In a White House meeting with a group of Jewish leaders this week, President Clinton reaffirmed his 1992 campaign statement that he believed a united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, according to a leading Jewish official.
Clinton met with more than 50 members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Thursday to discuss the Middle East peace process and other issues.
Lester Pollack, the chairman of the Jewish umbrella group, told reporters after the meeting that Clinton had been “unequivocal” in reaffirm ing his views on Jerusalem, originally stated to the group during his 1992 presidential campaign.
The issue of Jerusalem has come to the fore in recent weeks with the passage of a U.N. resolution condemning the Hebron killings. The preamble to the resolution referred to Jerusalem as “occupied territories” — a position strongly opposed by most in the American Jewish community.
The U.S. government abstained on the relevant part of the preamble.
Pollack also said participants had not discussed Jonathan Pollard, who was convicted of spying for Israel.
On Wednesday, Clinton had decided not to grant clemency to Pollard, who is currently serving a life sentence.
Many in the Jewish community had lobbied hard for clemency, feeling that a life sentence for spying for a friendly country was excessive, while others were more ambivalent.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents, said the timing of the meeting — one day after the Pollard decision — was “coincidental.”
On the issue of Jerusalem, Pollack said he did not believe there was a weakening of the administration’s position.
He said Clinton had told the group that his position on Jerusalem was both his personal policy and the administration’s policy.
Linda Kamm, co-president of Americans for Peace Now, said after the meeting that Clinton had said the administration would give Israel room to make its own decisions.
She also said Clinton had told the group that the administration respected the formulation in the Israeli-Palestinian accord that Jerusalem was one of the issues to be discussed at a later date.
The president also expressed optimism about the future of the Middle East peace talks, noting that the Israelis and Palestinians are meeting in the region, and that the Jordanians, Lebanese and Syrians will be returning to Washington in April for negotiations with Israel, Pollack said.
At the meeting, Pollack said, Clinton also spoke about the administration’s commitment to work to end the longtime Arab economic boycott of Israel and to resolve the issue of Israeli soldiers missing in action.
The Jewish leaders spoke in the meeting of their concern about extremism on all sides, Pollack said, including that of “people cloaked in religious fundamentalism.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
