f Dead Sea Scrolls, Zealots, Sicarii, Masada Is the story of Masada "an inglorious chapter in the annals of Jewish history? Is "a pseudo-historical chapter on the Zealots, the Sicarii and Masada" being "foisted upon us"? Latest expose by Prof. Solomon Zeitlin, the world's leading authority on the Second Jewish Commonwealth, is analyzed in Purely Commentary, Page 2. HE Zionist Pioneer's JNF Achievements : Harzfeld's Life Told in . 'Village Builder' Review on Page 4 E WS DETROIT A Weekly Review of Jewish Events Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper — Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle VOL. LI I I, NO. 18 27 July 19, 1968 - 17100 W. 7 Mile Rd., Detroit 48235—VE 8-9364 Support for Israel Must Be Bipartisan Iron Curtain Hopes for Survival Jewries' Editorials Page 4 $7.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c , U.S. Believed to Be Seeking 'Flexible' Asrael Attitude; Johnson's Envoys Hold Crucial Conferences in M. E. Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News By MILTON FRI EDMAN JTA and Jewish News Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON — Both Ambassador George Ball, United States envoy to the United Nations, and McGeorge Bundy, formerly President Johnson's closest personal adviser on international security, may have been given instructions to informally urge Israel to be more flexible on the question of direct face-to-face peace negotiations with the ArAs, it was learned Tuesday from high-level administration sources. Meanwhile important Republican Congress- men charged that the administration was de- ::liberately deferring action on the sale of Phantom supersonic jet fighter bombers to Israel to main- tain leverage to influence Israeli policies on peace negotiations. State Department sources said that while Bundy was in Israel for the Ford Foundation, they could not rule out the possibility that President Johnson asked him to quietly ascertain how far George Ball Israel would go in talking to the Arabs through intermediaries. Bundy, who remains in close touch with the President, was given special respon- sibilities on the Middle East at the time of the Six-Day War. Administration officials pointed out that Moscow is now stressing that if the United States hopes for reduction of world tensions and results at the Paris peace talks, the "liquidation of Israeli aggression" must be regarded as dangerous as the Vietnam war. The two issues have been bracketed in recent public statements by Soviet leaders. The State Department said that U.S. policy is aimed at "de-fusing" tensions in the Middle East to avoid a confrontation there with Russia. There is also hope of normalizing relations with Arab states. U.S. feels that "excessive Israeli rigidity" on the negotiations issue is a roadblock to a workable East-West detente in the Middle East. Administration officials are maintaining that Israel does not cur- rently need the 50 Phantom Jets it is seeking and that the issue remains under study in the context of other factors. One point made is that the Russians have recently suggested arms control in the Middle East and apparently withheld new military commitments sought by Egyptian Presi- dent Nasser in Moscow last week. In view of what appears to be fluidity in Moscow's stand on the Arab military buildup, officials said, this is not the right time to introduce the Phantom jets into the region. Israel's ultimate security will be found in accommodation through United Nations mediation along the lines of Gunnar Jarring's efforts or some other intermediary, important executive department authorities have told Congressmen. A warning is beginning to emerge from Israel's friends in Congress that the administration may be seeking an accommodation with Russia and the Arabs at Israel's expense. President Johnson's Letter 'Most Friendly' JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel's need for additional American arma- ments to balance Soviet Russia's continued rearming of the Arabs was stressed by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Foreign Minister Abba Eban in their talks Monday with U.S. Ambassador George Ball and his party. It was learned here that the Americans were trying to persuade Israel to relax its demand for direct peace talk with the Arabs. While no details were released, it was believed that both Eshkol and Eban repeated Israel's request for F-4 Phantom jets to match the supersonic Soviet-made jets supplied to the Egyptian and Syrian air forces. It was also understood that the Americans agre0 with their Israeli hosts that Egyptian President Nasser's stand, which is based on the Khartoum Formula of no-peace-with- Israel is a rigid one. But the Americans were believed to have hinted that the Jordanian attitude might not be as intransigent as Egypt's. It was also learned here that President Johnson's letter to Eshkol, (Continued on Page 16) Conyers, Broomfield Join Group Urging Plane Sale„to Israel El Fatah Guerrilla Commandos Stopped, Infiltrators Jailed (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) TEL AVIV — Thirteen El Fatah saboteurs were killed and one was cap- tured in a clash with an Israel army patrol . north of Jericho Wednesday in which one Israeli soldier was slightly Wounded, a military spokesman an- nounced. Three Israeli soldiers were injured Wednesday morning when an army half- track hit a mine near the new settle- ment of Nahal Golan in the southeast Golan Heights. It was believed that the :mine was planted by saboteurs who in- filtrated from Jordanian territory. An- other mine was found and dismantled at Tirat Zvi in the Beisan Valley. The saboteurs killed near Jericho wore camouflaged uniforms and com- mando boots and carried large quanti- ties of explosives. They were believed to have crossed over from Jordan Tues- day night. The captured man was said to have been their guide. Four Arab saboteurs were killed and three Israeli soldiers were injured in a series of shooting incidents along the Jordan River over the weekend. In (Continued on Page 6) A group of 97 Congressmen on Wed- nesday joined in bipartisan action urg- ing President Johnson to sell Phantom jet fighter planes to the state of Israel. Co-sponsorship of this resolution followS the demand that had been made earlier by Congress- men William Broomfield and Gerald Ford of Michigan and by Senators Everett Dirksen of and Hugh Scott of Pennsylvania. CongreSsinan John Conyers, Jr., the only Detroit Congress- Rep. Conyers Detroit man in the bipartisan group sponsoring the new resolution, said in a speech to the House of Representatives: "The situation in the Middle East over the last two decades has seen three wars involving the very survival of the State of Israel. There can indeed be no peace in that part of the world if the •(Continued on Page t) • Historic Bar lilitzva: At the initiative of the Luba- vitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, 16 Israeli boys (some seen here) who lost their fathers in the Six-Day War, were feted in a moving and emotion-filled Bar Mitzva arranged by the Israeli branch of the Lubavitch Youth Organization, as part of the special activity set up by the rebbe to aid the families of the fallen heroes. Among the 2,000 guests at the Heichal Hayeir in Tel Aviv were numerous dignitaries and members of the military including Generals Moshe Dayan (center) , Chaim Bar-Lev, Ariel Sharon, Yeshayahu Gavish and Yisrael Tal. A cable from the Rebbe addressed to the Bar Mitzva boys was read at the celebration. Each of the boys received numerous gifts including a pair of Tefillin.