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August 1, 2003/Av 3 5763, Vol. 55, No. 49
Jewish groups laud Abbas
JOE BERKOFSKY
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas is trying to convince American Jewish leaders and Bush ad-ministration officials that he's no Yasser Arafat.
In a White House meeting July 25 and in a meeting with Jewish leaders the day before, Abbas presented himself as a moderate and a supporter of a peaceful, two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I'm gaining confidence in the Palestinian prime minister and the great Cabinet," Bush said, de-scribing them as "people who do what they say."
Many of the 50 or so Jewish leaders who attended the July 24 meeting in Wash-ington came away similarly impressed.
Abbas "is a breath of fresh air," said Michael Bohnen, chairman of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella group for Jewish community relations councils and national organizations.
"There's a certain amount of trust now" in Abbas, added Marvin Lender, chairman of the executive committee of the Israel Policy Forum, a Washington group that supports Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives.
The JCPA and IPF or-ganized the meeting at Abbas' request.
At the White House, Abbas told Bush that violence would continue "if Israel continues to grab Palestinian land," citing especially Israel's construction of a fence to keep terrorists from infiltrating from the West Bank.
Bush told Abbas that Palestinian terrorism must stop and that the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel should be examined "on a case by case basis" - the Palestinians are de-manding a mass release of thousands of prisoners - but he too criticized the security fence, which he called a "wall."
"I think the wall is a problem and I've discussed that with" Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Bush said.
For many of the Jewish officials, the July 24 meeting was their first with Abbas, who was appointed when the United States and Israel said any progress in negotiations required a change in Pal-estinian leadership.
One Jewish leader who did not attend remained doubtful that Abbas represents real change.
"The only difference between Abbas and Arafat is that Abbas shaves and wears a suit," said Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America.
"I am astonished that these Jewish leaders can feel comfortable with a man who, in the past two weeks, has publicly stated he'd never dismantle the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror organizations," he added.
The 90-minute session at the St. Regis Hotel gathered members of a range of Jewish organizations, ranging from left-of-center groups such as the IPF and Americans for Peace Now to more centrist groups such as the JCPA, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee and Hadassah, as well as several major federation leaders.
Abbas told the group that he would seek additional U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority to rebuild infrastructure and make further peace moves.
The White House recently earmarked $20 million in humanitarian funds to the P.A., the first time the United States has designated direct aid to the Palestinian leadership.
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