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"Finally, and
importantly, many present and former high-ranking
Israeli officials of both major political parties,
and leaders of Jewish communities in America and
Europe, urged the pardon of Mr.
Rich."
-- Outgoing US president
Bill ("That's another fine mess you've got me
into") Clinton explains...
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The Jerusalem Post, February 19, 2001
US
Jewry slams Clinton for blaming Rich pardon on
Jews
By Elli Wohlgelernter
JERUSALEM (February 19) -
American Jewish leaders vigorously condemned
former US president Bill Clinton for shifting the
blame for his pardon of financier Marc Rich onto Jews
and Israelis.
In an opinion column in The New York Times, Clinton
listed eight reasons for pardoning Rich, the first seven
dealing only with the legal and technical merits of the
case.
No. 8 read: "Finally, and importantly, many present and
former high-ranking Israeli officials of both major
political parties, and leaders of Jewish communities in
America and Europe, urged the pardon of Mr. Rich."
"I think he should not use the Jews as scapegoats," said
Ronald Lauder, chairman of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, whose
members arrived here yesterday for their annual leadership
mission. "This was done for reasons that should be just
based on the merits of the case; and by bringing Israel into
this, it's unfair to Israel."
A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office,
however, said Prime Minister Ehud Barak's inner
circle does not feel that Clinton is trying blame Israel or
the Jews for the Rich pardon.
"He spelled out eight reasons for the pardon, and the
last one had to do with Israel," the official said. "So
what?"
But Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of
the conference, said Clinton's comments were "very
unfortunate and inappropriate."
Hoenlein said that while one can raise the issue over the
appropriateness of Israeli intervention, "clearly the
president's motivations listed in the first seven reasons -
which were based on legal considerations and other
considerations - were really dominant."
"I think it would be very unfortunate for the onus to be
placed on Israel and Israeli officials, in a matter that is
purely an American domestic legal issue."
Harvey Blitz, president of the Union of Orthodox
Jewish Congregations of America, said it was "inappropriate
for the president to hide behind the Jewish community in
trying to justify this action that he took. It was his job
to evaluate the context in which these pardons were granted,
and in the context of a fugitive from justice, whatever the
foreign policy considerations were. It was for him to judge,
and not to later comment that he was doing it in support of
the Jews."
A couple of organizational leaders pointed out that while
Clinton blames Jewish pressure for the Rich pardon, it was
not a factor in the issue of pardoning Jonathan
Pollard.
"It is deplorable that Bill Clinton would state that that
was the principle reason for his pardoning Marc Rich, when
of course he had the same pressures from the same community
in both Israel and America demanding Pollard's release, and
that meant nothing to him," said Mort Klein, national
president of the Zionist Organization of America.
Seymour Reich, a former chairman of the Presidents
Conference, said, "If he wanted to please the Jewish
community and the State of Israel, he could just as easily
have pardoned Pollard, and he would have found that he would
have had support from a broad segment of the community."
(Herb Keinon contributed to this report.)
