Zschau’s Positions on Israel Spur Criticism from L.A. Jewish Leaders

Four former presidents of the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles are among those preparing a letter that strongly criticizes Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Zschau for his positions on Israel and urges a bipartisan effort by Israel’s supporters to help reelect Democratic Sen. Alan Cranston, a source familiar with the effort told The Times on Friday.

One of the former federation presidents, Los Angeles Democrat Ed Sanders, confirmed in an interview that the letter was being written because Cranston “is one of the strongest and most effective friends that Israel has,” while Zschau is “an unknown quantity at best and, at the least, he has been unfriendly to Israel.”

Zschau, a two-term congressman from Los Altos, was also put on notice Friday by Rabbi Isaiah Zeldon of Stephen S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles that he will be expected to “reassess” his positions when Zschau returns next week from a fact-finding trip to Israel that begins today.

These developments are the opening shots in what promises to be a spirited debate in the Senate campaign. Cranston, who has led numerous battles in the Senate to block arms sales to Arab countries and to increase U.S. aid to Israel, has long enjoyed strong support from American Jews.

Basic Foreign Policy Issue

Sanders said that the effort to help Cranston would emphasize that support for Israel was not just a Jewish issue, but one involving basic U.S. foreign policy.

“I think that the President (Reagan) and the secretary of state have recognized Israel’s importance to the United States to a much greater degree than Mr. Zschau,” Sanders said.

The source familiar with the preparation of the letter, who requested anonymity, said that a major effort was being made to sign up Jewish Republicans to support Cranston.

One such Republican is Ruth Singer, a former chair of the women’s division of the Jewish Federation Council, who said in an interview Friday, “I am committed to supporting Alan Cranston.”

The source said that in addition to Sanders, other former presidents of the Jewish Federation Council who are working on the pro-Cranston letter are Barbi Weinberg, Victor Carter and Irwin H. Goldenberg, all Southern California Democrats.

The Jewish Federation Council is the umbrella organization for Jewish charities and organizations. It does not take political stands, and its leaders are forbidden from taking political stands while in office.

‘Less Than Supportive’

Meanwhile, in his letter to Zschau, sent on Friday, Rabbi Zeldon wrote, “Your actions in Congress have been less than supportive of Israel’s plight for survival among hostile Arab states.”

Zeldon, whose congregation of about 12,000 at the Stephen S. Wise Temple is one of the largest in the world, told Zschau that he was upset with the same actions by the congressman that were mentioned by Sanders. Among them are:

- Zschau’s support last month to sell U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia.

- A 1985 Zschau proposal that would have cut supplemental aid to a number of programs, including some affecting Israel and Egypt.

- The congressman’s support in 1985 for a delay in emergency economic assistance for Israel.

- Zschau’s initial opposition in 1984 to giving the President the authority to set up a free trade zone with Israel.

“I will look forward to hearing from you on your return (from Israel) regarding what specific changes you will make in your positions on future congressional votes of importance to Israel,” Zeldon said in closing his letter to Zschau.

Zschau has defended the positions mentioned in Zeldon’s letter and said that he strongly supports Israel. But he has stressed that he does not view himself as an automatic vote on any issue before Congress.

Sandra Conlan, Zschau’s campaign press secretary, said Zschau had not seen Zeldon’s letter before he flew to Israel Friday evening and would have no response until he had.

Zschau, who visited Israel in 1982, scheduled his current trip after Cranston made it clear he will make the congressman’s House votes on Israel a major campaign issue.