Politics 88 : Jewish Issues Still Confront Jackson in N.Y.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson sought Sunday to emphasize what he said was the “real New York agenda” of crumbling infrastructure and rampant homelessness, but found himself confronted by continuing criticism from Jewish leaders about his views on Israel and the Middle East.

Jackson had tried to shift the primary campaign from its focus on the Jewish issue by marching across the closed-down Williamsburg Bridge between Brooklyn and Manhattan and visiting a welfare hotel to call attention to what he said was his commitment to “rebuild bridges and build houses.”

But his day was dominated by a less publicized closed-door meeting with an ad hoc group of Jewish leaders. The brunch was hosted by R. Peter Straus, a Jewish businessman and Jackson supporter. But though Straus and others described Sunday’s brunch as “frank and useful,” few participants said they had been persuaded to support Jackson, and some were angered by what they said was Jackson’s refusal to “repudiate” the policies of Louis Farrakhan, the militant Black Muslim leader who was associated with Jackson’s 1984 campaign.

Accounts of Meeting

Notes taken by a Jackson aide and confirmed as accurate by participants show that when asked about Farrakhan, Jackson said:

“I disagree with Farrakhan both morally and religiously. I also disagree with people who said at that time, ‘kill him,’ and many people were saying that. I do not agree that Judaism is a gutter religion. I have a different view of the Christian-Jewish connection than that.”

But one participant, Rabbi Mark Golub, said that when Jackson was specifically asked to “repudiate” Farrakhan, he “danced around the question.”

Jackson also took some blows from New York Mayor Edward I. Koch, who scored him for “lying” and not being able to handle stress. Koch, who is supporting Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., said on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley” that Jackson had lied when he said he was the last person to speak with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. before he died. And “when under stress again . . . he uttered the words ‘Hymietown,’ ” Koch said, referring to Jackson’s 1984 characterization of New York City for which Jackson apologized.

“I’m not faulting him for that in this election,” the mayor said. He added he was “faulting him for lying . . . do you want a President who under stress is not capable of telling the truth?”