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American Jews Tread Softly on Road Map during War in Iraq
(Ha'aretz) - Nathan Guttman The American Jewish community appears critical of both the content of the road-map plan and the timing of its publication, but criticism of this kind is not easily expressed while America is at war. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice on March 14 that President Bush's announced intention to push the road map in the near future created a link between the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - a link that Israel and the U.S. Jewish community have been trying to dismantle since the conflict in Iraq began. Foxman defines the linkage as "a dangerous precedent." Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, says the road map plan poses real problems relating to Israel's security. He believes there is a need to wait to hear Israel's official position on the plan, but stresses that if Israel does express reservations, the U.S. Jewish community will come to its assistance. American Jewish community representatives emphasize Israel's commitment to Bush's June 24 speech and that it is important to preserve the agenda laid out by the U.S. president. The prevailing view in the American Jewish community is that the road map will not be submitted to the sides before an end to the central part of the war in Iraq, and that America will not come out with a comprehensive Middle East initiative before it knows how things in Iraq are developing.