Is U. S. Israel
Friendship
Endangered?
Reconstructed
Jewish Agency
Knowledgeabi I ity
as Criterion
for Communal
Responses
Editorials
Page 4
Vol. LIX. No. 9
WASHINGTON (ZINS)—Although conversations held in Washington between U. S. Secretary of State William Rogers and Israeli
Deputy Premier Yigal Allon were characterized by the press as "very friendly and frank," the truth is that the encounter was far
from cordial and was marked by some sharp exchanges. It is reported that Rogers argued that he "cannot understand Israel." He
told Allon that both President Sadat and the Soviets seem to want a peaceful solution, while Israel gives the impression of sabotaging
the effort and - creating difficulties" in order to frustrate a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Allon tried to persuade Secretary
Rogers that Israel's policy actually favors American interests in the Middle East and that he cannot understand why the Nixon
administration is so keen on pressuring Israel to make concessions to the Arabs. Rogers is said to have responded with "Please don't
speak to me about American interests. Let us decide what is or is not in the interests of America, just as we do not presume to tell
you what is in Israel's interest and what is not in your interest."
THE JEWISH NEWS
Michigan Weekly
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USSR Enigma:
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Commentary
Page 2
May 14, 1971
Peace Remains a Mirage in Middle East
Acrimony Averted, Sadat Stand
Ruins Chance for Early Accord
Egyptian President Sadat's threatening mood, expressed soon
after his conference with Secretary of State William P. Rogers and
the American representatives, appears to have ruined any possibility
for an early accord.
His demand for a 115-mile Israeli withdrawal and non-assurance
on freedom of navigation for Israel served to defer any possibility
of an early peace more than at any other time since his succession
to Nasser's role as dictator of Egypt.
There are reports of acrimony that almost marred Rogers' talks
with Israeli leaders, but this was averted.
Unlike earlier experiences when American visitors found Israel
the most peaceful area in the entire Middle East, the Rogers visit
was marked by demonstrations of protest against any sort of conces-
sion by Israel.
_s Plan for Israeli
A series of demonstrations -against the Roger
border rectifications occurred here and in Haifa before Rogers landed-
at Lydda airport. In Tel Aviv, several hundred demonstrators, mainly
students from various area campuses, assembled near the American
Embassy where they carried placards reading "Rogers Go Home,"
and "Rogers Is Chamberlain."
Police in Tel Aviv recruited all available manpower to prevent
clashes. A student leader of the demonstration near the American
Embassy said that Americans who fought for their own independence
should understand that the independence of other nations is equally
important.
Referring to Rogers' recent statement that geography was less
important than a peace settlement, other demonstrators said Rogers
could afford to be "lightminded" about this because Jordan and the
Suez Canal are not American borders. "If geography is so unimpor-
tant, why doesn't Rogers tell that to Sadat?"
Several thousand persons attended a street rally addressed by
Gahal leader Menahem Begin. Declaring that an Israeli pull-back to
its pre-June 1967 borders as envisioned by Rogers would place the
country's heartland under the guns of its enemies, Begin denounced
American promises of guarantees. He referred to British guarantees
to assist France which "proved hollow" when the Germans occupied
the Rhineland in 1936 and the guarantees to Czechoslovakia after
Munich in 1938.
Students demonstrated in front of the 'U.S. Consulate in Haifa.
They - presented officials with a document criticizing the Rogers Plan
which they asked to be conveyed to the secretary of state.
JERUSALEM (JTA)—The JTA learned from very reliable sources that Defense Min-
ister Moshe Dayan saved the talks between Secretary of State William P. Rogers and
Premier Golda Meir from a virtual breakdown last week. The sources said that Dayan
accomplished this by demonstrating unexpected flexibility in private talks he held with
Rogers' top aide, Assistant Secretary of State Joseph J. Sisco, at a time when the Rogers-
Meir talks had deteriorated almost to the point of acrimony.
The sources said that when Rogers and Meir held their first meeting here last
Thursday, Mrs. Meir did most of the talking and devoted her remarks largely to Jewish his-
tory, the Holocaust and similar subjects. While acknowledging the weightiness of these
matters, Rogers considered them irrelevant to the issues immediately at hand and was
visibly irritated. At one point he was reported to have said "We did not c )me here to
listen to all this," the sources said.
It is reported that Dayan was concerned with the way the talks were going and
suggested' to Mrs. Meir that he meet privately with Sisco on Friday while Rogers was on
an aerial tour of Sinai. The premier agreed and, at this meeting with Sisco, Dayan re-
portedly surprised the American by his flexibility on the issues of how far Israel would
pull back from the Suez Canal and the crossing of the canal by Egyptian police. Dayan
reportedly made one overriding condition—that the cease fire be extended with no time
limit. It also was agreed that the principles Israel submitted to the U.S. could now be
conveyed to Cairo, with the modifications agreed to between Dayan and Sisco. On that basis
Rogers decided to send Sisco back to Cairo, the sources told the JTA..
The JTA learned Tuesday that Mrs. Meir will report on the Rogers talks to the
(nesset some time next week.
Foreign Minister Abba Eban said on a television interview Sunday night that a sub-
stantial gap still remained between the U. S. and Israeli positions and an even wider gap
separated Israel and Egypt. The consensus among observers here was that Israel has yielded
slightly on two basic points—the distance it is willing to pull back from the canal in the
interests of an interim settlement and the extent to which it would permit Egypt to send
personnel into the evacuated zone. Eban refused to assess the chances for an agreement.
Israel reportedly agreed to allow Egyptian "policemen" but not military personnel
across the canal although it is aware that soldiers can become "policemen" merely by
changing uniforms. Unconfirmed reports from Cairo said Egypt indicated a willingness
to send only a "token" military force to the east bank of the canal without artillery and
armor. Israel was stated to have said it would pull back from part but not all of the Bar-
Lev Line, the in-depth fortification it has built on the east bank. Confusion was added by
a Jerusalem Post report that Premier Meir had stressed in her talks with Rogers that
(Continued on Page 5)
Prof. Lind mid Family Granted Exit Visas to Leave USSR.;
Senator Griffin Reports They May Reach Israel in a Week
NEW YORK (JTA) — Twenty-five hun-
The Jewish News was informed by U.S. speedy action in Land's behalf to the inter- dred people demonstrated in front of the
with
Secretary
Rogers
by
the
Michi-
cession
Sen. Robert P. Griffin on Wednesday that
Soviet mission to the United Nations• Tues-
Prof. Mikhail Zand, his wife and two chil- gan senator, the efforts of Prof. Herbert day to protest the trial of nine Jews which
Paper
of
the
University
of
Michigan
and
The
dren and three other relatives have been
began Tuesday in Leningrad. The demon-
granted visas to emigrate from Russia and Detroit Jewish News and the appeals by
stration, organized by the Center for Rus-
many academicians.
to settle in Israel.
The State Department spokesman corn- sian Jewry and the Student Struggle for
After interceding for Prof. Zand with
Soviet Jewry, heard Rabbi Steven Riskin,
Secretary of State William P. Rogers, Sen. mented that this is one instance of an act / Rabbi Abraham Weiss and Jacob Birnbaum,
Griffin was informed by a State Department for which the Jewish Defense League can chairman, national secretary and national
spokesman that the Zand family may be claim no credit whatsoever.
organizations,
In his appeal to Secretary of State Rog- director respectively of both
expected to reach Israel within a week,
the inability of Jewish organiza-
criticizing
although they had been given 10 days in ers, Sen. Griffin told of the deep concern in tions to "respond with a sufficient speed"
which to leave Russia. They were granted the Jewish community in Michigan over the to the crisis of Soviet Jewry. The demon-
fate of the famous Jewish scholar and of the
visas on May 10.
strators then marched to the UN mission
The State Department spokesman said efforts in his behalf by Prof. Paper. He in- where they requested that President Nixon
that the pressure of public opinion has re- formed the secretary of state about Prof. issue a statement on behalf of the prisoners
stilted in a change in Russian policies and Zand's fame as an Arabist and as an author- and that the Voice of America broadcast in
has led to granting permits to large num- ity on Hebrew, Persian and Arabic litera- Yiddish and Hebrew in the same way it
bers—the April figure for exit visas having ture, and he urged that every effort be made broadcasts to other ethnic groups inside the
exceeded the number for all of 1970. by the U. S. government to secure his re-
Soviet Union.
Peter Teeley of Sen. Griffin's staff said lease and the granting of the requested visas
One of the nine Jewish defendants in
to
settle
in
Israel.
that the State Department credited the
the new Leningrad trial, 38-year-old Grigory
Ilya (Hillel) Butman, admitted complicity
Tuesday in an airline hijacking attempt, it
was reported by Tass, the Soviet news
agency. According to Tass, Butman admit-
ted conspiring with Israeli authorities in
"the criminal actions"—the first time the
Soviet specifically implicated the Israeli
government in alleged anti-Soviet activities.
Tass confirmed that two of the defendants,
Butman and Mikhail Korenblit, 33, have
been charged with treason under Article
64A of the criminal code for allegedly "pre-
paring the seizure of a passenger plane in
order to flee abroad." But Butman and
Korenblit also were charged, as were the
other seven defendants, under Article 70
("Anti-Soviet Agitation and Propaganda")
and Article 72 ("Organizational Activity
Directed to Commission of Especially Dan-
gerous Crimes Against the State and also
(Continued on Page 22)