Jewish Leaders Respond Cautiously to Bush Letter on Ties with Israel

President Bush may not have been entirely successful in his latest attempt to reassure American Jews that his administration has not turned the United States away from its traditional support of Israel.

While welcoming much of what Bush said in a letter to leading Jewish Republican George Klein, Jewish organizational leaders said they would be looking for deeds to match the president’s words.

They observed that Bush continues to maintain that his administration will not guarantee $10 billion in loans sought by Israel until settlement activity ceases in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“Obviously as important as words are — and they are very important coming from the president of the United States — deeds are still more significant,” said David Harris, executive vice president of the American Jewish Committee. “We will have to wait and see.”

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said that in his letter to Klein, Bush restated the basic U.S.-Israel bilateral relationship.

“There are still open questions and open sores,” Foxman said. “I believe if there is a will, this administration can find a way, without giving away principles,” to help Israel absorb thousands of Soviet immigrants.

“I am sure he (Bush) would like to have good relations in the community, particularly at election time,” said Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress.

‘UNDERSTANDS THE CONCERN AND AGUISH’

Siegman said that in the letter to Klein, Bush did not show any change in his position on the loan guarantees. But “our disappointment over the administration’s handling of the loan guarantees should not be allowed to distract from the very positive things the administration has done with respect to the peace process,” he added.

However, Siegman said Bush should improve his communications with the leaders of the organized Jewish community, instead of addressing himself to Klein, who is chairman of the National Jewish Coalition, a group that seeks Jewish support for Republican candidates.

Harris pointed out, though, that the Bush administration has always tried to reach the Jewish community through Republican Jewish leaders.

Harris and Foxman praised Klein for writing Bush on March 16 to express the concern of the Jewish community in the aftermath of Bush’s refusal to reach a compromise with the Senate on the loan guarantees.

Foxman said the Klein letter was a strong and forthright articulation of the feelings in the Jewish community.

Calling Klein’s letter courageous, Harris said only someone as trusted as Klein by the White House could say what he did and be listened to.

“The president’s response reflected that he understands the concern and anguish coming from a known and trusted friend,” Harris said.

The exchange of letters between Bush and Klein was first reported Saturday by The New York Times. It was provided to the paper “by a former government official, who first obtained permission from the White House.”

Klein, who stressed in his letter that he has always kept his talks with Bush confidential, released the two letters Monday. He refused any further comment except to say “I believe the content of the letters speaks for itself.”

SETTLEMENTS ‘LEAVE ME LITTLE CHOICE’

In his March 19 reply to Klein, Bush said he was also “anguished over the loan guarantee issue,” but that “Israeli settlement activity leaves me little choice” but to reject it.

Reiterating that the United States considers the settlements an obstacle to peace, Bush said, “I do not exaggerate when I tell you that more than anything else Israel is saying or doing, settlements are undermining those forces in the Arab world that at long last are ready to reach out and live in peace.”

In his letter, Klein, a Republican activist for some 20 years who considers himself a friend and supporter of Bush, wrote that he was “deeply disturbed” by such recent events as the U.S. policy opposing settlements in East Jerusalem, the “one-sided votes” condemning Israel in the United Nations and the loan guarantees refusal.

There is “a perceived major shift” in U.S. policy toward Israel, Klein wrote, adding that “I must question whether your commitment has changed in your strong support of Israel.”

Bush replied that “our fundamental commitment to Israel is just that — fundamental. Please know this, for it comes from the heart as well as the head.”

Klein expressed concern that “the concept of linking our humanitarian aid to Israeli settlement policies could weaken our relationship and our commitment to Israel.”

He added that he feels “personally misled in that key members of your administration have assured me on a number of occasions that there would not be linkage of our humanitarian aid to Israel.”

Bush replied that the settlement issue has made the loan guarantees political. “Peace is also a humanitarian goal. The new immigrants and indeed all Israelis deserve and need peace — real peace along the lines I described in Madrid — if Israel and its people are to thrive,” the president said.

‘WILL DO ALL THAT I CAN’

Nothing should be allowed to jeopardize the prospects of the peace negotiations, which were “put together in very large part on Israel’s terms,” Bush said.

While maintaining that approval of the loan guarantees depends on Israeli actions, Bush stressed that “it is essential that this issue not be allowed to weaken, much less cast doubt upon, the core relationship between the United States and Israel.

“No one should permit disagreement over this or some other policy to affect the foundation of a relationship that has served both countries well for nearly half a century,” the president said.

Bush promised that “I will do all that I can to see that the current strains do not grow worse but, to the contrary, are put behind us, so we can begin to restore with Israel the sort of relationship that you and I both seek.”