Let George Do It

By Janice Castro

West European leaders have remained mostly mum as PRESIDENT BUSH has gone toe to toe with the Israelis over the housing-loan guarantees they have requested to help them absorb new Soviet immigrants. But behind the scenes, many Europeans are delighted. They have told Washington officials that by insisting that peace talks and an Israeli pledge to halt settlements in the occupied territories must come before the money, Bush is demonstrating a long-overdue evenhandedness to the Arabs as the delicate negotiations loom. Says a senior French diplomat: "At last Bush is stopping the tail wagging the dog. Without that, the peace talks would be doomed from the start." So why not support him in public? Says a European diplomat: "We don't want to be accused of anti- Semitism."

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart