Jewish Leaders Meet with Bush on Fallout from Hostage Crisis

U.S. Jewish leaders told President Bush on Tuesday they were concerned that the hostage situation in Lebanon could adversely affect public support for Israel, a senior White House official reported.

Marlin Fitzwater, the White House spokesman, said the leaders were concerned over “general public attitudes that might develop” toward Israel in the aftermath of its capture of a Shiite extremist leader, Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid.

The seizure of the sheikh by Israeli commandos on July 28 touched off series of threats against American hostages by their Shiite captors. Some politicians, notably Sen. Robert Dole, have blamed Israel for endangering the lives of the hostages by carrying out the commando raid.

Fitzwater said the Jewish leaders “reiterated their support for the president and for the peace process in the Middle East,” and said they “shared our anguish over the hostage situation.”

In an unusually terse statement, Seymour Reich, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called the White House meeting “an informal, off-the-record conversation on a variety of issues.” He termed it “positive and productive.”

Bush “reaffirmed the strong and close relationship that binds the United States and Israel,” Reich said.

Other administration officials present at the meeting were Vice President Dan Quayle, White House Chief of Staff John Sununu and Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser.

Joining Reich were prominent Republican fund-raisers Max Fisher, Richard Fox and George Klein of the National Jewish Coalition; Edward Levy Jr., president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee; and Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents.