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Mt. Hermon, the Strategic Area With an Historic
Claim by Israel ... Chaim Weizmann's Emphasis on
Its Importance in Historic Letter to Lloyd George
By Philip
Slomovitz
Mount Hermon's Strategic Role for Israel Defined:
Chaim Weizmann's Historic Letter to Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
Golda Prays for
Genuine Peace
Chaim Weizmann
A Latin American Defection
For many years, Israel had good diplomatic relations
with Guyana—originally known as Guiana. It is a territory
in the region between the Orinoco, Negro and Amazon
In an hour of personal rivers and the Atlantic Ocean in north South America
gloom—her great career Israel's ambassador to Venezuela ordinarily shuttled from
terminated so sadly! — there to visit Guyana. Now this little country has broken
Golda Meir wrote a mes- relations with Israel — the first of the Latin American
sage on the 26th anniver- peoples to do so.
sary of Israel's independ-
African states abandoned their friendships for Israel
ence. It was addressed to in recent years, since the Six-Day War. Antagonisms have
world Jewry. It is filled grown in spite of the technical aid Israel has given the
with new hope—for a gen- Africans. The Guyanan action is believed to stem from
uine peace. It is a mes- the change of attitude •toward Israel that was adapted by
sage not to be ignored. Fidel Castro of Cuba during his visit in Algeria more than
The retiring prime minis- a year ago. Cuba was the first of the states in the Western
ter of Israel has this to Hemisphere to break relations with Israel and Guyana is
say to the Jewish people second.
everywhere:
But there is a tradition for strong friendships between
This is a festival for all Israel and the Latin Americans, many. among whom have
Jewry, for Israel is the been the staunchest defenders of Israel in the United
creation of the universal Nations. That's the tradition that will hopefully continue
Jewish people. No enemy, in this part of the world.
no hostile alliance, no ag-
Arabs, who are very numerous in Latin America,
gression, can deflect us have exerted destructive influence south of us. A new hate-
from the promise we, our
mongering magazine in La Paz, Bolivia, (La Voz del
generation, made 26 years
Munddo Arabe) is among the latest to spread venom again
ago to re-establish here, in
at Jews and Israel. The struggle is aggravating rather
the land of Israel, a home
than reducing, and Israel's time is tough.
and a haven for any Jew,
New Latin American trends indicate that other
be he in need or not.
countries are submitting to Arab pressures. In Mexico,
By this act we changed Brazil and Argentina there is evidence of rising ani-
the course of Jewish his- mosities toward Israel. These are saddening changes in
tory and in so doing gave attitudes that may seriously harm the Jewish state.
new strength to our peo- The change in previously friendly attitudes stems from
ple everywhere.
the pressures from the many millions of Arabs who are
Their fate is a reflec-
living in the Latin American countries.
tion of the enmity that
This is how Israel's difficulties are mounting and
still encompases us. It ex- how peace is affected by disruption of amities on an in-
ploded again on Yom Kip- ternational scale. If there were only an assurance of an
pur in a bitter and most impending peace! That would solve all problems. But
costly war of survival, the peace is so very, very remote!
fourth in 25 years.
Will the world come to its senses and abandon
The odds against us bigotries and hatreds? If that happens, it'll help all, with
were greater than ever be-
Jewry and Israel the vast gainers.
fore and so too was the
agonizing price we paid
Death Penalty—the Jewish Attitude
in precious lives. Israel
In his article on the Op-Edit Page of the N-ew York
mourns the fathers, sons
Times, upholding the death penalty for major crimes,
and husbands who sacri-
writing under the heading "For Capital Punishment,"
ficed all so that we may
Dr. Burton M. Leiser, head of the Drake University phil-
live.
It is our fervent prayer osophy department, concluded with the following:
"In a dispute on this issue some 2,000 years ago, a
that their sacrifice will
great
legal scholar, Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel, argued
yet bring us closer to a
genuine peace with secur- that the abolition of the death penalty would increase the
ity. Toward this end Is- shedding of innocent blood in the land."
Prof. Leiser, regrettably, •took this sentence out of
rael is prepared to take
context.
In the Makkot section (1.10) of the Mishna, the
any reasonable risk and
Jewish oral law compilation, appears the
make every credible com- traditional.
following regarding capital punishment:
promise. What Israel will
"A Sanhedrin that effects one execution in seven
never do is to bow to ag-
years
is branded a murderous court. Eleazar ben Azariah
gression, capitulate to un-
reasonable demands, or said: one in 70 years. Rabbis Tarfon and Akiba said:
we members of a Sanhedrin, no one would ever be
compromise vital security Were
put to death. Simeon ben Gamaliel said: Avoidance of
needs.
the death penalty for crimes would multiply murderers
This our neighbors must in
Israel."
understand — that Israel
Perhaps the view of the late Supreme Court Justice
craves for peace, but that Benjamin
Cardozo should not be ignored. In "Law and
we will not shrink from
Literature," Mr. Justice Cardozo wrote in 1931:
bearing the burden and
death penalty will seem to the next generation,
sacrifice of defense until as, it "The
seems to many even now, an anachronism too dis-
they are ready to lay
cordant to be suffered, mocking with grim reproach all
down their arms once and our clamorous professions of the sanctity of life."
for all and live with us
Cardozo would be a saddened man today to be witness
in peace, cooperation and to a return to shocking reactions on the question of the
brotherhood.
"sanctity of life."
You, our fellow Jews,
are a component of our _
struct Israel, reclaim its
Let Yom Haatzmaut
strength just as Israel is a
waste places, absorb the
serve as a day rededi-
factor of the universal
refugee immigrants, built
cated to this magnificent
Jewish spiritual steadfast-
its schools and universi-
historic Jewish human en-
ness. Your support, your
ties, expand its economy
terprise. Let this anni-
solidarity, your under-
versary be something else
standing, have helped con-
and advance its science.
besides — a rededication
2—Friday, April 26, 1974
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS to the educational needs
Mount Hermon was one of the tragic spots in the October war. A crucial area in
northen Israel, equally vital for the Syrians who are anxious to gain control over
a strategic point, the battle for the mount resulted in serious losses for Israel. By
regaining it Israel imposed a vital blow on the enemy forces who launched the
attacks on the Golan Heights.
Jewish interest in• Mount Hermon as an important part of the state of Israel
was recognized in early Zionist history. As early 'as 1919 the strategic role of the
mount was acknowledged and emphasized. Dr. Chaim Weizmann, then president H
of the World Zionist Organization, in the efforts to ascertain protective areas for
the Jewish National Home •as proposed in the Balfour Declaration, wrote an important
statement on the value of a defensive boundary for the envisioned Jewish state.
In a letter to the then British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Dr. Weizmann
wrote on Dec. 29, 1919:
'777
At the moment when, with your col- their report upon this particular matter.
leagues, you are about to engage in the
"We summarise briefly below the _
final negotiations on which the fate of
grounds for our recommendations in
Palestine depends, the Zionist Organisa-
respect of the northern frontier of Pal-
tion desires to address you on a matter
estine.
which causes them the deepest anxiety.
1. Palestine is not a country of great
It is the question of the Northern Boundary
natural wealth. It will only become
of Palestine.
prosperous and populous if the best and
The Zionist Organisation have from the
wisest use is made of its natural re-
beginning put forth the minimum require-
sources.
ments essential to the relisation of the
2. Palestine is seriously handicaped by
Jewish National Home. It comes without
being destitute of fuel. There is no coal,
saying that in no circumstances could the
very little wood and only a possibility
Sykes-Picot line be accepted by Zionists,
even as a basis of negotiation. It would
3.
of oTilhe future wealth of Palestine will
not only divide historic Palestine and cut
be derived mainly from its soil and cli-
off the source of the water supply of the
mate, which are suitable for growing
Litany and the Jordan, but it would do far
more.
fruit and other valuable crops, but these
crops require more water than is avail-
It would deprive the Jewish National
able from natural precipitation. Pale-
Home of some of the most promising fields
of colonisation in the Jaulan and Houran,
stine's second handicap, therefore, is
insufficiency of rainfall.
upon which the success of the whole proj-
ect largely depends. It would take from it
4. To compensate for these two draw-
a number of prosperous Zionist colonies
backs, nature has provided the Pale-
that have already been established. It
stinian region with:—
would rob the assurances of the Allied and
(a) The waters of the Jordan for irriga-
Associated Powers with respect to the
gation;
Jewish National Home in Palestine of a
(b) The falls of the Jordan for hydro-
great part of their value.
electric power;
The severance of any portion of the
(c) Underground water which can only
territory in the North, which is vital to
be utilised to full advantage by
the economic life of Palestine, would give
means of (b);
rise to a feeling of deep and lasting bitter-
(d) The waters of the Litany for direct
ness in the hearts of Jews not only in
irrigation and/or diversion into the
Palestine but throughout the world.
Jordan to supplement (a) and (b);
While the actual boundaries of historic
(e) Facilities for storage in the Valley
Palestine were subject to constant change
of the Litany.
with the varying fortunes of Israel, the
5. (a), (b) and (c) are at once re-
natural boundaries of biblical Palestine to
quired for purposes of irrigation and
the north were considered to run from the
power.
desert on the East, along the slopes of the
6. While (d) and (e) are not as yet
Hermon, the mountain home of the tribe
needed, their use for irrigation and pow-
of Dan, over the Litany on the East, where
er when required must be secured, if
the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon first break
the economic future of Palestine is not
into a series of elevated plateaux.
to be prejudiced.
Today, however, the boundaries can-
7. (c), (d) and (e) are valueless to
not be drawn exclusively on historic lines.
the territory north of the proposed fron-
The fact that, out of consideration for the
tier. They can only be used beneficially
Moslem sentiment that is attached to the
in the country much further south.
Hedjaz Railway, our claims to the East
8. For these reasons, we consider it
stop short of the historic frontier, makes
essential that the Northern frontier of
it all the more necessary that there be no
Palestine should include the Valley of
curtailment of our claims to the north.
the Litany, for a distance of about 25
Our claims to the north are imperative-
miles above the bend, and the Western
ly demanded by the requirements of mod-
and Southern slopes of Mount Hermon,
ern economic life. The whole economic
in order to ensure control of the head-
future of Palestine is dependent upon its
waters of the Jordan, and to permit of
water supply for irrigation and for electric
re-afforesting this region.
power, and the water supply must mainly The Zionists are well acquainted with
be derived from the slopes of Mount Her- the deep interest which you, Sir, take in
mon, from the headwaters of the Jordan the present problems and the future pros-
and from the Litany river.
pects of Palestine, an interest in which
\
Commissioned by the Zionist Organisa- your distinguished colleagues share,
tion, the eminent engineers, Messrs. Doug- they have faith that the British Go _A-
las Fox and Partners, have recently sent ment will never agree to any concession
to Palestine Sir Charles Metcalfe and Mr.
which, from the standpoint of Zionism, (7/
John Freeman, who have made a careful could only be regarded as a grave disaster.-
survey of its economic possibilities. The They have confidence that the British Gov-
following letter gives the conclusions of ernment will never compromise the vital
interests of the Jewish National Home.
Many similarly important documents now in the Weizmann Archives, which
will hopefully become available in the Weizmann memoirs to be published in the
coming years, throw light on the understanding of the existing issues involving
boundaries, defensive areas and other aspects relating to a defendable Jewish state.
The Mount Hermon statement by Weizmann, made available in the Jewish Observer
and Middle East Review of London, assumes special significance at this time and
can not be ignored in current negotiations by Israelis with the Arab states, especially
now in the talks about to be conducted with the Syrians.
of our Jewish youth in the
Diaspora.
Only through the deep-
ening and spread of Jew-
ish education can the
young be brought to un-
derstand their heritage
and faith and thereby dis-
cover their rich identity
as members of the Jewish
people. This, I believe,
has to be a new priority
of Jewish life today, for
upon its fulfillment the
spiritual continuity of our
people depends, as does
the reservoir of commit-
ment and strength for the
future of Israel whose
ancient and glorious name
we celebrate this day.