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December 8, 2000/Kislev 11, 5761, Vol. 53, No.11
Bush nominees under close watch
MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - Flying above the West Bank and visiting the Golan Heights during a 1998 trip to Israel, George W. Bush apparently began to see the complexities of the Middle East.
The Middle East has changed dramatically in the 24 months since Bush's trip to Israel, which included a lengthy discussion with then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Life has changed for the governor as well. He is now, in his eyes and the eyes of many, the president-elect of the United States.
As the legal battle over the votes in Florida continues, Bush and running mate Dick Cheney have begun identifying key members of a Bush administration.
In the Jewish community, all eyes are on Bush's likely nominees to signal the direction of his international and domestic policies.
Two key Jewish names being mentioned for Cabinet level posts are Stephen Goldsmith, the former mayor of Indianapolis who has been Bush's domestic policy guru, and Paul Wolfowitz, an undersecretary of defense during the administration of Bush's father.
Most analysts predict that Bush will not devote the same level of time and energy to the Middle East conflict that President Clinton did.
To the extent that a Bush administration focuses on the region, the job is likely to fall to the State Department.
Bush's chief foreign policy advisers during the campaign were Wolfowitz, Gen. Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Condoleezza Rice, a Stanford University professor.
Meanwhile, some Jewish observers will be watching to see what role, if any, is given to James Baker, the former secretary of state.
Baker, seen by many Jews as hostile to Israel, incurred the wrath of the established Jewish community during a nasty fight over loan guarantees to Israel in the early 1991.
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