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Editorial
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THE JEWISH NEWS
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A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
The
Never - Ending
Progress
of
Israel
Commentary
Page 2
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
xxxvi I I, No. 19
1001ZingilonSLp
17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—VE 8-9364—Detroit 35, January 6, 1961
$5.00 Per Year; Single Copy
15c
Distortion of Prime Minister's
Zionist Speech Creates Furor
(Special to The Jewish News)
Eshkol Fights to Mend Rifts
in. Israel Over Lavon Case
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News)
Israel's Finance Minister Levi
JERUSALEM
—
Eshkol spent this week pleading with members of the
Israel Cabinet and with leaders of the Mapai Party to
prevent the resignation of Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion over his rift with Pinhas Lavon, Secretary- .
, General of the Histadrut-
Israel's Federation of Labor
— by adopting a solution
. which would be satisfactory
to all sides involved.
Eshkol's effort seems to
go in the direction of satis-
fying the Prime Minister—
who does not recognize the
exoneration by the Cabinet
of Lavon as responsible for
the failure of a 1954 action
by the Defense Department
—but at the same time not
to reverse the Cabinet de-
Levi Eshkol •
cision which exonerated
Lavon.
The proposed compromise seems to be that an
Investigation Committee be established which should
(Continued on Page 3)
JERUSALEM — The severity of criticisms of Prime Minister David Ben-
Gurion's World Zionist Congress speech by American Jewish leaders amazed
American and other delegates here.
The feeling was prevalent among delegates that the critics made a mountain
out of a molehill. The extremism of the attacks shocked even many religious
leaders.
The general viewpoint concurs in the view of Dr. Nahum Goldmann, presi-
dent of the World 'Zionist Organization, that Ben-Gurion's attitude was distorted.
The emphasis on minor challenges by Ben-Gurion on Aliyah was magnified out of
proportion to their significance.
After a week of long speeches the spokesmen of all parties at the Congress
are settling down to the major aims of the movement. The composition of the
World Zionist Executive created a minor crisis, but the Congress is expected to con-
clude amicably Monday.
Ben-Gurion, in an interview given to the Associated • Press, said that his
speech at the Zionist Congress which provoked criticism on the part of the Jew-
ish organizations in the United States because of his reference to Orthodox Jews
who do not settle in Israel, was in no way meant to be offensive to American
Jewry. He emphasized that his words and his intentions have been "distorted"
in reports which appeared in American newspapers.
. "It appears that the totality of what I had to say on the subject has got lost
through quite improportional stress that has been laid on some passages which
were themselves not properly related abroad," the Prime Minister stated.
"In fact, in my speech I put the emergence of the American Jewish com-
munity as a positive development in Jewish life on a par with the miracle of Israel's
rebirth which helped Jewry to withstand the great blows of the isolation and para-
lysis of Soviet Jewry for the last 40 years and the holocaust in Europe at the hands
of the Nazis.
"It is true I am deeply concerned that Judaism in the free lands may gradu-
ally be weakened unless positive action is taken. But truly you know that this
concern I share with Jewish leadership everywhere, including the United States.
(Continued on Page 32)
_Fear Outbursts Before Eichmann Trial
By
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
JERUSALEM—Fears are spreading that
there will be a worldwide outburst of. anti-
Semitic manifestations before the opening
of the Eichmann trial here on March 6.
"We are terrified by the possibility of a
new wave of swastika-smearing," Dr. Mau-
rice Perlzweig, chairman of the World Jew-
ish Congress foreign affairs department,
stated here.
, Perlzweig left Jerusalem today to present
his accumulated facts at a meeting of the
United Nations Subcommission on Human
Rights, in New York, scheduled for Tuesday.
The UN commission may take steps to deal
with an impending crisis that is expected to
develop on the eve of the trial of Eichmann.
This correspondent was told in Rome,
last week, by leaders of the Italian Jewish
community, that anti-Semitic manifesta-
tions may occur again, similar to those
that took place last year, as a protest of
Jew-baiters against the trial of Eichmann,
Nazi hangman charged with the execution
of 6,000,000 Jews.
"We especially expect trouble in Argen-
tina," Perlzweig said. "Wherever there are
Nazi, Fascist or other anti-Semitic cells,
there may be attempts to revive hatred
against Jewry, and the Eichmann trial may
prove the pivot for them."
Strict security measures are being set
up in Jerusalem preparatory to completion
of arrangements.
The understanding reached with Dr.
Robert Servatius, of 6Cologne, Germany,
that Israel will pay the $20,000 sum
needed for the preparation of defense
data, now indicates that there will be no
delays in the scheduled official opening
of the trial on March 6.
There is feverish activity for the com-
pletion of the Beth HaAm, the • Jerusalem
Community Center that will be used for the
first time for the trial.
The Beth HaAm—the literal meaning of
which is "the people's hall"—is located on
Bezalel Street, next to the Menorah Club-
house, near the corner of Henatzi street.
Maximum security has been set up during
the final construction of the building, and
only the laborers who have been thoroughly
briefed are being permitted to see the inside
of the hitherto unused Center.
Beth HaAm is in an old area of the New
City of Jerusalem. There are a number of
synagogues nearby and a row of new apart-
ment houses is being completed in the two
blocks surrounding the projected court-
house.
Special power lines already are being
set up for the broadcasting aad televising
of the trial proceedings.
It is now considered a certainty that the
350 newsmen who have been accredited to
cover the trial may not be admitted into the
courtroom itself, but will be seated in an
adjoinina room into which the proceedings
will first b be brought via a special television
screen and loud speakers.
The reason for such an extreme security
measure is obvious. Israel iE anxious to pro-
vide fullest protection to Eichmann, and
even the most unimaginable attempt at
vengeance is being guarded against.
The attitude of the Israeli government
reflects the viewpoints of most of the people
of the Jewish State. While there are hun-
dreds of thousands of survivors from Nazism
who have found haven from Hitlerism, and
many hundreds of them were personal wit-
nesses to Eichmann's actions, there are very
few who advocate the death penalty for him.
The consensus of opinion is that capital
punishment will not be enforced even in
Eichmann's instance. The death penalty
is outlawed here—except for treason and
for Nazi crimes—yet there is the feeling,
countrywide, that Israel should not have
it on its conscience that it had condemned
to death even an arch criminal.
The deep resentment that was originally
felt here over the decision of the Israel
government to cover the $20,000 cost for
Dr. Servatius in conducting the Eichmann
defense has vanished. It is now generally
recognized here that even a "mass murder-
er"—as the charge relates to Eichmann—is
entitled to an attorney, and coverage of
defense costs is tantamount to providing
Eichmann with counsel for defense.
The prosecution now is gathering evi-
dence from all over the world. The first
factual documentary material has just
reached Israel from Hungary and is being
reviewed by the Governmental Bureau 06.
Servatius, who has just left Israel for
Germany, there to complete his defense,
has definitely ascertained that Eichmann
will plead "not guilty"; that while he will
"admit the fact" of the death of millions
of Jews, he will deny that there were six
million dead and will claim that the
number was considerably less. He will also
deny that he was primarily responsible
for the mass extermination.
Eichmann, according to Servatius, has
no intention of expressing "regret" over the
Nazi crimes, but will instead say "I am
sorry."
Servatius also has ascertained that Eich-
mann thus far has written 4,000 pages of
his life's story, signing each page.
(See Related Story Page 3)