Jackson Key Issue in Tarzana Debate on Presidency

An emotionally charged debate on the 1988 presidential election at a Tarzana synagogue Sunday focused on the role of the Rev. Jesse Jackson in the Democratic Party and elicited both hearty applause and loud heckling from the nearly 300 people who attended.

Hyman Bookbinder, an adviser on the Middle East to Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, charged that the Republicans have been running a campaign of “filthy, scare tactics,” inciting a fear of anti-Semitism in a Democratic administration. Jackson was quoted as making anti-Semitic remarks during the 1984 presidential race.

“What they’ve done . . . is scare the living daylights out of the Jewish community by trying to convince them that when they elect Dukakis, they’re really electing Jesse Jackson,” Bookbinder said. “It’s a lot of nonsense.”

Although he called Jackson “a very serious problem and challenge” for the Jewish community, Bookbinder said that on such issues as health care, the environment, civil rights and services for the needy, the Democratic Party best serves Jewish interests. He cited a recent national poll in which Jewish support of Dukakis was four times greater than that for Bush.

‘Pro-Israel Administration’

Michael Medved, a television film critic representing Vice President George Bush, said the Democratic Party no longer best serves Jewish concerns.

He called the Reagan Administration “the most pro-Israel Administration in American history” and said he believes that Dukakis would reduce military aid to Israel.

“The reality is that the Democratic Party has been engaged in the process of placating the most prominent anti-Semite in America: the Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson,” Medved said.

Several people complained that the debate centered on Jackson and military aid for Israel instead of broader issues of national importance.

“I’m a Jew, but I’m an American first,” said Larry Daniels, a Bush supporter. “I don’t think we ought to just focus on the Jews and the issues of Israel.”

Ruth Fernbach, who plans to vote for Dukakis, agreed. “I’m a big supporter of Israel, but I feel my intelligence is insulted,” she said. “We’re not electing the Israeli president, we’re electing an American president. They should have talked about issues in the United States--the homeless, the hungry, the budget, the deficit.”