Israel’s Labor Head Launches Own Lobbying Campaign in D.c.

Two years after slamming Israel’s Likud Party for lobbying in the United States against the sitting Israeli government, the opposition Labor Party has begun a similar initiative on this side of the Atlantic.

The White House warmly received Labor Party leader Ehud Barak on Feb. 20, as two top Labor activists toured Capitol Hill drumming up support for the man they hope will be the next prime minister of Israel.

Barak is certainly not the first Israeli to come to the United States seeking ways to undermine a political opponent. But many observers said his effort seemed particularly ironic in light of Labor’s concerted campaign to ostracize Likud officials who attacked Labor here when Likud was out of power.

The campaign for influence in Washington comes at a critical juncture and could have enormous impact as the United States prepares to launch a new peace initiative.

If President Clinton follows through with his plan to revive the flagging Israeli-Palestinian peace process, it would mark the first time since Ronald Reagan was in office that the United States has put forward its own detailed and specific proposal on the peace process.

Reports continue to fly — although administration officials deny them — that Clinton and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will soon issue an ultimatum to the Palestinians and Israelis that will include a threat to go public and blame whichever side they feel responsible for the delay.

Aware of the high stakes involved, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu circumvented the Israeli Embassy this week and dispatched his own envoy to work against the U.S. initiative.

Israeli opposition leaders have been working Capitol Hill since the mid-1980s. But now many American Jewish activists say that such activity may be getting out of hand.

“It gets kind of crowded, whatever side your talking about, when you have this kind of traffic,” one longtime Jewish activist said on the condition that his name not be used.

From 1993 to 1996, Likud lobbyists, widely known as the “Gang of Three,” worked the halls of Congress to undermine the peace policies of the successive governments of Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.

Labor Party leaders, from the prime ministers on down, accused the trio of officials of reaching a new low by lobbying for specific legislation to pre- empt the Israeli government’s peace initiatives with the Palestinians and Syrians.

Yoram Ettinger, a former Israeli congressional liaison under the previous Likud regime, led the group, which included Yigal Carmon and Yossi Ben-Aharon.

But now, it appears that Labor is adopting many of the same practices.

Last week Barak’s foreign policy adviser, Alon Pinkas, and Stanley Ringler, head of the Labor Party’s North America desk, met with at least a dozen members of Congress or their aides, Democratic Party officials and Jewish organizational officials to lay the groundwork for future efforts.

Specifically, Labor officials are expressing dismay with the lack of progress in the peace process since Netanyahu came to power in 1996. The Labor Party, whose platform advocates a Palestinian state, has indicated it would move faster in implementing agreements reached with the Palestinians.

When asked whether he was launching a Labor “gang,” Barak said in a recent interview, “Maybe we have something to learn from it and to find a way to establish our own — not a gang — but a group of people who will advise congressmen.”

So far, Labor has not crossed what many describe as the red line for opposition party activity — lobbying for specific legislation against the wishes of the government.

But still, many Jewish activists expressed surprise at the irony that Labor officials are now laying the groundwork for the type of strategy they so vehemently opposed when they were in power.

“This smacks of glass houses,” said one Jewish activist, who is sympathetic to Labor policies.

The Labor effort is even more stinging, many say, because it comes in contrast to the cool reception Netanyahu continues to receive from the Clinton administration.

After refusing to meet with Netanyahu for several months, Clinton received the Israeli prime minister in late January only after U.S. officials carefully scripted an identical session between Clinton and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

While details of the hourlong Barak-Clinton meeting remain sparse, Barak said of the meeting, “We talked about the Iraqi crisis and potential responses on Saddam and the implications for the overall Middle East peace process.”

But sources have said Barak, a former Israel Defense Force chief of staff, and Clinton spoke briefly about the emerging U.S. peace plan that the White House could unveil later this month.

Under the plan, according to sources, Israel would be required to withdraw from another 13.1 percent of the West Bank. That redeployment would be made in phases and would be directly linked to Palestinian cooperation and action on security issues.

Barak is said to have told Clinton that the Israeli public would welcome his plan as long as there is no perception of exaggerated American pressure.

For its part, the Netanyahu government would prefer to see a smaller redeployment and wants any subsequent redeployments to be part of final-status negotiations.

As part of his own campaign against the U.S. administration’s plan, Netanyahu dispatched his senior adviser, David Bar-Illan, who arrived in Washington this week to drum up support for Netanyahu in Congress and in the Jewish community.

At the last minute, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, Zalman Shoval, stayed in Israel to work with a delegation of American Jewish leaders who were on their an annual mission to Israel.

Delegates of the umbrella group, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, voiced objection Monday to any attempt by the Clinton administration to pressure Israel to break the deadlock in peace talks with the Palestinians.

“We believe strongly that preconditions, or conditions imposed, as in the past will not find success,” said Melvin Salberg, chairman of the Conference of Presidents.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the group, said Clinton had assured the organization that the United States “will not second-guess issues concerning Israel’s defense.”

He said any proposal that appeared to be “an imposition or an ultimatum” on Israel would complicate efforts to revive the talks.

However one member of the conference, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there is “widespread perception” among U.S. Jews that “Israel is in fact dragging its feet on the peace process, even though it has legitimate concerns of reciprocity” by the Palestinians.

But even those who believe the United States should play a more active role said this should be done quietly.

“To varying degrees, some of us are in favor of the U.S. proposing solutions and making suggestions privately,” said Philip Meltzer, president of the Association of Reform Zionists of America.

For his part, Barak told the Conference of Presidents that the United States should move its own plan forward and that it should not be interpreted as pressure.

Clinton runs “the most friendly administration in American history,” he said.

While Barak may have Clinton’s ear, it is less clear how much success he and his Labor colleagues will have on Capitol Hill, which leans more toward Likud ideology.

Labor has already planned its next move. Sources say a visit by Ori Orr, a Labor member of Knesset, is expected later this month.

“Many fresh congressman and senators haven’t had an opportunity to learn the Middle East in detail,” Barak said in the interview.

“We may be able to explain the real situation of what is really needed of both sides in a way that will be more contributing to the success of peace,” he said.

But as the Israeli premier has already made clear, Barak will have competition.