HE JEWISH NEWS Chronicled Irgun History Throws Light on Likud's Rise to Power A Weekly Review Commentary, Page 2 VOL. LXXI, No. 18 f Jewish Events 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 State Department Pressures and Jerusalem's Endangered Jewish Role Editorials, Page 4 $10.00 Per Year; This Issue 30 0 July 8, 1977 Ecuador Renews Quest for Kfir; U.S. Naval Base Report Denied Arab Prisoners' Torture Stories Protect Confessors from Revenge LONDON (JTA)—Former Arab prisoners who say they were tortured during inter- rogation by Israeli police do so because they fear revenge by other Arabs whom they have implicated in terrorist activities. But their claims of confessing because of torture are without foundation. This is stated in a lengthy reply by the Israel embassy to an article in the London Sunday Times two weeks ago accusing Israeli security organs of systematically using torture to extract confessions from suspected terrorists. The statement follows inquiries in Israel into the cases mentioned in the original Sunday Times article. It deal.s -with six cases point by point, claiming that in no case is the alle- gation of torture justified. Keren Hayesod "In many of the cases. - the embassy report said, Study Mission "the persons referred to had good reason for claiming that statements they made were made under torture, Due in Israel for in these statements they implicated others in the various acts of terror committed. There have been a number of cases of Arab prisoners being brutally mur- dered by their fellow prisoners on suspicion that they had cooperated with the authorities. Once claiming tor- ture, they perhaps feel that they can no longer be ac- cused by their colleagues of betrayal." The statement continues: "Israel police and security have every reason to refrain from use of force. Such use of force is a serious criminal offense, and where cases of police brutality have been found in the past, po- lice officers have been prosecuted, and it is Israel's pol- icy to do so in the future." The embassy points out that Felicia Langer and Lea Tsemel, the two Jewish lawyers frequently quoted in the original Sunday Times article, "make a practice of claiming that every client of theirs who makes a state- -ment to the police does so under pressure." However, whenever the police opened inquiries into the allega- YACHDAV 77 rmi tions and requested people to provide statements or to A MIS$1ON OF UNITY submit evidence "the two lawyers simply fail to reply." Yachdav (Togetherness) Defending Israel's general - record on human rights, 77, the World Young Lead- the embassy noted that Israel has an independent judi- ership Mission of Keren ciary and a judicial system "which even •Israel's Hayesod — United Israel avowed enemies admit is both fair and of extremely Appeal, will be held in Is- high caliber." Israel is also the only Middle East coun- rael July 20-31. The mis- try that does not carry out the death penalty. "Torture sion will be the largest or use of force, in addition to being crimes, are also of- ever conducted by Keren fenses against the police and military codes," the em- Hayesod, which has 51 bassy asserted. young leadership groups in 25 countries, with 1,200 Moreover, Israeli courts -refuse to consider any state- members. ' (Continued on Page 8) - WASHINGTON (JTA)—Israel has re-submitted its request for U.S. per- mission to sell 24 Kfir fighter-bombers to Ecuador and the State Department is currently reconsidering the sale which it had vetoed last year, it was learned WedneSday. According to Congressional sources, the U.S. suggested that Israel re-submit its request after appeals from Ecuadorian officials who urgently want the Israel-made jet combat plane. (State Department spokesman Hodding Carter III said Wednesday afternoon that the department's position opposed to the sale of the Israeli Kfir to Ecua- dor remains unchanged.) Ecuador's need for the Kfir was reportedly conveyed to President Carter by Mrs. Rosalynn Carter on her return from a Latin American tour last month during which she visited Quito. Mary F. Hoyt, the first lady's press secretary, insisted that Mrs. Carter did not intercede with the President for the sale but was simply "a- channel of communication" to him. _ _ _ Ecuadorian officials reportedly told Mrs. Carter that they needed the Kfirs because the Soviet Union has delivered advanced Sukohoi-20 fighters to Peru, Ecuador's neighbor on the south. The two countries have been engaged in terri- torial disputes for generations which sometimes involved armed clashes. The Kfir, the first fighter plane of Israeli design and manufacture, is consid- ered one of the best of its class in the world and probably the least expensive. The U.S. refused to allow its sale to Ecuador, however, on the grounds that Amertican policy barred the introduction of sophisticated weaponry into Latin America. U.S. permission was needed because the Kfir is powered by an Amer- ican-made engine. -- According to the July 11 issue of Newsweek magazine, Ecuador has offered to support Jimmy Carter's human-rights initiative—but only if he'll ease his stance on international arms sales. Ecuador officials want to buy either the U.S. F-5 fighter or the A-10 close-support bomber as a substitute for their ear- lier planned purchase of Israeli Kfir jet fighters. Military sources believe that Ecuador would still prefer the Kfir if the U.S. will approve the sale because of the plane's low cost and high performance. Meanwhile, press reports that the U.S. was considering setting up a naval or air base in Israel were denied Tuesday by White House Press Secretary Jody Powell. "There is no truth to that report, ' he said. "We are not considering asking for any naval base or any other kind of military base in Israel." Ear- lier in the day the state department also rejected the reports as "sheer specula- tion." The 'press reports, which had been circulating for weeks and surfaced again over the weekend, had noted that the Carter Administration was considering establishing a base as one of a number of moves to reassure Israel of Ameri- can commitment to the Jewish state. Israeli circles pointed out, however, that Israel's long-standing policy is not to have foreign military forces on its soil. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency's Washington correspondent, Joseph Polla- koff, said, however, that the fact that the report was floated by United States sources to important American media indicated that the Carter Administration is prepared to offer a base, provide sophisticated arms and allocate continued economic assistance to Israel, but will continue to insist on Israel's withdrawal from the administered territories. Welfare Federation Allocates $10 Million for Overseas k ore than $10 million from the 1977 Allied Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergency Fund was allocated for use overseas by the Jew- ish Welfare Federation Board of Governors at its meeting last week. Leading the grants was $4,998,500 to the United Jewish Appeal from the "regular" Allied Jewish Campaign. Additional monies in the Israel Emergency Fund are expected to bring the total overseas allocation to $10.175.000. Israel Emergency Fund and UJA allocations are used to support human- itarian and social service programs and agencies in Israel. Also in this category are HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society ). the America-Israel Cultural Foundation and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. More than $5 million from the 1977 Cam- paign was allocated to 14 national agencies, 14 local agencies, three local .Jewish day schools. Hillel Foundations on three Mich- igan campuses. central services (including Federation's administrative costs) and capi- tal needs. The agencies funded according to recom- mendations by the Federation's culture and education division will receive $2,072,350 this year, an increase of $119,050, or an aver- age of 6 percent, over last year. The largest grants were to the United Hebrew Schools-Midrasha and the Jewish Community Center. The latter's $850.000 deficit sum will be held in reserve temporar- ily until the Center presents its budget for calendar year 1971. Agencies whose allocations were recom- mended by the Federation community serv- ices division will receive $1.629.526, an in- crease of 9.8 percent over last year. The allocation for the Jewish Vocational Service-Commtinity Workshop includes $20.000 earmarked for expansion of the agency's Oakland County _ operations through the establishment of a 50-seat satel- lite workshop to begin in January. 1978. Allocations to national agencies total $437,000, an increase of about 5 percent. The funds are channeled to the national head- quarters of each group, and then may be budgeted for local chapters or operations. The report submitted by tie national agencies division explained why the Joint Cultural Appeal received the largest in- crease in its category. "The Joint Cultural Appeal is made up of nine small cultural and educational agencies, which are the keepers of our Jewish heritage," the report said "They are old agencies, and if they are to keep going and attract younger work- ers, they are going to need more money. And we think these agencies are worth con- tinuing." Allied Jewish Campaign-Israel Emergen- cy Fund beneficiaries are assigned by cate- gory to report to one of the three divi- sions—culture and education, community services, and national agencies—when they make their annual requests for funds. Tillie Brandwine heads the cultural and education division, assisted by associate chairman Stanley D. Frankel and Norman D. Katz. The community services division is chaired by Dr. Conrad L. Giles. with associ- ate chairmen Byron B. Gerson and Mark L. Kahn. Avern L. Cohn chairs the national agencies division. His associate is Joel D. Tauber. A fourth group, the capital needs com- mittee headed by David Handleman and his (Continued on Page 5)