Christopher, Back from Mideast, Briefs Jewish Leaders on His Trip

Secretary of State Warren Christopher wasted no time this week in updating Jewish leaders on his recent, eventful Middle East trip.

Christopher held a 45-minute meeting Monday with two leaders of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee: Steven Grossman, the group’s president, and Howard Kohr, its acting executive director.

“He was anxious to share his perceptions,” Grossman said, in an interview, “and anxious to learn how the community was reacting to some of the news events in the region.”

The meeting, initiated by the State Department, came at a crucial time for Israel, which is poised to begin implementation of its autonomy agreement with the Palestinians.

In addition, Israel and its Arab negotiating partners will be returning here next month to continue the long-stalled Washington-based peace talks, and President Clinton will be meeting with Syrian President Hafez Assad.

Grossman said Christopher expressed hope that the upcoming meeting in Geneva between Clinton and Assad would set the stage for progress in the peace talks.

The secretary reaffirmed that the Clinton administration currently had no plans to remove Syria from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism as long as Syria continues providing shelter to terrorist groups, Grossman said.

Grossman said that he and Kohr emphasized to Christopher the importance of direct negotiations between the parties, as opposed to the United States pressuring Israel to make concessions.

He said the secretary agreed on the importance of direct talks.

RABIN-CHRISTOPHER RELATIONSHIP HAS GROWN

Grossman said he was struck by the warmth with which Christopher described his relations with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

“As the relationship has grown between the secretary and Rabin, so the mutual trust between the two of them has been enhanced,” the AIPAC president said.

Christopher confirmed to Grossman and Kohr the accuracy of a New York Times story Monday that Israel and Morocco were on the verge of establishing closer economic ties.

And the secretary also said he was expecting acceleration in economic relations between Israel and Tunisia in the months ahead.

Grossman said the secretary told the AIPAC leaders that he was continuing to push Arab leaders to end their economic boycott against Israel.

Christopher has been working to maintain his dialogue with American Jewish leaders.

In October, he initiated a series of meetings on Middle Eastern issues with leaders of AIPAC and other groups.

In other AIPAC news, the group announced this week that it has hired a top fund-raiser, Joseph Brodecki, to work as national director of policy and development.

Brodecki directed the successful fund-raising campaign for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, which raised over $190 million.