Hyman Book-binder, in his political debut Thursday for Michael Dukakis’ campaign, tried to extend an olive branch to a Jewish supporter of Vice President George Bush by saying both of the likely presidential nominees were equally strong on Israel.
But Marshall Breger, former White House liaison to the Jewish community, virulently attacked Dukakis’ foreign policy views at the monthly meeting of Washington representatives of U.S. Jewish groups.
Breger said Dukakis’ support for multi-nationalism over unilateral U.S. military action, and opposition to a large defense build-up, could put Israel in jeopardy.
He added that the presence of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic Party could also affect Mideast policy.
Breger said Jackson’s influence has already resulted in new Democratic “left-wing positions on defense and the economy, which in the past were fringe positions outside the party.”
In a strong warning to Jackson, Bookbinder, now special adviser to Dukakis on the Middle East, human rights and the underprivileged, said Jackson’s forces will be “trounced again” if they try to influence the party’s position on the Middle East.
Bookbinder also lashed out at the National Jewish Coalition, a Republican Jewish group here, for trying to “scare” Jews — in a June 10 direct mail membership drive — by saying that this year “won’t be the first time that the Democrats have sacrificed Jewish interests.”
Chris Gersten, executive director of the coalition, said the Democrats previously “sacrificed” Jewish interests in 1984 and 1985, when 60 to 70 members of the House of Representatives opposed foreign aid bills containing $3 billion in aid, plus an additional $1.5 billion in supplemental aid, because the bill also included aid to the Nicaraguan rebels, or Contras.
Bookbinder further criticized the letter’s assertion that “the Democrats will give Jackson what he asks for at the Democratic National Convention.”
Gersten defended his letter, contending “it was said at a time when Jackson and the Jackson forces were aggressively winning fights in the state Democratic parties, and when Michael Dukakis was not opening his mouth” to Jackson’s efforts.
ANTI-ISRAEL PRESSURE
While acknowledging that the Dukakis forces prevailed in Denver, where the final Democratic Party platform was formed, Gersten said the failure to insert a pro-Palestinian plank “doesn’t change the fact” that for the first time, one of the major parties has faced such anti-Israel pressure from the inside.
Gersten stood by the letter’s contention that “clearly the Democrats have lost their claim to the unquestioning loyalty of the Jewish community that they once enjoyed.”
Both Gersten and Breger, who chairs the Administrative Conference of the United States and is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said that Democratic parties in eight states, including California, have approved resolutions this year supporting the Palestinians.
Gersten said five states included language supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Breger, when asked about Bush’s ties to New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, an Arab-American, said Sununu is a “close friend” of Bush’s, but that he won’t influence Middle East policy since “that’s not his area of expertise.”
Sununu is the only U.S. governor who did not sign a statement condemning the United Nations resolution equating Zionism with racism.
RESOLVING INTERNATIONAL PROBLEMS
On foreign policy matters, Breger said Dukakis is “obsessed” with allowing international organizations to resolve regional problems, such as the Organization of American States in Latin America and the United Nations in the Persian Gulf.
Breger said Dukakis’ emphasis on the United Nations is outdated since it is a “source of Third World anti-Israel sentiment.”
Dukakis’ hesitancy about projecting U.S. military power could “allow enemies to seize more opportunities in the Middle East,” Breger argued.
Israel may need U.S. defense supplies in a crisis situation, Breger said, and Bush would best ensure adequate military forces.
Breger said Israel relied on U.S. reserves during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when U.S. forces in Europe “drew down” their supplies.
Breger said it is “no accident” that strategic cooperation has “flourished” during Reagan’s two terms, citing as an example last week’s U.S.-Israel “Star Wars” accord to build the Arrow anti-tactical ballistic missile to protect Israel against Syrian missiles.
But Bookbinder called Breger’s contentions “bum raps,” including one accusing Dukakis of “naive liberalism” by granting prison leave to convicted criminals.
Bookbinder said that unlike the Reagan administration, Dukakis would oppose arms sales to Arab countries at war with Israel.
Breger said Bush opposes the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution because it would not necessarily “do the things its proponents want it to do,” noting a recent Supreme Court vote against male private clubs that he said is a preferable route to changing law.
NOT BEEN ‘CHRISTIANIZED’
On the influence of the Rev. Jerry Falwell and other evangelicals in the Republican Party, Breger said despite worries from Jews, “the sky has not fallen” during Reagan’s second term. He said Falwell is not running the National Security Council, for example, and that the United States has not been “Christianized.”
Bookbinder said the “serious influence” of evangelicals can also be seen in Bush’s support of a constitutional amendment banning abortion and support for voluntary school prayer.
He predicted that between 60 percent and 85 percent of Jews will vote for Dukakis.
But Breger said “time moves on,” citing figures that a majority of Jews under the age of 24 voted for the Reagan-Bush ticket in 1984.
While acknowledging that Jews have historically supported Democrats and have felt comfortable in the party, Breger said a new “critical mass” of Jews has emerged in the Republican Party, and that Jews have been addressing its platform committee this year, which is hearing testimony through Aug. 8.
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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.
