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2 Friday, May 16, 1975
7
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
The New Ambassador to Israel and the Speculative
Views on Reverberating American Attitudes on the
Middle East and Israel .. . the Mounting Prejudices
By Philip
Slomovitz
The Role of a Career Diplomat as U.S. Ambassador to Israel
When career diplomats are assigned to ambassadorial posts in critical areas of the
world, the sign is that the State Department and the White House are concernedly study-
ing situations which may be of grave consequence for this country.
President Ford's selection of Malcolm Toon as ambassa-
dor to Israel, to succeed former U.S. Senator Kenneth Keat-
ing may be viewed as a matter of increasing seriousness in
the Middle East.
When James McDonald was named the first ambassador
to Israel his selection was considered a gesture of special
friendship for the Jewish state, McDonald having been
among Jewry's very intimate friends, a spokesman for anti-
Nazi forces and a defender of Jewish rights everywhere.
The same views were held regarding Dr. McDonald's suc-
cessors, Ogden Reid and the late Mr. Keating. Now a new
deal is anticipated, if a comment by Bernard Gwertsman,
New York Times Washington correspondent who accompa-
nied Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger on his Middle
East shuttling tours, is to be taken seriously. In his report on
Toon's appointment Gwertsman wrote:
"Mr. Toon will take over the embassy in Israel, if he
is approved by the Senate, at a time of strains in Israeli-
American relations resulting from the failure of Mr. Kis-
singer's efforts in March to bring about a new Israeli-
Egyptian accord.
MALCOLM TOON
"The Ford Administration has made no secret of - its
view that Israel was shortsighted in not accepting the compromise deal that was
The Distortions Grow,
The Prejudices Mount
At an "Israel Week" program at George-
town University (Washington, D. C.), former
Israel Foreign Minister Abba Eban was
asked to explain the American-Israel rela-
tionship, and the question was qualified by a
comment that the definition should exclude
"the 43 electoral votes in New York State."
Eban's ideological answer did not deal
with the "43 electoral votes" addendum, and
it may again become a matter for confronta-
tion with an element that may truly believe
that the already bedeviled "Jewish vote" is
vital to the Middle East issue or that Arab
and anti-Semitic propagandists are endeav-
oring to keep it in the forefront and the lime-
light as an issue.
Those who are concerned seriously, hon-
estly and objectively would do well to look at
the record. The 43 New York electoral votes
may or not be valid — they did not count
when Truman beat Dewey in 1948; and both
Truman and Dewey were pro-Zionist.
The bulk of support for Israel, the en-
dorsements of Zionist and Israeli objectives,
come from the country at large, and only a
few of the states in the Union have sizable
Jewish populations. Strongest endorsements
and most intimate identifications with Israel
come from areas that have very few Jewish
citizens.
However, is this really the point at issue?
Isn't Israel's friendship with the United
States based on an old and irreducible prin-
ciple of fair play and the truest form of
Americanism?
It isn't easy and it is often impossible to
convince those who set out to hate and to un-
dermine Israel's position.
Will the Vietnam lesson induce the preju-
diced to appreciate that Israel only asks for
friendship and humanitarianism, and the
means with which to assure life, never hav-
ing requested that a single American soldier
should be sent to protect the endangered lit-
tle country?
The renewed glorification of King Hussein
is another evidence of the confusion that has
been created in American ranks. The Jor-
danian king owes his rulership to Israel.
Without the protection of Israel as a neigh-
bor that prevented the escalation of the ter-
rorists on his borders it is doubtful whether
he could have survived. Now, cheered at the
White House, given an honorary degree by
an American university which treats him as
a moderate, he speaks of another war. The
animosity toward him by the Syrians is no
secret, but he plays up to Israel's enemies in
an effort to build a new image. But his back-
ground is well known. He could have
emerged as a wise one who refrained from
warring on Israel when he was admonished
by Abba Eban to stay out of the 1967 war,
yet he shelled the Jewish community of the
new Jerusalem. He paid the price for enter-
ing the Nasser trap. It was believed he might
know better than encourage another war
while avoiding the peaceful road.
In its entirety, the continuing problemis a
diplomatic mess, a semblance of hatreds
pursuing Israel that emerges from a ces-
spool, an indifference towards a tiny state
battling for life that smacks of the anti-Sem-
itism of the Middle Ages. It's one helluva sit-
uation that doesn't speak well for human-
ism.
Is Assad the Boss?
possible. The Israelis, in turn, have resented what they regard as American pressure
on them to alter their position."
The truth and realism about the Middle East and the people involved in negotiations
affecting Israel should be welcomed, and there is little cause for anxiety over the new
ambassadorial selection. Perhaps it is for the best that the American representative in the
Tel Aviv embassy should be a knowledgeable, reputable and responsible diplomat. Israel
has nothing to hide. The hope for peace is major and the aim to attain it is of the utmost
urgency.
A new attitude is developing in Washington. The need to defend and protect Israei
is greater than ever. Just as both Secretary of State Kissinger and President Ford must be
contacted with realism by Israel and her friends, so, also must the approaching role of a
new ambassador be viewed pragmatically. The sense of fair play, the dedication to justice
for a people battling for historic rights and sovereignty surely will not be reduced in the
process of negotiations searching for peace. And the Jewish concerns will not be dimin-
ished. Therefore the situation as it has developed remains one of urgency, and while the
entrance into the discussion of a new personality may influence the discussions, they can
not destroy the hopefulness and dedication of the people affected. This is merely to say
that a new envoy does not end hopefulness, and the strong hope for peace retains priority
for Israel and American Jewry.
Interestingly, Walworth Barbour, sandwiched for 10 years between Reid and Keating
as U.S. ambassador to Israel, wound up that assignment, as a career diplomat, with
admiration and dedicated friendship for Israel. That's a good omen.
human rights in Palestine WILL pre-
vail — would be drawn out, bloody,
costly. Instead the same victory could
be affected without bloodshed in per-
haps two or three years under our
plan.
One would, indeed, have to be inhuman to
begrudge the Arabs the opportunity to rise
above the poverty they have suffered. The
wealth they possess now gives them the
means to raise the low standards of most of
their people.
But while boasting of wealth and reaching
out for great goals, the Arabs deny Israel the
right to exist and a venomous propagandist
would attain his goal by way of a boycott of
Israel and the state's destruction.
One wonders: how many of the readers of
that statement will fall into the trap of Arab
hatred, of 120 million who are immensely
wealthy and possess a major portion of the
globe who seek to deny Israel a mere subsist-
ence, the right to sovereignty, in the tiniest
land?
on Jews a well-meaning Jewish correspond-
ent commented about "Jewish Paranoia." Is
it paranoia to reject hatred? The silent Jew
risks being a party to prejudice against him-
self as well as others.
The Pierrot Saga
It will matter a great deal to George F.
Pierrot if his important television programs
should be either curtailed or cancelled. The
inerasable glory these programs have gained
through the years remain nevertheless as
important symbols of a valuable saga in the
history of Detroit.
Pierrot and
his very able as-
sociate, Dick
Femmel, gave
this commu-
nity a deep
understanding
of areas
throughout the
world that
would have re-
mained mys-
teries if they
had not spon-
sored their
travelogues.
Not to be
forgotten are
the many ex-
cellent stories
GEORGE PIERROT
of Israel that
were part of the extensive World Adventure
Series and their television counterparts.
Those who remember will recall with ap-
preciation the reports on the Holy Land and
on the events in the 1930s and 1940s in Eu-
rope by the late Julien Bryan. The Bryan ex-
poses of Nazism and his fascinating reports
on Israel might never have been known had
it not been for George F. Pierrot.
Therefore an added word of appreciation.__
for Pierrot's labors is highly merited. Pier-
rot's works are indelibly recorded in the his-
tory of Detroit. An appreciative community
can not and will not forget the dedicated la-
bors' in a specialized field by George F. Pier-
rot and Dick Femmel.
The following report to the New York
Times merits special consideration:
President Hafez al-Assad of Syria has
declined an invitation to participate in the
talks between President Ford and Presi-
dent Sadat at Salzburg, according to in-
formed Arab diplomatic sources here.
The sources said the Syrian President,
however, endorsed President Sadat's deci-
sion to hold the talks with Mr. Ford.
Apparently Assad keeps controlling Sad- The Enemies Within
at's actions. He bossed the disengagements
Saudi Arabian spokesmen often make the
and if Sadat really desires to be a moderate
he seems to be stymied by his Syrian boss. Is claim that they do not discriminate against
Jews. They say they only bar Zionists. The
this what is holding up a possible peace?
record, of course, refutes these claims. Even
U. S. government agencies, especially the
The Massive Arab Aims
military, have condoned the prejudices
Mohammad T. Mehdi has been a leading against American citizens of the Jewish
Arab propagandist for many years. His anti- faith.
Jewish venom has become the basis for anti-
But they have names to prove that Jews
Israelism in this country. In the additional are not barred. The one used most fre-
platform provided for him by the Detroit quently to indicate that Jews are admitted to
News two weeks ago he spouted the same, Saudi Arabia is that of Alfred M. Lilienthal.
hatred he had voiced for more than a decade. The claimants could have added another
Now he is the spokesm01 for the PLO and it name — that of Rabbi Elmer Berger. These
is beginning not to matter if propagandists two had been to Cairo to give comfort to Is-
are the mouthpieces for murderers.
rael's enemies. They are writing venomously
In the Detroit News interview, Mehdi about Israel and Zionism. They have visited
flashed interesting figures. He told the inter- Saudi Arabia as symbols of the handful who
hate the Jewish libertarian movement.
viewer:
How can a self-respecting Jew be silent
I will tell you of one of our propos-
als. One hundred million Arabs need when such evidence of bigotry keeps reiterat-
to arise from the past, and now they ing?
On one occasion of a protest against slurs
have the means. They need 20 million
housing units, 50,000 schools, 10,000
hospitals, thousands of miles of roads,
30 million refrigerators, air condition-
Brother Daniel in Controversy Again
ers, TVs, etc.
These kinds of orders can mean a
great deal to American manufactur-
and
ers, American workers and the Amer-
ican workers and the American econ-
omy. All the Arabs would ask in
Contact Seen With China's Jews
return for these huge orders would be
an end of the companies' dealings
Revealing stories by Special Israel Correspondent Moshe Ron
with Israel — which is small by any
standards anyway.
In Next Week's Jewish News
This is humane. A military solution
— for the Arab view of land rights and