Purely Commentary

Blackmail, Political Hypocrisy, Confusion Over Oil
and Anti-Israel Pressures Link Russia and Arabs With
Tense World Situation Affecting the Middle East

By Philip
Slomovitz

The Kissinger 'Miracle' and the Anxieties Posed by His New Role

A Menacing Year Ahead ... With Threats Stemming From Bigotries

In his address during the U. S. Senate
debate on the confirmation of Dr. Henry .
A. Kissinger as secretary of state, New
York Senator Jacob Javits spoke of the
"miracle" of the rise of a refugee from
Germany (without stating that fact out-
right) to the highest appointive post in the
land. Senator Javits commenced his ad-
dress of endorsement of the distinguished
Jewish appointee for confirmation as head
of the State Department by asserting:

A grave injustice has been perpetrated against the American people on two
scores: on the panic that was created over an alleged energy crisis, and the failure
to forestall dangers stemming from Arab nations' threats if a shortage of oil is truly
the approaching menace to this country.
In the first place, there is the factuality regarding oil and its availability to
this country. Time presents the facts in this chart:

"I rise today, first to salute a mir-
acle of American history. The most
significant entry in the biography of
Dr. Henry Alfred Kissinger are the
words: Born, May 27, 1923, Furth, Ger-
many; naturalized U.S. citizen June 19,
1943, Spartanburg, S.C., when he was
in the Army.

"This is a first in history. Whatever
else it does—and I think Henry Kissin-
ger will make a very distinguished and,
I hope, a great secretary of state—it
will inspire the aspirations of every
person of minority ethnic origin in this
country, whether religious, national, or
in any other way. This nomination
stands in such magnificent juxtaposi-
tion to the repressions of the other su-
perpower against intellectuals and mi-
norities—particularly the Jewish minor-
ity—it is a magnificent testimonial to
the fact that we mean what we say in
this country and that we actually live
up to our words.

"This could not have come about
were not Dr. Kissinger a man of great
character; extremely high intelligence,
and possessed of the ideas and initia-
tives which our country admires, and
which have won the confidence of pres-
idents and the country."

The New York senator was not alone

in his exuberance. Editorial writers and

columnists took note of the unusual occur-
rence—of an immigrant lad having risen
so high.
Now the Kissinger role is being
watched with anxiety. He has already
spoken in favor of favored-nation trade
status for Russia, and his view is that
"quietly," without public acclaim — and
that also means without legislative actions
—much more can be attained in dealing
with the USSR. This means secret diplo-
macy. Since there is never unified support
for such diplomatic approaches, the Kiss-
inger view of the Russian-Jewish situation
is a debatable one.
Then there is the Middle East. U. S.
policy keeps reaffirming an 'obligation to
assure Israel's security. The Jewish state's
safety could have many interpretations,
and unless proper boundaries are assured
for Israel against threatening enemy na-
tions the very term "security" can become
a farce.
Dr. Kissinger's initial address as head

of the U. S. Department of State, at the
General Assembly of the United Nations,
brought the affirmative comment of Israel
delegate Yosef Tekoah, who said:
"Israel is always ready to enter a
process of dialogue with its Arab neigh-
bors."
From the "enemy" camp negotiations
Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed el-
Zayyat said he "didn't expect any more"
than generalities, and his confreres reg-
istered other complaints. A friendly ges-
ture toward a peace move was rejected by
five of the 18 Arab states who were in-
vited to a luncheon meeting with Dr. Kis-
singer.
(Kissinger's, of course, is not a Jewish
appointment. It is an American choice.
Even on Rosh Hashana there was no af-
filiation by the new secretary of state with
the people he stems from. The link until
now has been through his parents—and
the King James version of the Bible at his
swearing-in ceremony was part of the nor-
malcy of the American occurrence in his
selection. This, too, signifies the ludic-
rousness of whatever opposition was ex-
pressed against him.
(Shades of Hank Greenberg, baseball
hero of his day, who slammed two home
runs on Rosh Hashana, in the triumphant
Tiger season, but was in shul that morn-
ing; and shades of Sandy Koufax, another
of baseball's greats, who would not play
on Yom Kippur.
(When Lionel Rothschild was finally
sworn in as a member of the British
parliament, July 26, 1858, he wore a yar-
mulka and he took the oath over a Hebrew
Bible.
(It was common for many years to see
Jewish members of the British House of
Lords take time out of sessions to conduct
a Minha service).
Much has happened in the intervening
days since Dr. Kissinger assumed his sig-
nificant post. Austria yielded to blackmail.
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad met with
the guerrilla leader, Yassir Arafat, and pre-
sumably gave additional encouragement
to the terrorists. A U. S. offer to sell Leb-
anon a squadron of Skyhawks, acquisition
of additional planes by Saudi Arabia,
Qaddafi's arrogance—all add up to more
threats to Israel. While the sale of planes
to Arab nations is as normal as similar
sales to Israel, it has been proven that
eventually all new plane sales to Arab
states add up to their being transferred to
Egypt or Syria. This makes this country
an accomplice in arming Israel's enemies.
That's how the dangers multiply. This
is why the new State Department secre-
taryship, while it is marked by a sense
of pride over a refugee Jew's triumphs,
adds to anxieties. The months ahead will
assuredly be filled with additional ten-
sions.

Chief Rabbi Yosef: Abortions OK
if Child Would be Born Deformed

JERUSALEM — Israel's
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ova-
dia Yosef, accepting the
Falk Schlesinger Memorial
Prize from Shaare Zedek
Hospital's Falk Schlesinger
Institute for Medical Hal-
akhic Research, came out in

favor of abortions in cases
where the mother's life is en-
dangered or where the child
is likely to be born with a
serious deformity.
The chief rabbi expressed
his opinion that the Halakha
also allows abortions in those

U.S. Publishers Consider
Printing Secret Goebbels Diary

NEW YORK — The New
York publishing houses of
David McKay Co., and Ban-
tam Books have taken an op-
tion to buy the American and
Canadian rights to the secret
wartime diaries of Joseph
Goebbels, Hitler's chief prop-
agandist.
The diaries, according to
publishers' spokesmen, had
been in Soviet and East Ger-

2 Friday, October 5, 1973

—

man hands after Goebbels
committed suicide during the
fall of Berlin in 1945.
Detailed publication plans
have not been made, pending
examination of the material
by experts.
The diaries, which had long
been thought lost. cover the
period of the entire war and
contain some material per-
taining to the prewar period.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

cases where pregnancy may
cause serious physical suf-
fering, even if the mother's
life may not actually be en-
dangered. In all cases, he
stated, the situation must be
examined by at least two
doctors and the abortion per-
formed no later than the
third month.
Haim Kahn, chaiman of
the institute, announced that
a collection of Rabbi Yosef's
lectures on the halakhic as-
pects of modern medicine
would soon be published in
book form.
Rabbi Yosef strongly at-
tacked the performance of
"birth control" abortions for
poor families or those with
large numbers of children.
It is up to the government,
he stated, to provide the
monetary aid which will en-
able large families to raise
their children in decent con-
ditions.

Mideast Oil-See How It SPrid7

1972 OIL CONSUMPTION
(In millions of tons)
e

UNITED
STATES

PROJECTED
PERCENTAGE
FROM MIDEAST* PERCENTAGE FROM

854

.

.

4%

....mmunaxmor

3

25%o

WESTERN
EUROPE

Whatever the future threat of a shortage, the lack of foresight in facing the
need is inexcusable. Alaska could have been utilized. Coal is available in tremendous
amounts.
There are other factors that negate the fears. At a seminar on the energy
needs, at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, John Lichtblau, as head of the
Petroleum Industry Research Foundation, stated emphatically that whatever diffi-
culties are faced by the United States are not resultant from any "Arab oil squeeze."
He stated:
"For one thing our dependence on
"This is the reason for our gasoline
Arab oil is very small. In the first five
shortage and our potential heating-oil
months of this year only 6.4 per cent
shortage."
of our total crude-oil supplies came
Mr. Lichtblau asserted, however, that
from Arab sources, or 7.4 per cent if
although the Arabs had not used oil as
we also include Iran, the only non-Arab
a political weapon this did not mean
exporting country in the Middle East.
that they would not do so.
"Next, the Arab countries have by
"Those leaders who have warned of
no means shut off or curtailed their oil
such action may well be in a position
supplies to the United States. The 790,-
to bring it about, but it has not hap-
000 barrels a day we received from
pened yet and is not likely to happen
them in the first five months of the
in the immediate future.
year represent a 63 per cent advance
"Suppose there- were no political
over 1972.
risks in relying on Middle East and
"Since no oil-exporting country has
other foreign oil and suppose world oil
taken special steps to withhold oil just
prices were still at approximately the
from the United States, the reason for
level of the first half of 1970,- with no
the shortage is obviously internal. We
radical changes in sight.
need look no further than our domestic
"Given these idyllic conditions, how
refining capacity.
much longer could we and the rest of
"For a variety of reasons American
the world go on using crude oil at our
refiners have not built sufficient capac-
accustomed growth rate? I believe that
ity in recent years to meet the growth
within 15 years we would have to take
in demand. As a result. domestic re-
the same measures to curb the growth
fineries, currently running at virtually
in demand and develop crude-oil sub-
full capacity,_ are no longer able to
stitutes that we are now beginning to
meet the demand of all customers.
take."
These views by an expert must not be hidden from public view.
There is an obligation to act promptly and firmly to assure the nation's needs.
Also, panic must be averted. Except, however, for the handful of courageous men in
Congress who see the wisdom and the reality of Senator Henry M. Jackson's handling
of the situation, the threats that come from the Middle East have spurred many
Americans into a state of insecurity that could well affect the nation at large.
The tragedy in that case would be that the panic would be diverted toward
possible hatred of Jews because they are related to Israelis and an antagonism
toward Israelis because they are the victims in the Arab gang-up. That's why a
menacing situation has been created where it should not have existed at all.
This will be an exciting year, with some bigotries emerging, and we should
be prepared for it.

Blackmail and Hypocritical Diplomacy

A sense of honor in the international
arena might have stemmed the wave of
terrorism and the resort to blackmail
stemming from it. But the United Nations,
whence international regulations to pre-
vent the criminalities should have started,
remains abortive under Communist-Arab
bloc influence. The United States has
spoken pleadingly in defense of firm ac-
tion against terrorists, but this country's
delegates have not always been free to
veto destructive policies. The West Euro-
pean powers have either yielded to panic
or are resorting to expediency in a search
for benefits or favors from the govern-
ments that have given comfort, often
granting asylum, to the murderous gangs
that are threatening the safety of innocent
people everywhere.
The result is blackmail to which Aus-
tria submitted last week; Germany yield-
ed to it some months ago by paying $5,-
000,000 to terrorists, in addition to grant-
ing them freedom after their murderous
acts in Munich; Russian commissars must
be chuckling under their breath because of
a temporary obstacle created for emigres
from their tyrannous rule.
That's how it all sums up, emphasizing

hypocritical endorsement of the basic right
of people to emigrate even from their na-
tive lands; and while sanctimony in af-
firmation of the need for international
action to end terrorism merely exposes the
insincerity of diplomatic patterns of
time.
Perhaps it all stems from the Krem
Without Communist encouragement, Arab
terror might never have gotten off the
first steps toward crimes that endanger
the lives of people everywhere. The fault
is in the international organization that
avers unity among nations but makes out-
casts of Jews. Even the new weapon be-
ing forged against Israel, oil as the chief
target in the Arab fomented crime wave,
is not the emphasized means of accom-
plishing the aim of destroying Israel. It
is primarily the hatred used to undermine
Jewish existence.
The image of the free world is being
constantly disgraced by blackmail, and
there are too few courageous statesmen
to speak out against it. Is it any wonder
that Jews in Israel and their kinsmen in
the Diaspora are greatly angered by what
has happened and what is permitted by
hypocritical diplomacy?

