FOREIGN RELATIONS: Curbing the J.D.L.

Since the tiny but fanatical Jewish Defense League began systematically harassing Soviet diplomats and their families in New York City and occasionally in Washington, the question of how to end such outrages has grown increasingly grave. To hear some Russians tell it, the league’s bullying is as great a stumbling block to improved Soviet-U.S. relations as Viet Nam and the Middle East. Hyperbolic, perhaps, but understandably so, for the Soviet diplomatic community is genuinely revolted and frightened by the J.D.L.’s tactics. The Russians are also increasingly concerned over what they see as the inability or unwillingness of the U.S. to curb the J.D.L.

Last week in New York, U.S. Treasury agents took a tentative step in that direction, arresting the league’s acid-tongued leader, Rabbi Meir D. Kahane, and six of his followers. The seven were seized on federal warrants charging conspiracy to violate the Gun Control Act of 1968 by transporting weapons into the New York area. Within hours, Kahane was free on $25,000 bail and, ironically, charging persecution. Moreover, Kahane concluded a bizarre alliance with Joseph A. Colombo Sr., a reputed Mafia member and founder of the Italian-American Civil Rights League, to fight what both termed harassment by the Federal Government. The question remains whether the U.S. Government or even the New York City police could have moved against the J.D.L. in a more straightforward manner.

Obscenities. The Russians seem to believe so. They talk of living in a state of siege. Wives of diplomats say that they hesitate to venture out alone, even to neighborhood supermarkets, for fear of being followed or bothered by insults and obscenities. Last week the nine-year-old daughter of Nikolai Loginov, a first secretary to the Soviet U.N. Mission, was subjected to obscenities shouted by a group on the roof of the Park East Synagogue, directly across from the mission on East 67th Street. Says Loginov: “Can you imagine? To a little girl.”

There have been more serious incidents. Early this month, according to Loginov, a chauffeured limousine carrying the wife of the Byelorussian permanent representative and her daughter was forced off the road by a car. The occupants jumped out and began pounding and rocking the limousine, all the while shouting J.D.L. slogans.

Soviet resentment is growing. “Look,” says Loginov, “I have lived here for three years and I know how your police treat the Black Panthers. I know what happened to those peaceful demonstrators in Washington. When your police want to stop demonstrators, they do. But in our case they don’t.” State Department spokesmen contend that Kahane’s arrest last week proved that at least the Government and the police are trying.

The crux of the problem is that the J.D.L. is normally very careful not to stray too far outside the letter of the law—defamation or physical assault, for example—and that even when members do, the Soviets seldom permit their diplomats to bring charges and testify in court. The Russians claim that testifying is not their responsibility, that it is up to the U.S. to protect them. But without Soviet cooperation, little can be done. The situation is complicated by the highly emotional aura that surrounds the J.D.L. Most responsible Jewish leaders oppose the J.D.L., but they are also sympathetic to the cause of Soviet Jewry, for which the J.D.L. says it fights.

The remaining ways to curb the J.D.L. are few. A mass roundup of J.D.L. members would be illegal. Some have suggested that new laws are needed. In Washington, for example, it is illegal to demonstrate within 500 feet of an embassy. At present, the best course is probably for law-enforcement officials to try to make a strong case against J.D.L. members if there is evidence that they are breaking existing laws—as in the latest charges against Kahane. That may well deter the more offensive assaults on Soviet diplomats and their families.

Incredulous. One last, unlikely resort remains. Suppose, it was suggested to a John Lindsay aide, that the mayor were to come striding out of his office and bark: “I don’t care how you do it, I want the harassment of the Soviet diplomats in this city stopped!” Well, said the Lindsay man, the first call would go to the police commissioner. The second would go from the commissioner to his legal counsel. The counsel would quickly burrow into lawbooks to see if there might not be some handy old statutes tucked away. Meanwhile the commissioner would send the word down: “Smother them.” In all likelihood, the department would put so many cops on the street in and around the Russians that the J.D.L. would quickly become the victims of harassment—legal, on the whole—instead of the perpetrators. The cops, too, would act as witnesses, which would get around the problem of diplomatic reluctance to testify. The operation would be very expensive, and it might well have no long-term effect. But there is no doubt that it would bring the unpleasantness to an end, at least temporarily.

Could it happen? Replied the aide incredulously: “In this city? With this Jewish vote? You gotta be kidding.”