Purely Commentary:

JNF Provides Israel's Major Defense

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

JERUSALEM — One often meets people
who will say that what they are primarily
interested in is weapons for Israel's defense.
They are blind to the realities of the most
important weapons of all: the people and
their settlements. It is to strengthen them
that Americans' gifts to the UJA, to the JNF
and to other causes are so vital.
It is impossible to relate the entire story
of the great achievements made possible with
the aid of American dollars. The gift dollars
are vital. The Israel Bond investments are

so important that only a tour of major in-
dustries will provide a complete understand-
ing of the country's growth with the help of
American Jewry.
From this vantage point, from the fasci-
nating city of Jerusalem and her environs,
the first thought is for the Jewish National
Fund. Say all you wish about guns and planes
and tanks—and the brave men and women in
the Israeli uniforms. Without the defense
settlements that are being established by the
Jewish National Fund, the defense of Israel
would become impossible.
A ride around Jerusalem provides the de-

THE JEWISH NEWS

A Weekly Review

of Jewish -7 'eras

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B en.G urlon , 4
Hurt as Bomb Roth,*
Israel Parliament

Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper, Incor7

'VOL.

XXXI I — No. 9

17100

W. 7 Mile Rd., Detroit

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swember 1, 1957

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Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News

JERUSALEM — A bomb, thrown from the visitors gallery of the Israel
Knesset, exploded at the cabinet table late Tuesday afternoon seriously
wounding two ministers and slightly injuring at least three others, including
Premier David Ben-Gurion.
The seriously injured, who were immediately hospitalized, were Minister
for. Religion Moshe Shapira and Minister for Transportation Moshe Carmel.
Beside Mr. Ben-Gurion, Foreign Minister Golda, Meir and Health Minister Is-
rael Barzilai were wounded less seriously, but all were hospitalized, except
Barzilai.
An emergency operation was performed on Mr. Shapira Tuesday night,
and he was pronounced out of danger. Mrs. Meir also was removed to a hos-
pital for treatment. Mr. Carmel suffered a broken arm. Mr. Ben-Gurion suf-
fered a torn finger as
well as a minor leg
wound.
The bomb thrower,
identified by police
as a "religious
crank," was reported
to be a recent im-
migrant from Iraq,
MR. SHAPIRA
about 25 years of age.
His name was given as Moshe Ben-
Jacob Douek. Arresting policemen
had to rescue him from the hands of
yisitors in the gallery.
The premier was hit in the leg
MR. BEN-GURION
MRS. GOLDA MEIR
by a bomb splinter, but picked himself
off the floor and walked out of the chamber. Mrs. Meir, also hit in the leg,
was knocked to the floor. Shapira was hit in the abdomen and head, while
Carmel received shoulder wounds.
Eye witnesses said that, after the blast shook the building, members of
the cabinet and deputies took shelter under seats and any other available
cover until it became apparent that no further missies would explode.
The home-made grenade was hurled while Foreign Minister Golda Meir
was speaking on Israel's foreign policy. It bounced off the speaker's rostrum
and rolled under the cabinet table where it exploded.
Douek has been identified as a former inmate of a mental institution.
The condition of Moshe Shapira was reportedly slightly improved
Wednesday morning by Hadassah Hospital after three hours of- emergency
surgery but his condition was described as "still very serious."
Operations also were performed on Prime Minister Ben-Gurion, Foreign
Minister Golda Meir and Minister of Transport Moshe Carmel for removal of
grenade splinters. Police meanwhile questioned 25-year-old Moshe Douek, an

(Continued on

Page 3)

sired evidence of the great defense move-
ment made possible by the JNF. In the first
place, the visitor who has returned to Israel,
as we have, after an eight years' absence,
learns that more than 20 new settlements
have now been fully established here. There
were only five on the outskirts of Jerusalem
after the creation of Medinat Israel.
Thus, as you travel from road to road,
from kvish to kvish, you see Israel settle-
ments next to Arab villages, kibutzim of
Israelis on one side of the border, villages
of Arabs on the other. The latter are yellow
and parched, the Israelis' are green. The lat-
ter dot the area, and it s i rightfully labeled
the green belt.
But it is the area that is in the making
that is especially important. It is a project
like that at Adulam which is most vital. It is
the story of Adulam that I wish - to relate at
this time—and it will be all-too-brief, consid-
ering its strategic value.
Adulam, which the Zionist Organization of
America, jointly with the JNF, has adopted
as its specific project, is more than a reclama-
tion undertaking. It is a people's step towards
greater security and freedom. It is part of
Israel's liberation cry.
At the moment, there is not a single
settler in that area. The JNF has taken an
area of 100,006 dunams of barren, aban-
doned, uncultivated land around Jerusa-
lem, and is planning 17 villages here. Their
importance lies in the fact that this area is
in the Judean hills, that it hugs the Jor-
danian border, that through it invaders
could come and threaten Jerusalem and
perhaps all of Israel. But when the settle-
?r3 ents are established, when the Olini
Hadashim, the new settlers, get there,
when the land begins to blossom—as it
surely will, judging by the experiences of
the past—there will be less need for
sentries and cruns, the settlements being
Israel's surest b defense.
Meanwhile. Israel will be additionally
cultivated. Provision thus will be made for
new settlers. This Adulam area—whose name
is being taken from the cave in which David
went into hiding from Saul (every developed
area seems to reconstruct history here) will
be another garden spot. The Green Belt that
surrounds Jerusalem will be expanded.
JNF leaders have a fine explanation for
Adulam and similar developments. They
point out that while Holland is building
factories, she also drains the Zuider Zee.
Israel, they say, while she utilizes Israel
Bond dollars for tremendous industrial
projects, also drains the swamps, removes
stones from barren areas, reclaims and irri-
gates deserts and turns them into garden
spots.
Tree planting sounds like such a routine
business in the United States! But it is so
vital! The forests that dot the land and sur-
round Israel, the trees that beautify this
country, make every dollar from every tree-
planting project vitally important. Besides,
the trees are like the guns. They are part of
the defense efforts. They protect the people
and with the people they protect the land.
It is no wonder that JNF is so popular
here—that the tree is so loved, that the set-
tlements are such vital marks of Israel's de-
veloping independence.

(See Commentary Page 2; Other storks on

Pages 6, 46, 47 and 48)

This Issue Dedicated to

BALFOUR - ANNIVERSARY

The Jewish News salutes the Zionist Organization of
Detroit on the occasion of its presentation of the

25th ANNIVERSARY
BALFOUR CONCERT

Saturday evening, Nov. 1 6, at Ford Auditorium,
and on the 40th anniversary of the

Balfour Declaration

through which began the fulfillment of prophecy
for the redemption of Zion.

See Editorial, Page 4

Special Balfour Anniversary Feature,
Pages 24 and 25

News Stories of Page 8

