Carter and the Jews IX. In Which Things Are Very Bad, or Else Very Good

...Once Sadat went to Jerusalem, the treaty became inevitable This Administration is not a friend of Israel, or of the friends of Israel The establishment of a Holocaust Commission7 Jewish citizens are incredibly active politically, and they are issue-oriented They won't be co-opted by a symbol ". This is the bitter talk of a tongue freed from the Presidential payroll A "White House Source"-still on that payroll when I spoke to him, but since gone off to "work on the campaign"-has another story to tell He warms to his task of praise, yet he is not glib, he is a man who speaks with conviction and inner optimism Unlike Siegel, this Jewish appointee has confidence in Carter...

...My Source demes any such trafficking "It's clear," he says, "that this government will not negotiate with or recognize the PLO until it abandons terrorism and accepts not only 242, but also 338 Mondale said this again, with total cogency, just a few months ago in an Israel Bonds speech in New York No trafficking, no negotiations, no form of discourse with them...

...I'm not afraid of asking questions, and I have no hesitation about picking up the phone " Mann notes "The Carter Administration has a respectful relationship with the Jewish community For the first time, we have a relationship set up the way the organized Jewish community itself chose to set it up It is not demeaning, and it is two-way ". Whether "access" is the same as "input" remains a question Mark Siegel, a political scientist formerly on the staff of the Democratic National Committee, was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President in March 1977 ?Ca job that worked out to mean he would be Carter's liaison with the Jewish community-and quit one year later on the issue of exclusion from policy In the 1976 election, observes Siegel, the Jews gave Carter a 70 per cent bloc vote The Mideast plank in the Democratic platform was "perfect " "I know," Siegel declares, "I wrote it ". Siegel explains that he resigned because of "the way the decision-making process finally evolved The President began with no bias concerning Jewish matters, or else with a positive one He said all the right things Then he was educated by Harold Saunders of the State Department, and by [National Security Adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski Many crises were provoked by the Administration It didn't mediate It became an advocate for the Arab side Saunders said Jerusalem was occupied territory and a part of the West Bank Israel was branded as 'an obstacle to peace'-in just those words In Clinton, Massachusetts, Carter endorsed a 'Palestinian homeland ' The final catalyst-the thing that precipitated my leaving-was the arms sale to Saudi Arabia in 1977...

...Superseded, all of it," my Source avows "Swept away in the new facts Peace between Israel and Egypt-three years ago it would have seemed unbelievable Camp David and the peace treaty are historic Begin and Sadat understand each other The exchange of ambassadors A gigantic accomplishment Look what Dayan said, that no one has done more for peace than Carter We're in a new era As time goes on this record of accomplishment will permeate the Jewish community Right now they're in a holding pattern, but this is going to change to realization and support...

...Rabbi Schindler, although he is at odds with the White House on several matters, agrees "This government gives access more than most" Bernice Tannenbaum, head of Hadassah, reports "We write frequently The answers come openly, with appreciation for our communicating...

...One phrase in particular sticks out "swept away in the new facts" Yet new facts tend to be swept away in newer facts Whether this panegyric will hold remains to be seen...

...In Which Things Are Very Bad, or Else Very Good Under Richard Nixon it was essentially one person-Max Fisher, a businessman-who served as spokesman for the Jewish community to the White House and vice-versa somewhat in the style of the medieval Court Jew whose status mingled the dependence of a subject people with some of the majesty of contact with the sovereign The Carter White House presents a refreshing and democratic contrast "The Jewish community has never had so much access to the White House, and also to the State Department, as it has now," affirms Howard Squadron, a lawyer who heads the American Jewish Congress and next month will succeed Theodore Mann as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations...

...Inevitably," Squadron contends, "the second track -the hope of persuasion-leads to contacts with the PLO...

...The government has been steadfast on this...

...I rattle off a handful of Administration actions most friends of Israel look upon as particularly nasty March 1977, the President's Clinton speech using PLO vocabulary, October 1977, the Administration's attempts to bring the anti-Israel (and domestically anti-Semitic) Soviets into the peace process, leading to the joint Soviet-American communique, May 1978, the arms sale to Saudi Arabia (now become an ongoing policy-in 1979, military equipment worth $12 billion, including 60 F-15 fighter-bombers, five times the previous year's arms sales to Israel, was sold to one of Israel's most resolute foes...

...Already there is much less antagonism and suspicion than there was three or four or six months ago There are different points of view-that's healthy The Jewish community has good spokesmen, I work with them They aren't a monolithic community, but they are united on basics-on the basic question of security for Israel Carter is a compassionate person, sensitive to the feelings and aspirations of all Americans He maybe even has a particular affinity for Jewish fears and viewpoints, because of his background, his dedication to human rights...

...Those people sympathetic to Israel were effectively excluded from decision-making by Brzezinski and Hamilton Jordan, and ultimately by the President It became a White House that didn't like dissenting views The tone has been hostile Brzezinski at Columbia said the creation of Israel was 'illogical and irrational ' The peace treaty...

...I begin by quoting to him Howard Squadron's description of what he calls Carter's "two-track" policy On the one hand, the Administration is overtly anti-PLO and will stay so unless and until the PLO acccepts Resolution 242 and relinquishes terrorism, on the other hand, the Administration is continually hoping to persuade the PLO to do these things...