Bush Courts Democratic Jewish Voters : Politics: He praises his record in Middle East and specifically tells what he’s done for Israel. He also questions Clinton’s response to a crisis.

President Bush sought to woo traditionally Democratic Jewish voters Tuesday by stressing his efforts in the Middle East peace process and his support for $10 billion in loan guarantees to Israel.

He also criticized Democratic nominee Bill Clinton’s apparent readiness to support the proposed sale of F-15 jets to Saudi Arabia--but held the door open to approving such a deal himself.

And, in some of his most direct language on the subject, the President contrasted his “line in the sand” approach during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait to Clinton’s response to a congressional resolution supporting military action just before the Persian Gulf War began in January, 1991.

In an appearance before B’nai B’rith, a major Jewish organization, Bush quoted remarks made by the Arkansas governor: “I guess I would have voted with the majority if it was a close vote, but I agree with the arguments the minority made.”

Then Bush said: “Ask yourself where we would be if we had someone in the Oval Office who would have waffled, who would have wavered and wanted to have it both ways.

“We would be facing a nuclear-armed Iraq, dominant in the Middle East with a chokehold on the world’s oil supplies . . . and Iraq threatening Israel’s very existence.”

Missing from the President’s speech was any mention of James A. Baker III, his former secretary of state and now chief of staff, whose pressure on Israel and complaints about lack of Jewish support for Bush soured his relations with Jewish groups in the United States.

Bush announced his approval of the loan guarantees last month, while Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was visiting the United States. But, face to face with a major organization representing a bloc of voters who traditionally vote Democratic, Bush made a special effort to sum up what he’s done for Israel. Jewish voters are particularly significant in some states Bush must carry to win reelection in November--and Bush cannot count on winning the so-called Reagan Democrats that powered him and Ronald Reagan to the White House.

Nationwide, Jews make up roughly 4% of the electorate, but their impact on American politics extends beyond mere numbers because they tend to be politically active and they vote in high numbers.

In addition, strong Jewish support for a candidate in such key states as New York and New Jersey can have a major influence on a close election. That could be particularly true this year, when the coalitions of Southern Democrats and blue-collar workers in the Northeast and Midwest--who supported Bush and Reagan in 1988, 1984 and 1980--are showing signs of crumbling, putting states in those regions up for grabs.

In 1988, Bush received 25% of the Jewish vote to Michael S. Dukakis’ 73%.

In this election, Clinton does not appear particularly vulnerable on such concerns as the Middle East or aid for the elderly, and his views on such social and cultural issues as abortion appear to be more in line with those of Jewish voters.

Nevertheless, Bush forged ahead with his effort on Tuesday, reminding the Jewish audience of his Administration’s efforts--the loan guarantees among the most recent--to smooth the way for immigration to Israel from the former Soviet Union, to end Israel’s international diplomatic isolation and to press ahead with the peace talks among Israel, its Arab neighbors and the Palestinians.

Bush had withheld approval of the guarantees while the conservative Likud governed Israel, citing its refusal to curb settlements in the occupied territories. But he relaxed that stance after the Labor Party and Rabin won control last June. On the sensitive issue of selling the top-of-the-line F-15s to Saudi Arabia, Bush said that no decision has been made, but that consultations on the matter have begun.

“I notice, and I don’t want to--well, I do want to--make this a little bit, put a political spin on this--my opponent the other day in St. Louis, big headline, said that he supported the sale,” Bush said. “When you’re President, you have to do a lot of consultation on this.” The F-15s are made in St. Louis by McDonnell Douglas.

The point, a senior White House official said, “is that these are not the kind of issues you should shoot from the hip on.”

Among the matters that will be brought to bear on the decision, he said, are the impact it would have on jobs in St. Louis, on the Middle East peace process, on the U.S. commitment to help Israel maintain its edge in weaponry, the military balance in the region and Saudi Arabia’s own military needs.

Just last week, Bush came under fire for approving the purchase by Taiwan of 150 F-16 jet fighters, made in politically crucial Texas.

The senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush sought in the speech to make a case that his record on matters of concern to Jewish voters was better than the Jewish community gives him credit for, and to raise questions about Clinton’s response in a crisis.

“Before people in the community make a decision on the vote, they ought to think hard about the record . . . (instead of) the mythology that’s grown up,” the official said.

Times staff writer Doyle McManus, in Washington, and polling director John Brennan, in Los Angeles, contributed to this story.