Purely Commentary
Russia's Role in Middle East: Only One to Gain?
Only the military men shook hands and acted neigh-
borly in the Egyptian-Israel negotiations. The rest, it is
anticipated, is yet to come. Perhaps, as on the Island of
Rhodes in 1918, Arabs and Jews will stop negotiations in
enemy-fashion and will talk to each other as neighbors do
over the fence; perhaps it will one day be even without
a United Nations supervisory force between them.
With so many Arabs still screaming for Israel's total
destruction, this is as yet but a dream. Yet, it is mingled
with hopes. All are to gain from amity, first from an as-
sured end to warfare, then to peace which can approach
realism only when the contending forces have diplomatic
and economic exchanges.
The disturbing factor lies in warnings made repeatedly,
especially by Joseph Alsop, that the Soviet Union alone
stands to gain from the Middle East fracas. At one point,
Alsop wrote that:
"An adjusted cease fire, rather than a settlement,
suits the Kremlin perfectly. It will in fact leave the Mid-
east cauldron still bubbling with danger and hatred, with
many an opportunity for the Kremlin to go on making
trouble in the most strategically vital most ill defended
part of the world. The adjusted cease fire will give the
Kremlin what the Soviet military planners want most of
all With the Israelis withdrawn to the Mitla Pass, the
Suez Canal would soon be reopened. After that the Soviets
could supply and reinforce their fleet of warships in the
Red Sea-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf through the canal in-
stead of from Vladivostok.
"With the supply line shortened from 11,000 miles to
2,000 miles, the Soviets could further multiply their naval
power in the waters around the Arabian Peninsula by a
factor of no less than four."
In another column, Alsop also made this prediction as
a warning of the escalating dangers from USSR hegemony:
"Through huge investments, the Soviets have been able
to build up their naval strength in the Red Sea-Indian
Ocean-Persian Gulf area. Consequently, the Soviets al-
ready enjoy decisive naval superiority in those waters
that almost entirely surround the Arabian Peninsula. And
if the Suez Canal is reopened as a result of a Mideastern
settlement, Soviet naval strength in those waters will
surely be vastly increased.
"It is flying straight in the face of the lessons of history
to assume the resulting Soviet supremacy in naval power
there will then have no effect on our oil jugular. One way
or another, the Arab oil blackmail we are now experienc-
ing will become Kremlin oil blackmail. And if the Kremlin
is ever able to use the oil jugular for blackmailing, it is
certain our national independence will be endangered."
But the major threat foreseen by Alsop was contained
in an analysis of the existing situation in which Alsop
showed the emerging Russian power and the dwindling
American influence. Are we really faced with the danger
of American endurance? The following views expressed
by Joseph Alsop must not be ignored in the present critical
situation:
"Suppose that Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger
eventually gets the Arabian oil tap turned on again and
also secures an Arab-Israeli settlement. Any such settle-
ment will inevitably include reopening of the Suez Canal.
To see what this can mean in the future, you need only
examine the present peculiar pattern of Soviet behavior.
"There are two seemingly contradictory elements in
this pattern. On one hand, the Kremlin is exerting maxi-
mum pressure to prevent the Saudi Arabians and other
Arab oil owners from turning on the oil tap. Furthermore,
the Kremlin is pressing the Arab oil owners to cripple the
banking systems of the West by withdrawing their enor-
mous deposits. In these ways, to put it mildly, the Kremlin
Soviet Role and Manipulations . . . America's
Endangered Position in Middle East ... Social
and Religious Trends and Population Changes
is quietly but importantly helping Kissinger in his drive
for an Arab-Israeli settlement. So, how is this mysterious
pattern of combined hurtfulness and helpfulness to be
rationally explained?
"The answer to the mystery lies in some rather simple
facts. The Soviet planners long ago recognized the supreme
strategic importance of the oil resources of the Arabian
Peninsula. The Arab oil tap, the Soviet planners realized,
was no less than the jugular of the entire Western world.
So, the Soviet planners began to invest heavily to take
advantage of the dangerously exposed position of this
Western jugular.
"They built air bases and naval bases and acquired
naval facilities wherever they could manage to do so
throughout the Red Sea-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf — in
short, in the waters that almost wholly surround the
Arabian Peninsula. From distant Vladivostok, they further
organized a difficult sea supply line to sustain a naval
presence in these same waters. That naval presence has
now reached the total of 20 powerful vessels of the Soviet
fleet.
"These 20 vessels give the Soviets local naval superior-
ity. This Soviet local superiority in turn makes it quite
safe for the militarily, impotent Arab oil owners to use
the powerful weapon of oil blackmail. The United States
and the West can attempt no reprisals, with the Soviets
sronger on the spot. But this present situation is no more
than a foretaste of what will probably come, once the
Suez Canal is reopened by an Arab-Israeli settlement.
"Using the canal, the Soviets will cut their sea supply
line to the Red Sea-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf from 11,000
miles to only 2,000 miles. By the best estimates of the U.S.
Navy's experts, this will promptly enable the Soviet fleet to
increase its naval presence in these waters by a factor of
four. Instead of 20 vessels, there will be 80. Soviet naval
superiority around the Arabian Peninsula will then become
Soviet naval supremacy in this area.
"This is the happy prospect that explains the Kremlin's
undoubted desire for the same kind of Arab-Israeli settle-
ment that Kissinger is working for. The prospect mainly
means one thing: The United States and the West are
likely to be living before long with the Soviet knife perm-
anently close to their strategic jugular — the Arab oil tap.
These are not nightmares. The are realistic future
calculations directly rooted in well-known current realities.
So, you can see why one may now ask, "Can the United
States endure?"
Is the danger really that serious? Has it gone as far as
threatening American endurance?
The struggle is not a recent one. It dates back many
years, and detente may prove both questionable and
menacing.
The late Charles E. Bohlen, a former U.S. ambassador
to Russia, in his "Witness to History 1929-1969," wrote:
"I do not think we can look forward to a tranquil world
so long as the Soviet Union operates in its present form.
The only hope, and this is a fairly thin one, is that at
some point the Soviet Union will begin to act like a
country instead of a cause."
During the critical Suez crisis, in 1956, Nikita Khrush-
chev approached Bohlen at a reception and said: "I want
to talk to you about Suez." Bohlen responded: "And I
want to talk to you about Hungary."
-
Once again there is revival of the realism that if it
had not been for the Soviet Union's role as an arms pro-
vider for the Arabs — "to destroy Israel" was the Arab
aim"—the tragedy of the Yom Kippur War might have
been averted. Is Russia now aiming only for her own
advancement in that area? Will she be an obstacle to peace
when the Geneva sessions resume? If Joseph Alsop's views
prove correct — and they sound logical — we are due for
By Philip
Slomovitz
a lot of trouble. If Kissinger's detente hopes overcome the
USSR ideologies seeking domination there'll be hope for
mankind — provided the power struggles in the Near,
Far and Middle East are averted. Power! Power! The
quest for power! That's where it all begins and ends.
*
*
Social and Religious Trends,
Revealing Population Studies
New figures which show the world Jewish population
now to exceed 14,000,000 are introductory to the studies to
be pursued in the decade to come.
Will our numbers increase? Is intermarriage injecting
heavy losses, or are we gaining a bit from conversions that
often go with mixed marriages?
Do we have much to gain from the Russian experi-
ence? The 1970 Russian census study shows that while the
1959 figures showed the Russian Jewish population to have
numbered 2,268,000, it dropped to 2,151,000 in 1970; that of
the 807,950 Jews in the Russian Federal Republic 213,379
— 26 per cent — are over 60 and only 90,357 — ---
cent — are under 15. Intermarriage is given as one
reasons for the drastic declines in Jewish ranks there.
Let us not forget that two generations ago there were
7,000,000 Jews in Czarist Russia.
There is another factor to be considered, in our own
ranks. At the New Orleans General Assembly of the Coun-
cil of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds held recently
it was reported that 53 per cent of American Jews are not
synagogue-affiliated (50 per cent are Conservative, 20 per
cent Reform, 19 per cent Orthodox); that 28 per cent of
American Jewish homes observe kashrut; that there are
population shifts and large Jewish communities especially
have stopped growing.
Our social scientists will face many issues, and our
communities will have much to solve in the process of
time. Perhaps the greatest comfort to world Jewry will,
indeed, come from a strong Israel. That strength must
develop culturally-spiritually, (without the bias that stems
from the Orthodox domination that is causing so much
concern), with sufficient protection to assure the inter-
relationships that assure the unity of kinship.
Our own problems are immense. The generations who
follow us may have far greater concerns — unless we help
them acquire a normalcy that eliminates unnecessary
tensions, concerns and religious conflicts.
Shortcomings: Failure to List
All Who Served in U.S. Cabinets
When Dr. Henry A. Kissinger was named secretary
of state there was a listing of those who had served in the
cabinets both of the United States and in the Confederacy.
It all started with Judah P. Benjamin, who was a major
figure in the affairs of the Confederacy.
U.S. Cabinet members included Oscar Straus, Abra-
ham Ribicoff, Arthur Goldberg, Henry Morgenthau, Wilbur
Cohen.
We even listed Caspar H. Weinberger who is only
of Jewish descent—his father alone was Jewish, therefore,
according to Jewish law, he really is not a Jew.
We overiuoked Lewis Straus, who passed away last
week. He was secretary of commerce in the Eisenhower
administration. Therefore this correction.
Who knows how many more could be included in this
list, if those descending from Jews were to be considered?
For example, there now is a question about Secretary of
Defense James Schlesinger who, we now learn, was
born a Jew.
In any event, as long as they all rendered good service
to our country. we bless them—those who are alive and
the memories of those who are gone.
Latest from Weizmann Institute
Novel Approach to Studying Brain Function Is Developed at IRehovot
REHOVOT — New insight
into the functioning of the
brain has been provided by a
series of experiments con-
ducted at the Weizmann In-
stitute by Prof. Leo Sachs,
head of the department of
genetics, working with Dr.
Rabi Simantov, a student at
the institute's Feinberg Grad-
uate School.
To determine how the prop-
erties of the brain's nerve
cells are regulated, Sachs
and Simantov set out to sep-
arate and study the biochem-
ical makeup of such cells,
using a novel method of sep-
arating two of their key prop-
erties.
Taking cells grown in a
culture from a mouse nerve
cell tumor, which unlike nor-
mal mature nerve cells con-
tinue to divide and can be
grown outside the body, the
scientists separated two es-
sential properties of the sur-
face of normal nerve cells—
the receptor which receives
the molecule that transmits
signals, and the enzyme
which destroys the transmit-
ter once it has functioned.
This was accomplished by
using an antibody which de-
stroyed cells containing a
great many enzyme mole-
cules and allowed survival of
cells with only a small
amount of enzyme.
Selection of cells with only
1 per cent of the normal
enzyme did not decrease the
number of receptor mole-
cules. Conversely, when the
receptor property was re-
moved from the cell surface
by chemical means, the
amount of enzyme molecules
did not decrease.
It was suggested from
these experiments that there
are different genes for the
receptor and the enzyme.
But when nerve cell tumors
were made to differentiate
and behave like normal nerve
cells by adding a chemical
compound called cyclic AMP,
there was an increase in both
the enzyme and receptor.
Thus, although they can be
separated, the amount of en-
zyme and receptor are regu-
lated together.
"By extension of these stu-
dies it is now possible to sim-
ilarly dissect the other prop-
erties of the nerve cell and
see whether they do not act
together," said Prof. Sachs.
"This should," he added,
"foster our understanding of
the function of nerve cells in
the brain."
Prof. Sachs holds the Otto
Meyerhof Chair in Molecular
Biology at the Weizmann In-
stitute.
*
*
Growing local interest in
2 Friday, February 1, 1974 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Weizmann Institute research,
—
much of which is supported
by overseas grants was dem-
onstrated by the announce-
ment of the Makhteshim Co.
of Beersheba that it had allo-
cated IL 330,000 ($80,000) to
finance four projects in the
plastics research department
under the direction of Prof.
David Vofsi.
This f oll ow s research
grants of IL 800,000 ($190,000)
from the firm between 1970
and 1973.
Makhteshim, which is part
of Koor Enterprises, is best
known as a producer of pesti-
cides and synthetic resins,
some of them based on pro-
cesses initially developed in
the laboratories of the Weiz-
mann Institute's plastics re-
search department.
IIC
Publications for teachers
in Israeli high schools have
been issued by the Weizmann
Institute's science teaching
department, headed by Prof.
Joseph Gillis. These publica-
tions include: "Shevayim"
(Bits and Pieces), the first
volume of a quarterly for
junior and senior high school
mathematics teachers;"Hak-
esher Ha'khimi" (The Chem-
ical Bond) and "Gilionot"
(Papers), a physics journal,
both for senior high school
teachers; and "Hashmal ye'
Energia" (Electricity and
Energy), a textbook distrib-
oted on an experimental bas-
• N, S e 10 junior high schools
thr, mahout Israel.
*
*
Weizmann Institute
continues to play an active
role in the absorption of im-
migrants from the USSR. To
date, there are some 50 at
the institute, including five
senior scientists, 20 graduate
students, five engineers and
14 members of the technical
and service staff.
New staff members from
the Soviet Union include Ben.
jamin Bikson, 28, an engineer
in the plastics department,
who emigrated from Riga in
1971; Dr. Uri Bushkin, a PhD
student in the gentics depart-
ment, from Riga; Eva G , jek-
man, 29, from Riga (19
the chemical immunolog:,
partment; Naftali Kravitski
from Moscow (1971), a doc-
toral student in the pure
mathematics department;
Victor Yahut, from Moscow,
in the chemical physics de-
partment; and Tanya Zeltzer,
of Kishinev, in the isotope
research department.
*
*
Responding to an appeal
by the chief education offi-
cer of the Israel Defense
Forees, a number of senior
institute researchers have
been delivering scientific
lecturers on the front lines.
Senior institute scientists also
have spoken to wounded sol-
diers at convalescent homes
and at the institute.