2 Friday, July 23, 1976
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Political Prognostications Too Far Ahead of
Election ... The Democratic Processes and the
Sensations That Dominate Analyses
Political Prognosticators:
Satire and Pragmatism
by the same principles as all honorable
Americans. Yet, there is always the guy with
a monkey wrench for the political machi-
nery.
Talk about religious and ethnic groups
never ceases in politics. It'll be heard this
year as well. Let it be taken with a grain of
salt. The less cordial and less pragmatic jug-
gler with auguries and analyses of events
and personalities must vie with competitors
for sensations. What's more sensational
than talk about Jews related to money?
"And you're still playing?" the inquirer
asked."
"Oh, wait till WE get up at bat," the con-
The die has been cast for the Democrats: fident young man said.
they have their candidates. Now comes the
Before Kansas City and the November
GOP's turn at the sensation- and notoriety- balloting
it's too early for anyone to elect
seeking political wheel of chance.
Jimmy and Fritz — even before knowing
The jubilation in the Gerogian's ranks whether the opponent will be Jerry or Ron-
beckon some additional speculation chal- ald.
lenging the prognosticators who already
Meanwhile speculation is rife, hope
boast of having attained a President Jimmy swells lots of hearts bedecked with donkeys
and Vice President Fritz. The more realsitic and commentators speak freely, sometimes
surely are not forgetting that this is July, foolishly. .-
that the GOP festival in Kansas City won't
Take as an example the free-time corn-
be until next month and the election is still ment by one genius on television who eval-
more than three months off.
. uated Catholic, Protestant and Baptist reac-
A reminder to the boastful in Georgia tions and incidentally discussed the financial
and Minnesota by way of a baseball yarn: aspect of a presidential campaign, in relation
to the twenty-million-dollars-plus the gov-
A lover of the game saw two boys' teams ernment will give each party, thus obviating
at play on a neighborhood lot and went over large giving by individuals. The great au-
to watch it. He approached the outfielder of thority on TV then proceeded to say that
the team on the field who was lounging lei- Jewish influence thus will be reduced be-
surely and asked "What's the score?" cause Jews will not be able to exert power
"Twenty-nine to nothin'," the lad re- with money. Is it ugliness or hutzpa? Per-
haps it is both. Yet the notoriety-seeking
plied.
commentators who are motivated by such
"In whose favor," asked the baseball, .distortions seem never to learn. There are
fan.
Jews with influence in both parties and the
mass of Jewish voters is usually motivated
`Theirs."
Presidential Candidates
and Their Views on Israel
Israel's fate is not negotiable, and the
politicians know it. No human being any-
where in the civilized areas of the world
would dare endorse any action that might
damage the security of the Jewish state.
That is why ALL candidates for President,
in both parties, are on record in Israel's de-
fense. That is why both parties will have
planks in their platforms in support of Is-
rael.
Nevertheless, there will be vying for
superiority in positions, in claims, in loyal-
ties to the common decencies related to the
By Philip
Slomovitz
Middle East's explosive situation.
The fact is that even the anti-Israel So-
viet Union speaks in terms of recognizing Is-
rael's existence, and even Sadat implies that
he does not want to destroy Israel. All the
enemies want is to reduce Israel to a ghetto
status.
And the candidates in Democratic and
Republican ranks? Don't they speak in
terms of Israel's withdrawal from occupied
territory? Israelis do not deny their readi-
ness to submit to negotiations that would or
might lead to some form of withdrawal. Are
there presidential candidates who are deter-
mined to provide Israel with unquestioned
security? All speak in such terms, but in the
White House there developed new ides
based on emerging problematic challeng
Then it is the State Department that dorm-
.nated and Israel and her friends must al-
ways battle for the right to negotiate on the
basis of assured securities for state and peo-
ple._
Israel is not a partisan issue. The needs
of the embattled and endangered states de-
mand consideration by all, and when any-
one falters in promises the vigilant among
Israel's friends must be ready to act defen-
sively. This remains a duty whether Donkey
or Elephant rule in the land.
Admiral Elmo Zumwalt Critical of Secretary of State Kissinger,
Is Firm on Stand in Favor of U.S. Aid to and Support of Israel
Israel's role in the Middle
East and the basic import-
ance of American-Israel
friendships, so often alluded
to, receives strongest ac-
claim in a significant vol-
ume dealing with the cur-
rent military problems
affecting this nation in its
foreign policies.
In "On Watch," (Quad-
rangle Press, New York
Times Book Co.), retired
Admiral Elmo (Bud) Zum-
walt, Jr., who in 1974 re-
tired as the youngest chief
of U. S. naval operations, ex-
poses the duplicity in many
negotiations that have been
conducted by military and
government officials and
deals at length with U.S.
involvements in the Middle
East.
Admiral Zumwalt is ex-
ceedingly critical of Secre-
tary of State Henry A. Kis-
singer and he charges that
detente, as the cornerstone
ELMO ZUMWALT
of American foreign policies
in the 1970s, is Kissinger's
private and unenforceable
deal with the USSR.
It is revealed in this
important book that al-
though initially President
Richard Nixon and Kissin-
ger were admired by Zul-
walt he soon was disen-
chanted with them,
especially with the latter's
fatalistic attitude toward
Soviet power.
As he reports one conver-
sation with Henry Kissinger
in 1970: "[K. said] the U.S.
has passed its historic high
point like so many earlier
civilizations. He believes
U.S. is on downhill and can-
not be roused by political
challenge. He states that his
job is to persuade the Rus-
sians to give us the best deal
we can get, recognizing that
the historical forces favor
them . . . that the Ameri-
can people have only them-
selves to blame because they
lack stamina to stay the
course against the Russians
who are 'Sparta to our Ath-
ens.' "
That this was not mere
rhetoric became clear in one
international crisis after
another. As a member of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff —
and therefore by Congres-
sional mandate an adviser
;o the President — Zumwalt
found again and again that
Henry Kissinger either mi-
sled his colleagues or hid the
facts from them.
The "Watergate style"
was not the exception but
the rule.
The Zumwalt challenges
and exposes of the Middle
East situation and the
dangers confronted by Is-
rael are of special signifi-
cance in the former admi-
ral's blatant exposes of
White House and State
Department attitudes.
Thoroughly analyzing the
consequences of the Yom
Kippur War, Zumwalt re-
lates how the Soviets sup-
plied massive military aid to
the Arabs and he deplores
the delays in American as-
sistance to Israel, implying
guilt to Kissinger. Zumwalt
states:
"I do not mean to imply
that he wanted Israel to lose
the war. He simply did not
want Israel to win deci-
sively, as even his apolo-
gists, notably the Kalb
brothers in their book about
him, admit."
It is on the question' of
America's commitment to
Israel that Zumwalt is espe-
cially effective. Emphasiz-
ing such an obligation, and
inter alia, exposing the vil-
lainous Russian role as an
antagonist in the Middle
East. Zumwalt declares:
I say that America's
commitment to Israel
"apparently" involves
many military risks be-
cause I think the U.S.
would face the same risks
in intensified form in the
Middle EaSt if there were
no Israel. After all, the
principal fomenters of
trouble in the Middle East
are the Soviets, who have
the long-range objective of
gaining control of the oil
there. They not only keep
Arab hatred of Israel
burning high, but provide
the Arab states with the
wherewithal to turn their
hatred into action.
I have no doubt that if
Israel fell, the Soviets
would find it both simple
and advantageous to turn
from egging on the Arabs
against Israel to egging on
one set of Arabs against
another.
• In that situation the
U.S. still would be threat-
ened with the loss of Mid-
dle Eastern oil and still
would be compelled to ship
out arms — and to much
less potent and reliable
friends than Israel, at
that.
In sum, the democratic,
militarily strong state of
Israel serves, in a real
sense, as a buffer between
the U.S. and the USSR's
long term goals of domina-
tion in the Middle East; Is-
rael's presence is thus of
great military benefit to
the U.S. and the view that
the Israelis are a military
liability seems to me short-
sighted and superficial.
Beyond and perhaps
more important than this
practical military fact is
the perception of the whole rael's constant clamoring
world that of all America's for- arms and undoubted
international commit- intransigence about the
ments, the one to Israel is Palestinian Arabs and giv-
probably the most deeply ing back the Arab terri-
felt and meant. tory it has seized to be jus-
I am convinced that, tified from Israel's point of
even though American view and well worth put-
support of Israel does ting up with from the U.S.
create some dissension in point of view because a
NATO, American aban- strong Israel plays a criti-
donment of Israel would cal part in safeguarding
cause the virtual collapse America's vital interests
of NATO through sheer not only in the Middle East
distrust of our good faith but in Europe as well.
by our European allies.
At last year's convention
And so I consider Is-
of the Zionist Organization
of America, in Chicago,
Zumwalt publicly pro-
claimed his criticisms of the
Kissinger policies and made
a strong case for continued
American-Israel amity and
U.S. support for Israel.
Zumwalt, who is a candi-
date for the U.S. Senate in
Virginia, is a 1943 graduate
of the U.S. Naval Academy.
From 1968-70 commanded
the U.S. naval -forces in
Vietnam and was chief of
the Naval Advisory Group.
Humor From the American Negev
BY DAVID SCHWARTZ
Inc.)
The Democrats have
turned south — to the Ne-
gev, to use the Hebrew word
for south -- for their na-
tional leader.
Prior to the Civil War the
advanced, progressive politi-
cal thinking of the nation
stemmed from the south.
Perhaps there was some-
thing natural in this. There
is more sunshine in the
south, so perhaps the sun-
shine of freedom also shines
"mostest" there too, as some
southerners might say. It
was Jefferson who wrote
about all men being created
equal and who also pro-
tested economic exploita-
tion. People were not born,
he wrote, "with saddles on
their backs to be ridden by a
chosen few, booted and
spurred." It was the south-
erner, Mason, who was most
responsible for the Bill of
Rights.
The fact that the Demo-
crats have chosen a Geor-
gian as their candidate is
perhaps of especial interest
at this time, when the coun-
try faces the acute problem
of unemployment. The state
of Georgia is unique in that
it was established to meet
that very problem.
General James Ogle-
thorpe, a member of the
(Copyright 1976, JTA,
English Parliament had by the British and sent-
been concerned with the enced to be shot. But given a
problem of those impris- _little time for prayer, he
oned for debt. When re- jumped on his horse and
leased, he found many of fled. Maybe he wanted to go
them were as badly off as to the synagogue to do the
then they were in prison. praying. A Jew always pre-
Their basic problem was fers to pray with a minyan.
that they had no means of Atlanta recently had a
earning any money. They Jewish mayor, but Sayan-
had no employment. So he nah, almost a century ago,
proposed to colonize them had a Jewish mayor and
and they became the nu- even a Jewish chief of pol-
cleus of what was to be ice. The first two Jews in
called the Empire State of the U.S. Senate were from
the south. the South: Benjamin from
I think we could use a few Louisiana and Yulee from
Florida. Judah Touro, one
Oglethorpes today.
The colony of course was of the most prominent of
the early American phi-
not restricted to those who lanthropists, fought under
were unemployed. Interest- Andrew Jackson at the
ingly, in the literature ad-
of New Orle$ :i
vertising the attractiveness battle
Uriah
P. Levy of Sou.
of the area, it was pointed Carolina
a comt..,
out that Georgia lay in the dore of the was
navy, a friend
same parallels of latitude as
Jefferson and gave the
Israel. Jews had a part in of
of Jefferson, now in
the beginning of the colony statue
the Capitol, to the nation.
under Oglethorpe. There
Have you ever seen a mag-
were some protests against
tree? Its blossoms are
the admission of Jews, but nolia
so beautiful. You can't help
Oglethorpe would not pausing from your work to
countenance them.
look at them. Or a persim-
Georgia was the first mon tree, or peach trees in
state to have a Jew for gov- bloom. But, nevertheless, it
ernor — David Emanuel — seems to me who has .re-
and Savannah, Georgia had sided both in the south and
one of the first synagogues north, that the southerners
in the country.
are not a hit lazier. Where
In the American Revolu- can you find a livlier- town
tion, Emanuel was captured than Atlanta?