From: ziad@eng.umd.edu (Ziad K. Cheiban)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.lebanon
Subject: Re: pro-Israeli Lobby
Date: 9 Nov 92 19:30:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: eng.1992Nov09.193040.11984
Organization: Project GLUE, University of Maryland, College Park

From The Washington Post of Thursday Nov.5

    Israel Lobby's Chief Quits After
    --------------------------------
Insider Boasts to Caller Turn Up in Print
-----------------------------------------
	The president of  the American
    Israel Public Affairs Committee, the
    nation's largest pro-Israel lobby,
    has resigned after being secretly
    tape-recorded boasting that AIPAC
    was "negotiating" with the Clinton
    campaign about key appointments,
    and claiming he "cut a deal" with
    then-Secretary of State James A.
    Baker III to get Israel extra aid.
	David Steiner, a New Jersey real
    estate developer who has been an
    active political donor, said in a
    statement Friday that he was
    resigning because some statements
    he made in a phone call two weeks
    ago "went beyond overzealousness
    and exaggeration and were simply
    and totally untrue." Steiner did not
    return a call to his office yesterday.
	Steiner was taped by New York
    businessman Harry Katz, who
    called the AIPAC leader Oct. 22,
    posing as someone who was considering
    donating $100,000 to pro-Israel
    congressional candidates.
    Steiner recommended helping Sen.
    Robert W. Kasten Jr. (R-Wis.) and
    cited personal help he had given
    Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and
    Rep. Les Aspin (D-Wis.).
	Katz sent the tape to Washington
    Times, which published an
    article on it Wednesday.
	Katz, 42, an AIPAC member and
    a financial consultant from Queens,
    said in an interview that he tricked
    Steiner because "I don't think the
    Jewish lobby should have disproportionate
    political power." He added:
    "I wanted him to admit to me the
    incredible infiltration of the Israel
    lobby into the campaign." He said
    he has been in legal fights with other
    Jewish organizations.
	A transcript of the interview
    shows that Steiner told Katz: "We
    have a dozen people in his [Clinton's]
    headquarters ...and they're
    all going to get big jobs." He also
    said "we're negotiating" with the
    Clinton camp on who might be secretary
    of state. Asked who he was
    hoping for, Steiner replied: "I've got
    a list. But I can't really go through
    it. I'm not allowed to talk about it."
	An AIPAC official, who asked not
    to be quoted by name, said there
    was no such list  and the group had
    no discussion with the Clinton campaign
    about possible appointments.
    In informing the AIPAC executive
    committee of the resignation Tuesday,
    officials noted that Steiner had
    major heart surgery in June and had
    been under stress since then.
	Avis Lavelle a spokesman for
    the Clinton campaign, said, "We are
    not negotiating with anybody about
    any job.
	Steiner also said in his talk with
    Katz that he had met with Baker and
    "cut a deal with him." Besides Israel's
    $3 billion a year in U.S. foreign
    aid, "I got almost a billion dollars in
    other goodies that people don't even
    know about." He cited $700 million
    in U.S. equipment the Army is giving
    to Israel and $200 million in
    "prepositioned" U.S. supplies.
	Steiner told Katz that AIPAC did
    not endorse candidates but he named
    as personal choices Kasten (who was
    defeated Tuesday), Inouye and Sen.
    Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.).
	Noting their pro-Israel records,
    Steiner said, "I believe in political
    loyalty, and if someone has been
    good  for Israel, no matter who, if
    my brother would run against them,
    I would support them."
	Steiner said he offred to sign a
    bank loan to help Aspin, adding,
    "We commissioned a poll" for Inouye
    and had "to raise $27,000 to
    pay for it." He asked Katz if he had
    children who could write checks to
    candidates. An AIPAC spokeswoman
    said the group was unaware of
    any poll for Inouye.
	Steiner gave the maximum
    $50,000 to federal candidates in this
    election cycle, including, $1,000 to
    Aspin, the maximum $2,000 to Kasten,
    and $5,000 to the Wisconsin
    Republican Party, according to the
    Federal Election Commission. He
    gave $66,500 in personal funds to
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