Last week’s speech by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) blasting President Bill Clinton’s behavior in the Monica Lewinsky affair has spurred new talk in Jewish political circles about a presidential resignation.

So far, it is just that — private talk. But several Jewish leaders say Lieberman’s tough speech — and a growing feeling in Washington that the administration is all but paralyzed — have dramatically changed Clinton’s standing in the Jewish world.

American Jewish leaders, jarred by the accelerating economic and political chaos in Russia, are privately beginning to discuss contingency plans for coming to the aid of Russia’s vulnerable Jewish population.
Their concern is being fueled by rising panic among Jews who fear a wave of anti-Semitism as rubles evaporate into thin air and communists crank up their efforts to unseat President Boris Yeltsin.
But some wonder if Jewish communal institutions here are prepared for the consequences of a full-scale meltdown in Russia.