LOCAL ELECTIONS: CONGRESS : Candidates at Odds on Palestinian Issue : Campaign: Issue reflects different stands of Democrats’ Mel Levine, GOP’s David Barrett Cohen.

This is how U.S. Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica) and his Republican challenger, David Barrett Cohen, spent last weekend:

Levine joined actress Amy Irving and other cast members at an opening-night party in Hollywood for Wendy Wasserstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “The Heidi Chronicles.”

Cohen put on a Samoan reed skirt and danced bare-chested at a Friday night fund-raising luau in Carson.

This is not to say that Levine shrinks from the physical. A Dodger fan who relaxes by swatting at balls in automated batting cages, he was recently photographed in mid-kick at his graduation ceremony from a karate course.

Or that Cohen is superficial. The West Los Angeles attorney has come up with ideas of his own for peace in the Middle East, ideas that are not likely to endear him to Israel’s supporters in California’s 27th Congressional District.

Levine, scion of an old Los Angeles Jewish family, is one of Israel’s most outspoken supporters on Capitol Hill. Cohen, who is half-Samoan, says the United States should work for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The two lawyers are running for the seat that Levine has held for four terms, representing a coastal district that stretches from Santa Monica to the South Bay.

But Levine, often spoken of as a possible candidate for Alan Cranston’s U.S. Senate seat in 1992, may well be running his last race for the House of Representatives.

But he insisted in an interview that any other ambitions are on hold.

“I love being in the House and I’m focused on getting reelected in ’90 and serving in ’91 and ‘92,” Levine said. He had built a massive $1.6-million war chest by the middle of May.

A strong environmentalist, Levine has been a leader in the fight to protect Santa Monica Bay and resist offshore oil drilling.

He has introduced legislation to create a federally chartered corporation to assist American high-tech industries in their competitive battle with Japanese companies.

His opponent said he changed his party registration to Republican in January of last year after becoming disenchanted with the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Michael S. Dukakis.

Cohen said he has raised more than $40,000 in contributions, and has also lent his campaign $33,000 of his own money.

The challenger has been attacking Levine in commercials on cable television, accusing the lawmaker of being a top recipient of contributions from savings and loans, citing a report from the public interest group Common Cause. The GOP candidate also contends that Levine has not moved swiftly enough to protect aerospace jobs in the South Bay, including those provided by an Air Force base in El Segundo.

The two candidates, both of whom are Jewish, are sharply divided on the subject of Israel. Cohen advocates a “two-state solution” that would lead to creation of an independent Palestine on land now held by Israel, which he accuses of “trying to forcibly occupy a population of 1.7 million people against its will.”

Arguing against Israel’s refusal to negotiate with the Palestine Liberation Organization, he maintained that “Palestinians have a right to choose their own leaders, and it is not for the Israelis or Americans to dictate who their leaders will be.”

Cohen acknowledges that this is an unorthodox position. “Unique. I’m the only mainstream American candidate for Congress who has called for a two-state solution,” he said.

For his part, Levine said that PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat has been Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s proxy since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait inflamed passions in the occupied territories.

Calling him the “least responsible actor” in the region, Levine said that Arafat has been “trying to increase the level of violence and incite violent behavior in the region, despite promises to contain himself over the last several years.”

Responding to a request from the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council to comment on the recent clash between Israeli police and a crowd of Arab demonstrators in Jerusalem, Cohen said he supported the Bush Administration’s denunciation of the use of excessive force.

Levine said: “Passing a UN (Security Council) resolution condemning Israel before we know what the facts are, and then sending a fact-finding mission, is like rendering a verdict before you have the trial.

“I have always felt that the United States should and does support Israel’s survival within secure borders on one hand, and legitimate rights for the Palestinians on the other hand,” he added.

In an unusual move, Cohen sent a mailer to Inglewood--the portion of the district containing the largest concentration of black voters--accusing Levine and his political allies of taking black voters for granted and treating the city “like a voting plantation for Mel Levine.”

So far, Levine has refused to debate his challenger, although he said he would be willing to meet him, if Cohen apologizes to Levine and to Inglewood voters for the brochure.

Peace and Freedom Party candidate Edward F. Errer is also on the ballot.

Times staff writer George Hatch contributed to this story.

OTHER RACES: Overview of four local congressional races. J14

27TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT The district: Santa Monica, part of West Los Angeles, Mar Vista, Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, part of Inglewood, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Lawndale, part of Torrance and Terminal Island.

Candidate Party Mel Levine (inc.) Democrat David Barrett Cohen Republican Edward Ferrer Peace and Freedom

Voter Registration Registered Percent Democrats 149,392 53.9% Republicans 94,611 34.2 Independents 26,988 9.7 Minor Parties* 6,090 2.2 Total 277,081

* American Independent, Peace and Freedom, Libertarian and miscellaneous

Voting History: Levine trounced GOP challenger Dennis Galbraith 68% to 30% in 1988, and Democrat Dukakis defeated Bush in the district by 54% to 44%. But in the 1984 presidential election, the district went for Reagan over Mondale by 52% to 46%.