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June 21, 2002/Tamuz 11 5762, Vol. 54, No. 40
Jewish groups anxious over Bush speech
SHARON SAMBER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - The apparent confusion within the Bush administration over the White House's next step in Middle East peacemaking is breeding consternation among American Jewish groups.
With conflicting messages emerging from various parts of the administration, groups were waiting in anticipation of a presidential speech that could include a call for an interim Palestinian state.
Until the administration plan is revealed and President Bush lays out specific proposals, Jewish groups have little to go on. Still, American Jewish groups also are working hard to stress certain points they consider crucial.
Yet those points span the ideological spectrum of American Jewry, with some warning the administration not to reward Palestinian terrorism and others saying the Palestinians must be offered diplomatic gains as an inducement to stop attacking Israel.
Whatever vision Bush lays out, it must be based on performance benchmarks - not a strict timeline - according to Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
"It's all contingent on improvements on the security front," he said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee urged President Bush not to rush to call for the creation of a Palestinian state. The group urged the president to reject the advice of those "pressing him to endorse a 'timeline' or an 'interim state' that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state before the Palestinian leadership rejects terrorism."
The pro-Israel lobby is "not opposed to a Palestinian state," AIPAC spokeswoman Rebecca Needler said, but believes one created now under Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat would become a "state sponsor of terror."
Last week, the Zionist Organization of America, a hawkish group, lobbied U.S. officials to stop pressuring Israel, to cut diplomatic relations with Arafat, to end all U.S. aid to the Palestinians and to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state.
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