Max Fisher, the noted Jewish communal leader and chairman of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, who has been a behind-the scenes advisor on Jewish issues and Israel to several Republican Presidents, told editors and publishers of American Jewish publications that the task of the Jewish community during the Administration of President Reagan will be “to maintain our presence” and to assure that it has “maximum input on issues of concern to us.”
Addressing the American Jewish Press Association, which held its midwinter conference here in conjunction with the 49th General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations, Fisher stressed that the most important aspect of the new Administration will be the kind of foreign policy advisor Reagan chooses.
He noted that from all indications, Reagan’s transitional team as well as his preliminary choices for the posts of secretary of State, Treasury and national security advisor are basically pro-Israel, as is the President-elect himself.
CITES FRIENDS OF ISRAEL
Fisher said that among those targeted to lead the State Department are Gen. Alexander {SPAN}###ig,{/SPAN} former commander of the NATO forces, the great friend of Israel”; and George Shultz, who is heading Reagan’s economic policy coordinating committee and a former Treasury Secretary, also a friend of Israel. The leading candidate for the post of Treasury Secretary, Fisher added, is William Simon, who was Treasury Secretary under President Ford.
“I hope Dick (Richard) Allen will be the foreign policy advisor, “Fisher said. Allen has an advisor to Nixon who left the Reagan campaign in the last week of the election windup after an article in the Wall Street journal tagged him as having been involved in some financial irregularity while in the Nixon Administration.
Fisher also noted that Reagan’s transition from includes a number of pro-Israel individuals. He mentioned Sen. Richard Stone who leads the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Middle-East and who was defeated the Florida Democratic primaries, Sen. Henry Jackson (D. Wash.), and former Under-Secretary of the State, Eugene Rostow. Fisher noted that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger will have “an important input” in the new Administration but that he is unlikely to be the new Secretary of State.
Fisher said he spent “a great deal of time struggling with myself” whether to support Reagan’s candidacy, since he supported former President Ford as the Republican Presidential candidate. “I had three meetings with Reagan Before I was reassured” that he would be “a strong ally of Israel,” Fisher said.
MUST WATCH OUT FOR MORAL MAJORITY
Referring to the Moral Majority, the fundamentalist rightwing Christian movement, Fisher told Reagan has already made it clear that just because the Moral Majority supported his Presidential bid it does not follow that he supports the movement’s views on every issue.
Nevertheless, Fisher said that while both the GOP and the Moral Majority are pro-Israel, if for no other reason than they are anti-Communist, “we will have to watch out for the Moral Majority.” He expressed the view that Reagan will not be a President of the new right but will move toward the middle. Fisher warned, however, that historically, the extreme right is a danger to the Jewish community. He stressed several times that America is a pluralistic society and that it must remain so.
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.
