THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, April 18, 1975 19 Israel's Leaders' Roles in War for Independence Remembered By MOSHE RON Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent TEL AVIV — On May 14, 1948, when David Ben-Gur- ion proclaimed the estab- lishment of the state of Is- rael in the museum of Tel- Aviv-, the present Israeli leaders did not play a spe- cial political role in Eretz Is- rael. They were not present in the ceremony. The present Premier, Yit- zhak Rabin, had been the commander of the Palmach brigade Harel which fought \.. I in the • in and .4•1. uhs I•fore suu 11. Bated 1. From $79.50 QUIST TYPEWRITER CO. INC. 1717 STEPHENSON HWY. ( North of Maple) TROY • 689-8000 The present Minister for Defense Shimon Peres had been at the "Red House" of Mapai in Hayarkon St. in Tel Aviv. It was the headquarter of the Ha- ganah. Peres was one of the assistants to Ben-Gur- ion who procured arms for the Haganah soldiers. He was 24 years old when he listened on the radio to the proclamation on the estab- lishment of the state. In the evening Ben-Gur- ion watched through the windows of the Red House, how people were dancing merrily in the streets. Ben- Gurion was very sad. Peres asked him, why he did not join the joy of the people? Ben-Gurion answered: "They are dancing, and do not know that a war is ap- proaching." The present chairman of the Jewish Agency Pinhas Sapir was then a major with the General Staff. With the establishment of the state Ben-Gurion appointed him General Director of the Ministry for Defense. The present Minister for Religious Affairs Dr. Yit- zhak Rafael was in besieged, Jerusalem. He was a mem- ber of the Commission for Emergency Times and dealt with distributing oil and SINGLES DANCE SHERATON -SOUTHFIELD SUNDAY APRIL 27 8 P. M. SHOP 10 10 5 DAILY, THURSDAY 'TIL SUNDAY 12 TO 5 for the living decor in your home... PLANTS in the area of Jerusalem. He had returned from a fierce battle on the roads leading to Jerusalem and had a short rest with his soldiers in the rest-home of the Ki- butz Maole Chamishe. It was the command-post of the Harel brigade. Rabin remembers that when he had listened to Ben-Gur- ion's proclamation over the radio: one of his soldiers asked him: "Please turn out the light, I want to sleep and POTS In The Country Village Center 20099 W. 12 Mile Road at Evergreen, Southfield 352-2089 Jewish Family Camping For families with children bt. the ages of 3 & 10 Excitement filled full week of stimulating activities and plenty of leisure time ot the 1300 acre Ortonville camp- site with use of all Tamarack facilities. For more info and application please call The Fresh Air Society at 341-5666 •SALES *SERVICE •PRICE Buy Smart Buy NOW While Trade Ins Are Worth More "A PHONE CALL WILL SAVE YOU MONEY" benzine to the population of Jerusalem. He tried to listen to the proclamation on the radio but the broadcast was disturbed by atmospheric interference. The present Minister for Police Shlomo Hillel was then on an important se- cret mission in the Arab countries. When the estab- lishment of the state of Is- rael was proclaimed he was in one of the main streets in Beirut. He learned about it when he witnessed the organization of a demonstration in the streets of Beirut against this act. Hillel took part in the demonstration in order to disguise his under- ground activity, which in- cluded illegal emigration of Jews to Israel. The present Minister for Internal Affairs Dr. Josef Burg was then in Europe on a mission to recover Jewish children from monasteries where they had been hidden during the Nazi period. He wanted to listen to the proclamation in the center for illegal immigration to Israel in Victor Hugo St. in Paris, but he could not find the place. The present Minister for Tourism Moshe Kol who in 1948 was already a member of the temporary Parlia- ALL OUR OLDSMOBILES HAVE SAKS APPEAL 35300 GRAND RIVER FARMINGTON HILLS Res. 968-5048 478-0500 • 478-6677 The present Minister of Justice Chaim Zadok cele- brated his daughter's sixth birthday on May 14, 1948. In the early morning after the establishment of the state he watched from his apartment in the Ros- seo quarter Egyptian planes bombing Tel Aviv. - The present Minister for Absorption of Immigrants Shlomo Rosen heard the proclamation in his Kibutz Sarid, He was then busy organizing new Kibutzim. Former Foreign Minister Abba Eban was in the U.S. as assistant to Moshe Sharett and heard from the late Zionist leader of the U.S. Abba Hillel Silver on the proclamation of the state in Tel Aviv. Half an hour later he was informed by the American U.S. repre- sentative Phillip Jessup that President Truman had rec- ognized the state of Israel. The present Minister for Commerce and Industry Haim Barlqv was then com- mander of the 8th Batallion of the Palmach in the Ne- gev. It was the first Israeli army unit which clashed with the invading Egyptian troops. Abdallah of Jordan was pre- paring an invasion of Eretz Israel. He heard this news from Golda Meir, who had returned from her secret meeting with King Abdal- lah in Jordan. The present Minister for Agriculture and Telecom- munication Ahron Uzan lived then in Maknin in Tu- nisia and was very active in Jewish national and social life. He was ordained a Rabbi and worked as a ri- tual slaughterer. A year later he came to Israel and started to organize immi- gration from North Africa. He became a leader of the Moshav movement and in- spired the establishment of many Moshavim of immi- grants from Norht Africa. The former Minister for Information Aharon Yariv was then responsible for aviation in the Haganah. He was present in the Red House in Tel Aviv when the establishment of the state was proclaimed. The former Chief of Staff Yigal Yadin informed him that King JOIN MIZRACHI TOURS VEND - SHAVUOTH IN JERUSALEM May 12-26 $899 May 12-June 2 • $1029 incl. Sharm El Sheikh and Eilat $1099 trips incl.: Fare, 1st class hotels and sightseeing FARE ONLY FROM DET. 2 & 3 RAMAT-GAN — One who was not surprised by the recent economic unrest in Egypt is Prof. Eliyahu Kanovsky, of Bar-Ilan Uni- versity. Prof. Kanovsky, who spe- cializes in the economics of the Middle East, claims, in fact, that the shortcomings are so basic and continuing that even the great influx of financial aid from the oil rich countries now pouring into Egypt will not improve her situation appreciably. This applies to Syria as well, he says. The basic causes, he says, are: poor human resources, a faulty and inflated bu- reaucracy and a lack of skilled personnel, especially at the managerial level. These shortcomings have existed for a long time, says Prof. Kanov- sky, and a similarly long period of time will be needed to overcome them, regardless of the infusion of large amounts of money, whether in the form of grants from the oil rich countries or investments from the West. NEW YORK — The American University in Bei- rut, Lebanon, reported that two men attacked an Amer- ican coed and carved the word "Jew" on her arms, legs and stomach after she admitted visiting Israel. The 20-year old student from Sarasota, 41a., was treated for shock at the uni- versity's hospital. He cites an actual lower- ing of per capita agricul- tural production in recent years in Egypt by 7 percent because of an inability to 'modernize archaic methods or to increase appreciably the cultivated land area. This occurred despite the construction of the Aswan Dam which resulted in a major increase in the poten- tial cultivated land. During the three years preceding the Six-Day War, Egypt's industrial growth rate actually declined from 11.7 percent to 0.9 percent annually. Since then, except for a brief rise, the econo- my's growth rate again dec- lined and President Sadat acknowledged that Egypt's economy registered a zero growth rate just before the Yom Kippur War. Since then evidence has mounted of severe short- ages in basic commodities, sharp price increases, a burgeoning black market and a breakdown in public transportation as well as in other facets of the coun- try's infrastructure. Prof. Kanovsky believes Egypt needs a "funda- mental restructuring" of its economy and "the training of a large cadre of manager- ial and technical personnel,' in order -to put its house in order and reverse the -- present trend. "As long, as the Egyptian leadership accepts the the- sis that capital investment is the basic solution to its economic problems," says the Bar-Ilan Professor, "there is not much likeli- hood that the far more fun- damental and far more dif- ficult structural, insti- tutional and manpower problems will be dealt, with." saxon $661 Week Trips 100's of other tours available Call Us For Detilik 398-7180 23125 Coolidge, Oak Park 2 ti.t.Gt)° GREAT during our MEMORIAL WEEKENDS! Federal: Fri., May 23 to Mon., May 26 or Illinois: Thurs., May 29 Oil May Not Help Egypt's Economy Coed Attacked for Israel Visit x ment could not get to the museum in Tel Aviv owing to the blocked road between the besieged Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He was in the meeting room of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and tried hard to catch the broadcast transmission from Tel Aviv. The present Minister for Health Victor Shemtov was then in Jerusalem and dealt with the absorption of new immigrants from Bulgaria. 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