32 —. Will U. S. Halt Russians In Mideast? Israel Asks Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1957 Philip Slomovitz, editor of the Detroit Jewish News, and Mrs. Slomovitz have been visit- ing in Israel. This is another of his special reports for the Free Press. By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor, The Jewish News TEL AVIV, Israel — Israelis have only two fears — of what Russia may do in the Middle East and what the United States may fail to do to stop Communist in- filtration here. While the enemy supposedly is the Arab, there is little 'fear of what the hostile neighbors may do. The average Israeli believes that the Ara b peoples know his country can stand its ground against them and they will not at- tack Israel. Israelis live within a stone's throw of Arab Slomovitz villages. The en- tire country is one long border. In some areas Israelis and Arabs fraternize across the demarcation lines. BUT EVERY time Russia makes an effort to get a foothold in an Arab land as in the Syrian situa- tion—Israelis show serious con- cern. "Russia already is in the Middle East, that is why we are con- cerned," an important Govern- ment spokesman said. "But what will the United States do? Will your country stop the Russian in- filtrations? • "Will the United States be firm against Communist domin- ation in our area? At the mo- ment we are skeptical about firm United States action, and that is what makes us uneasy." Meanwhile the Israelis are dis- playing deep anxiety over the fate of the remaining 2,500,000 Jews in Russia. Israeli youths who at- tended the Moscow Youth Festi- val have returned here with sad forebodings. They maintain that anti-Semi- ' tism in Russia is assuming violent proportions, that Jews there live in insecurity, but that they fear to speak lest they and their fa- milies should be compelled to suffer an even worse fate at the hands of the Communist terror- ists. * * * "RUSSIAN JEWS followed the Israeli delegation around in — hordes, while we were in Mos- cow," one of the delegates said, "but they dared not get too near to us out of fear that their in- terest in Israel will bring punish- ment. "But often they sent us mes- sages to tell us that they are suffering from anti-Semitism and that they wish they could go to Israel. Often they sent their chil- dren to us to touch us — we seemed to them a symbol of some hope of a better future if they could escape to Israel." One of the delegates reported that an elderly Russian Jewish couple managed to invite him to their shabby one-room home. They opened their hearts, spoke of the bitter feeling against Jews in Russia, and said that although they lost three sons in the war fighting with the Russian Army, their neighbors nevertheless shout the oppro- brious term "Zhid"— "damned Jew"—at them. The returnees from Russia are unanimous in their belief that the vast majority would welcome an opportunity to escape from there and go to Israel. But they are fearful that Russia will never permit it and that Russian Jewry may be doomed at the hands of a people that re- mains anti-Semitic and that is not discouraged by its government in its retention and practice of anti- S emitism. Shetz,er Forest One of Important Sites Shown Visitors in Israel One of the im- portant sites shown visitors from the United States in Is- rael is the Isaac and Simon Shetzer For- est, planted in Is- rael in memory of the eminent father- son team of Detroit leaders who died a year apart, nearly a decade ago. The Shetzer Jewish Na- tional Fund Forest is one of several for- ests planted by De- troiters in Israel. Isaac Shetzer was one of Detroit's most prominent Zionist leaders. He was an outstanding volun- teer for A II i e d Jewish Campaigns and the Community Chest and was pres- ident of Shaarey Ze- dek. His son, Simon, who was president of the Zionist Or- ganization of Detroit from 1929 to 1931, gained prominence as national execu- tive director of the Zionist Organization of America.