A plan by an influential group of American Jewish organizational leaders to take a bus tour of Jewish settlements in the West Bank next Monday with Housing Minister Ariel Sharon is already raising eyebrows here, even though it has not been finalized.
Critics of the plan say that, whether intended or not, the tour will send a signal to Washington that American Jewry backs the Likud government’s efforts to expand Jewish settlements in the disputed territory, which the Bush administration views as an obstacle to peace.
But Shoshana Cardin, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which is planning the tour as part of its annual study mission here, was quoted as saying the visit is merely an effort to “see firsthand the facts on the ground” and “implies no endorsement” of Israeli government positions.”
News of the planned bus tour surfaced as another umbrella group of American Jewish organizational leaders, the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, convened a special debate on Israeli settlement policy late Tuesday at the group’s annual plenum in Portland, Ore.
Sharon, who is Likud’s most outspoken advocate of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, first offered to give the tour during a New York address to Conference of Presidents members in December.
The tour is tentatively set for Monday, a day after the Jewish organizational leaders arrive, though plans have not yet been finalized, said Malcolm Hoenlein, the umbrella group’s executive director, who is already in Israel.
Hoenlein said that a tour of housing sites by one of Israel’s most authoritative sources on the subject was an entirely appropriate way of getting firsthand information about an issue of major interest to American Jewry and the U.S. government.
He stressed that the tour would be one part of a mission that also includes planned meetings with representatives of Israel’s peace camp and Palestinian leaders, not to mention top members of the government and Knesset opposition, including Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, Labor leader Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Moshe Arens.
IMPACT ON LOANS AND PEACE TALKS?
But the planned tour has been criticized by some members of the Conference of Presidents, which represents some 50 leading American Jewish organizations.
They are concerned in part about the timing. If the tour happens on Monday, as planned, it will coincide with a scheduled appearance by U.S. Secretary of State James Baker before a House of Representatives subcommittee holding hearings on Israel’s request for U.S. guarantees covering $10 billion in loans needed for immigrant resettlement.
Baker has made an Israeli freeze on housing construction in the West Bank a condition for receiving the U.S. guarantees — a proposition Israel has not yet accepted.
Monday is also the day that Israel is scheduled to resume bilateral peace talks in Washington with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians, who have repeatedly threatened to make the settlements issue the focus of the deliberations, in the knowledge that they have U.S. and world support on the matter.
Critics fear that the sight of American Jewish leaders accompanying one of Israel’s most hard-line Cabinet ministers on a tour of the West Bank could stiffen the resolve of both Baker and the Palestinians.
The Conference of Presidents leadership reportedly has given instructions that the tour be closed to the news media. But both the Israeli and overseas press are likely to be on hand regardless, photographing the Jewish leaders on their visit.
Informed sources told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Israel’s Foreign Ministry had counseled the Conference of Presidents to call off its Israel study mission altogether at this time, because of the intense involvement of the political leadership here in pre-election politics.
But the umbrella group insisted on sticking to the schedule, according to ministry sources. They said top officials of the ministry were dismayed to learn of the group’s plan to tour the settlements with Sharon.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Agriculture Ministry has launched a program of West Bank tours for immigrants from the republics of the former Soviet Union. The program is designed to convince them of Likud’s defense and settlement strategy in advance of the June 23 elections.
The U.S. government this week sought an official explanation from Jerusalem about whether this development signaled a change in policy regarding the settlement of immigrants in the territories.
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