years at a press conference at the headquarters here of the Presidents Conference. Berman, who will step down from his post on July 1, will be succeeded by Kenneth Bialkin, the national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, who was elected to a one-year term as chairman on June 4.

SHULTZ BROUGHT CHANGES

In assessing the Presidents Conference’s relationship with the Administration, Berman indicated that one of the factors which have influenced the Administration’s attitude was the change in personnel in the Administration, primarily the change from Alexander Haig to George Shultz as Secretary of State.

He suggested that Shultz’s role within the Administration had somewhat muted the earlier influence maintained in foreign policy decisions by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. Shultz, he said, came into office with the intention of tackling some of the major foreign policy issues, including the Middle East.

Berman said that one of the highpoints for the Presidents Conference during his tenure was reached in September, 1982 when President Reagan unveiled on nationl television his Middle East peace initiative. He said he had been called earlier in the day by Ambassador Richard Fairbanks and informed that Reagan would be delivering a major initiative for the region. Fairbanks, Berman recalled today, had asked that a delegation from the Presidents Conference meet with Shultz the following afternoon to provide the Administration with its reaction to the proposal. The high-point, as Berman said, was when the members of the Conference met and were able to reach a working consensus of its position toward the initiative.

This working consensus was stressed repeatedly by Berman as the central force of the Presidents Conference. He said a serious challenge confronted the Jewish organization on September 2 before the meeting with Shultz on how the organized American Jewish community would present itself to the Secretary of State on the President’s initiative.

SPEAKS ON ISSUES OF CONSENSUS

Berman acknowledged that “it is no secret” that members of the Presidents Conference are divided on certain issues, one, he said, was the future status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But instead of the issues that separate the members of the organization, he noted that the Conference maintains a consensus on issues such as Jerusalem and the PLO, which the Presidents Conference said the U.S. should not hold negotiations with until it recognizes Israel’s right to exist and accepts UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

The Presidents Conference “cannot take positions when there is no unity, ” he declared. He noted in addition that the Presidents Conference, established some 30 years ago, was not established to take issue with Israeli foreign policy but to discuss American foreign policy.

Berman said that the Presidents Conference has not met with Arab American leaders, saying that they have no role in arranging for peace initiatives in the Middle East. He said the Presidents Conference does not meet with Arab leaders in the Middle East, except for Egyptian officials. The Presidents Conference does not take on diplomatic initiatives, he said in response to a question.