Tarnished Republican Star Throws in Towel

WASHINGTON: President Clinton dispatched a planeload of bomb detection equipment and experts to Israel Tuesday, showing his commitment to preserving the Mideast peace process. Officials would not reveal the contents of the shipment other than to say it included communications equipment aimed at helping Israel coordinate its anti-terrorist efforts with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. "Clinton wants very badly to support the peace process, but the question is what can he do," TIME's J.F.O. McAllister says. "Much like the Patriot missiles in the Gulf War, this equipment will help make Israel more secure ." However, the effectiveness of this initiative remains to be seen. "I suppose it will be marginally helpful, but there is not much you can do to combat suicide bombers," TIME's Dean Fischer predicts. Meanwhile, at a campaign stop in New York Bob Dole said Congress might cut aid to the Palestinian Authority if Arafat's government can not combat terrorist attacks. The White House dismissed Dole's threat as campaign rhetoric, and experts say it would be ineffective. "That would be counterproductive," Fisher says. "Arafat is very important in the equation. He holds a lot if influence over a large percentage of Palestinians. Israel can't afford to fight Hamas alone."SALT LAKE CITY: Congresswoman Enid Greene Waldholtz, a star GOP freshman accused of mishandling her campaign finances, announced Tuesday that she will not seek re-election to Congress this year. Waldholtz said that she would be unable to represent her Utah constituents because she was too busy taking care of her young daughter and trying to clear her name of the wrongdoing of her former husband. The Congresswoman has blamed her estranged husband and former campaign treasurer, Joe Waldholtz, for funneling nearly $2 million in illegal funds into her campaign through an alleged check-kiting scheme. According to TIME correspondent Karen Tumulty, "Her version of events was not really selling." The former corporate lawyer and Gingrich favorite had little chance of reelection anyway, said Tumulty. "We some amazing resurrections but this would have to be a doozy," she said. "If you look at polls, the voters of Utah thought she was at least partially to blame." According to a survey published Dec. 17 by The Salt Lake Tribune, nearly 70 percent of Waldholtz's constituents did not want her to seek reelection and 40 percent believed the hard-line conservative should resign.