Episodes of Political Life in Israel,
Knesset shuffles and Personality Rifts
By MOSHE RON
Jewish News Special
Correspondent in Tel Aviv
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
and Me')
A few days ago a special Knes of the Histadrut in Haifa, was
set committee had decided that chosen as Knesset candidate of
the chief places in the Knesset the Labor Party in Haifa. He ap-
(Copyright 1970, JTA Inc.)
would be allocated to the two peared on the 57th place. Only 56
Many stories have been writte n great factions of Labor and Gahal, members of the Labor Party were
about the five rocket-boats whic h which will in the future sit next elected and Shahal can get only
ORT AT 90: Few Jewish organizations in the world can boast
have arrived after a dramatic an d to each other. This means a change in the Knesset when one of the of the fact that they have reached the age of 90. In this country, I
sensational journey in Israel.
of placement of other factions.
elected ones resigns. There were know only of the Bnai Brith which is now 127 years old, and of the
The "victim" of this affair, Gen -
Avneri, the leader of the two- talks about five cabinet members Union of American Hebrew Congregations which is is 97 years old. Not
eral Moka (Mordechai) Limon, wh o man faction of Haolam Hazel of the Labor Party resigning from even the HIAS—considered the "grandmother" of Jewish organizations
had to leave France, worked fo ✓ (whose second mandate was due their membership in the Knesset, in America—has been in existence for 90 years; the HIAS is now only
six years in Paris and was ver Y to a mistake of the representatives in order to enable the following 72 years old.
The ORT, the organization for rehabilitation of Jews through voca-
popular in government circles, in - of the two great factions of Labor candidates on the election list to
eluding the Gaullists. The leader s and Gahal to change the agree- become members of the Knesset. tional training, has the distinction of starting its 90th year now. It will
of French industry and trade unions ment about distributing the sur- Moshe Shahal, Adi Yaffe, General inaugurate its anniversary celebration at its national conference in
had great esteem for him. His plus votes, otherwise these two Chaim Herzog, Natan Peled and New York this weekend (Jan. 25).
home was a center of activity of factions would have got another Dany Rosolio. But there is one
The ORT is the only international organization devoted exclusively
French society. He bought arms three mandates together instead obstacle. Moshe Shahal had been to the task of giving technical training to Jews throughout the world.
accused
of
having
forged
17
years
for Israel for a sum of one and of three mini-factions), organized
Decades before the idea of technical assistance for small nations was
$500,000,000 in France.
an opposition against this replace- ago certain papers in order to ob- born in the United States, the ORT had embarked on a program of
When the Six-Day War broke ment order. He is interested in tain admission into the Technion such assistance for Jews. It was founded in Russia in 1880 to give
out in June 1967, General de publicity and limelight and was in Haifa. - Minister of Justice Ja- skilled training in handicraft and agriculture to the vast numbers of
Gaulle wished that Israel should afraid he might lose it, if his fac- cob Shimshon Shapiro had de- poor and unskilled Jews in the country.
With the help of ORT, many thousands of Jews in Czarlst—Russia
be inactive and wait until Nasser tion would sit on the side of the clared that this case should not
stop Shahal from becoming a were transformed from people without any skill—from small shop-
would destroy Israel and then he hall near the door.
Knesset candidate for the Labor keepers who barely eked out their meager living and from "luftmens-
would come to the aid of Israel ...
The representative of the one-
Because Israel refused to be de- man Maki (Communist) faction, List. He is now a student at the hen" who lived in miserable conditions—into skilled artisans. The sys-
stroyed, General de Gaulle de- Dr. Moshe Sneh, said it did not Hebrew University in Jerusalem, tem of vocational training initiated by ORT changed to a substantial
cided to take revenge. Since then matter for him at all where he has finished his military service extent the nature of Jewish economic activity in Russia.
he did his utmost to damage the sits and that photographers and and became one of the outstand-
After World War I, ORT became an international organization
interests of Israel. A year ago he TV men would find him, if they ing Labor functionaries in Haifa. which operated in Central and East European countries. Although still
proclaimed a total embargo against look for him. Avneri threatens he But in the meantime, the secretary functioning in Russia under the Soviet regime, it moved its head-
Israel. It was hoped that the new will not sit in the place allotted of the control commission of the quarters in the early years of the Soviet Revolution from Russia to
president, Georges Pompidou, to him and would prefer to stand Labor Party, Nahum Shadmi, in- Berlin. After Hitler came to power in Germany, ORT adapted itself to
would change the policy towards on his feet during Knesset sessions tervened and informed the general the changed situation. Operating from Geneva, it set up a number of
secretary of the party, Pinhas vocational training centers for Jewish refugees and, after the fall of
Israel. But the grandson of the for four years.
Sapir, that he is against Shahal's the Nazi regime, for displaced persons who survived the Holocaust.
Rabbi of Strasbourg, Minister of
Who says there is no opposition admission into the Knesset, if one
War Michel Debre, whose father
As the Jews liberated from the Nazi camps emigrated to Israel—
converted to Christianity, and many with ideals and ideas in the Knes- of the labor ministers should re- known at that time as Palestine—ORT followed them. Today, ORT has
sign. Shahal refuses to step down
other Gaullist ministers, are very 1set?
large
technical schools in Israel which are considered the best in the
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• •
from the Labor List in order to
i ve aga i nst
enable other Labor candidates to country. They have an enrollment of more than 30,000 students, with
in relations with Israel. Pompidou Rifts Between Mafdal,
a
teaching
staff of more than 1,250 experts. It also conducts programs
become members of the Knesset in
soon will visit the United States Poale Agudat Israel
of technical training for Jews in numerous other countries, including
and it is difficult to guess what
Negotiations between the Nation- the case of resigning ministers. France, Italy, Austria, Holland, India, Iran, as well as in the countries
will be the reception of the French al Religious Party (Mafdal) and He demanded from Sapir to form of North Africa and Latin America. The total enrollment of students in
president by the Jewish institu- Poale Agudat Israel (Pai) about a committee to investigate this ORT schools all over the world today exceeds 50,000.
tions and Jewish personalities in an alignment in the Knesset have matter in order to state, if he is
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*
fit to become a Knesset member
the U.S.
'broken down.
ENVIABLE RECORD: With its enviable record of having trained
or not. Such a committee was
The five rocket-boats, which
Pai demanded a seat in the new formed, but in the meantime Sha- hundreds of thousands of Jews in useful professions during its 90 years
were ordered five years ago and ICabinet for its mini-faction of two
hal's refusal stops other labor can- of existence, ORT enjoys great respect of governments, including the
paid for by Israel will certainly be Knesset members. The leaders
government of the United States.
of great use, not for oil research I of the Mafdal, Minister Moshe didates to become members of the
The high opinion which the U.S. government maintains for ORT's
Knesset.
Moka Limon and the crews of Chaim Shapiro, proposed two vice-
training program can best be judged from the fact that Washington
• • •
the five gunboats were "registered" ministers. One of the leaders of
has, in recent years concluded a number of agreements with ORT for
in the history of Israel. A joke Pai, Rabbi Pacob Kazenelbogen, Josef Stalin Writes From
operation of programs of U.S. technical aid in a number of under-
about Moka was recently told in reacted with a joke. In a Polish Africa about Wild Animals
developed countries. The operations run into millions of dollars in
France: When President Pompidou village, a Jew turned once to the
One of the leaders of the Liberal countries like Mali and Guinea, and in smaller sums in Kenya, Gabon,
entered a cafe the waiter asked matchmaker and asked him to
the Ivory Coast and others.
him: Your Excellency, coffee or find a doctor as a husband for his Party, Josef Serlin, who was a
Instructors from these countriesas well as members of the
candidate
for minister of the new
tea? The president answered: if daughter. After a short time, the
coffee, without mocca and if tea, matchmaker came to the Jew and cabinet, but lost the candidature American Peace Corps—receive intensive vocational training in the
Institute for Higher Technical Education which ORT maintains in
to
Leib
Dultzin,
is
now
in
Kenya.
without Limon, please, because said to him: I cannot find one
Switzerland. In this institute, there are today instructors-in-training
Moka Limon causes me trouble. doctor, but I can propose to you He visited a zoo and saw some
peculiar wild animals. In a letter to from 18 lands. The Swiss government has given full recognition to this
two quacks . • .
• • •
a friend in Israel Serlin wrote institution by granting it the authority to issue diplomas to the grad-
In the meantime, negotiations that he enjoyed the visit to the uates.
Where to Sit in the Knesset?
are going on between the Labor
During the years of its existence, ORT has gone a long way. It was
The editor of the sex weekly, Party and Pai to join the govern- zoo very much, but had found out
"Haolam
Haze", Uri Avneri, ment of national unity with one that in his party in Israel there established with contributions totaling about 200,000 rubles. Today, its
are wilder animals who succeed annual budget reaches $17,000,000. About three-quarters of this sum
makes a big noise these days not
vice minister without an align- much better in "eating" living is being met within the communities served. A major supporter of
to be moved to another place in ment with Mafdal.
ORT is the Joint Distribution Committee which allocated $2,400,000
people .. .
the Knesset. He maintained it
• • •
last year for ORT- activities. The 85,000 members of -the Women's
would be hard for him to make
American ORT raise about $2,000,000 a year. The American ORT Fed-
Proposal to Mobilize
effective interrupting calls from 57th Knesseth candidate
eration also has men's chapters throughout the United States.
the new proposed place and he Stops the Movement
Yeshiva Scholars
would not be seen by TV.
Moshe Shahal, one of the leaders
Minister for Tourism Moshe
ORT BUILDERS: The leader of the small group of Jewish men of
Kol introduced a proposal in the vision who founded ORT 90 years ago was Samuel Poliakov. He was
cabinet meeting to mobilize yes- a Jewish industrialist and philanthropist in St. Petersburg who felt
hiva scholars who were up till now deeply for the fate of Russian Jewry.
He was a builder of railroads in Czarist Russia and played an
exempt from military service. Ac-
cording to this proposal, each yes- important part in the industrial development of Russia. Because of
his
achievements, he was highly respected in government circles. It
hiva scholar should undergo mili-
he who, in February 1880, addressed a petition to Czar Alexander
tary training for four months be- was
II requesting permission to create a fund for needy Jews. The per-
fore starting his studies in the
mission
was granted, and this laid the foundation for the establish-
yeshiva. Each year, he should par- ment of ORT.
ticipate in such training for a
The
three
pillars of ORT, the men who developed the organization
month in a special religious vicin-
ity. Only a scholar, who becomes from a body for Jews in Russia to au international Jewish body, were
a rabbi or a teacher, should be Dr. Leon Bramson, Dr. David Lvovitch, and Dr. Aron Syngalowski-
exempt from military service and all known to American Jewish leadership because of their visits to
in case of war, serve in the air the United States where an American ORT was established in 1922. Dr.
defense guarding religious insti- Bramson was a prominent lawyer in Russia and a member of the first
tutions in town and country. Re- Duma, the Soviet parliament. Dr. Lvovitch was a top Jewish leader
Russia and a prominent industrialist who dedicated his time and
ligious girls, who were exempt up in
fortune to the ORT idea.
till now from military service,
Dr. Syngalowski, a great public speaker and the ideologist of ORT,
should be mobilized for national
service in religious agricultural played a great role after World War H in reestablishing the threads
settlements and in education, med- of communication between ORT groups after the fall of the Nazi re-
gime. He set in motion an impressive program of vocational training
ical and social institutions.
for Jews in the liberated Nazi camps. One of his greatest undertakings
The cabinet will soon discuss was the rehabilitation of about 80,000 Jews in camps for displaced per-
these proposals. Minister Kol sons where he established ORT vocational training centers. He con-
thinks, that if Yeshiva scholars ceived the idea of establishing the ORT teachers' training institute
will serve in Zahal, this will have in Switzerland. And it was he Who brought ORT to Israel immediately
a great effect on the non-religious after the establishment of the Jewish state. He died in 1956 in Geneva.
circles in the country, which have
Today Dr. William Haber, president of American ORT, is the head
often criticized the fact that Yes- of the World ORT Union, which still maintains its headquarters in
hiva scholars and religious girls Geneva with a. central board composed of leaders from European
are not fulfilling their national du- countries and Israel. Max A. Braude, another American, is the direc-
ties in times of danger and emer- tor-general of the organization with responsibility for the entire opera-
48 Friday, January 23, 1970
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS gency.
tion world - over. Dr. Vladimir Halperin of Geneva is director.
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