I :4 •-• 2 Friday, . December 9, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary Yitzhak Navon's Role as Israel's Sephardi Leader and Treatment Accorded Him by the Labor Party... Endorsing Dulzin to Head Agency and the WZCongress By Philip Slomovitz Leon Dulzin's Leadership...Call for Navon's Withdrawl...Showdown at WZCongress Pursuing the matter that could be defined as "The Leon Dulzin Candidacy for Lead- ership in the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization," broached in this col- umn last week as an argument in favor of the qualified voters casting their ballots for Slate Number 3, some basic facts must now be introduced for serious consideration. One of Israel's most distinguished person- alities, Yitzhak Navon, has been proposed by the opposition to the Menahem Begin administration to oppose Mr. Dulzin for the post he is seeking again after having been eliminated as a successor to the late Louis Pincus. Let it be re- membered that Mr. Dul- zin has proven his qual- ifications for. leadership, having served as treasurer of the Jewish Agency under Mr. Pincus and as acting chairman of the Agency un- til his defeat by Yosef Al- mogi. - The lat- ter was the Labor Alignment candidate and Labor was in the saddle. It was a close vote and Mr. Dulzin might have been named to a post for which he qualifies highly. Hadassah, contrary to claims of impartial- ity, is Labor's stronge^t backer. Therefore, Almogi was elected. What now? Labor is no longer in power, but with Hadassah it could retain control of the World Zionist Organization and the Jew- ish Agency leadership, contrary to the hopes of the dominant party in Israel. Every party has a right to strive for the success of its candidates. But in the instance of leadership involving also the concerns of Diaspora Jewry a grave injustice could be enacted if a proven‘areer man like Mr. Dul- zin is again rejected. What's the story relating to Mr. Navon? First, let the credit due him be given to the fullest degree. "Who's Who in Israel" in- troduces him to world Jewry as follows: NAVON, Yitzhak; M.K., Dep. Speaker of the Knesset; mbr.: Knesset C'tee on Foreign Affairs & Defence, Steering C'tee, 65-69; chmn., Israel Brd., Amer- ica-Israel Cultural Foundation; b. Je- rusalem, 21; educ.: Hebrew U. (Peda- gogy Hebrew Literature, Moslem Culture, Arabic & Literature); married; p. teacher, Jerusalem elementary & secondary schools; dir. Arabic Dpt., Hagana, Jerusalem, 46-49; Second Secrt., Israel Embassy, Argentine & Uruguay, 49-50; Polit. Secret. to late Foreign Minister, M. Sharett, 51-52; Polit. Secret. to P.M., D. Ben Gurion, 52-63; dir., Div. of Culture, Min. of Education & Culture, 63-65. This is the man who was proposed as Speaker of the Knesset. He could have been elected but Labor, his own party, did not back him. He was a candidate for President of Israel, but the then Prime Minister Golda Meir, a fellow-Laborite of Navon, preferred Ephraim Katzir, the present President of Israel. Many believed that Mr. Navon should have been selected for the positions he had failed to attain. He is a Sephardi leader. He represents the majority of Israel. His selec- tion would have pleased the Sephardi com- munity and would have been an act of justice in behalf of a majority that suffers minority status. All of this does not mean that Mr. Dulzin should be penalized, as Mr., Navon was in the past. Nor does it mean that the Labor Align- ment of Israel. having con- sistently de- feated Mr. Navon for leading gov- ernment posts, should now be encouraged to be an avail- able candidate for his party in an hour his party envi- YITZMAK NAVON sions him as the means of attaining another triumph over Mr. Dulzin who apparently is opposed be- cause he is a General Zionist and does not belong to the dominant party. How should Mr. Navon be rewarded for his able leadership? Supporters of Mr. Dul- zin should continue to encourage Mr. Navon to withdraw from the race because electing Mr. Dulzin for a role in which he is vitally needed by virtue of his experience and ability is a vital necessity for Israel and Diaspora Jewry. There is a way of honoring Mr. Navon: with an atonement for one of his previous defeats. President Ephraim Katzir has an- nounced that he will not seek a second term in his prestigious office. If this commentator were in Israel, as an Israeli, he would urge that Mr. Navon be elected President. It would be an act of justice for him and for the Sephardic community. Because party politics are resorted to in an effort to push Mr. Navon into a job for which the dominant candidate, Aryeh Leon Dulzin, is so eminently qualified, and to assure that experience should be recognized, this commentator encourages a vote for the ZOA Slate Number 3 which would assure a delegateship to the World Zionist Congress in support of Mr. Dulzin. Is all of this narrow partisanship and prejudiced politics? Let's call to witness a responsible Israeli. Shlomo Shamgar, senior political editor of Yediot Achronot, one of the leading Israeli Hebrew daily newspapers, wrote a lengthy article for his paper under the title "Is This Yitzhak's Sacrifice Necessary? Bid for the Zionist Chairmanship Confronting the Likud Candidate Has No Chance and Yitzhak Nav- on Would Do Wisely to Withdraw." Here is the introductory portion of the Israeli authority's article: About four and a half years ago, when Yitzhak Navon's candidacy for the pres- idency of the state of Israel was being considered, I was among the many who gave it enthusiastic support. We saw in him an ideal person, from all stand- points: character, age, schooling, ex- traction, traits, tendencies, merits. However, someone stamped his foot and decided, quite arbitrarily and with a touch of irritation and derision: "Ben- Gurion's secretary will not inherit Zal- man Shazar!". The party steamroller went into oper- ation, and after a feverish search for a competing candidate, Yitzhak Navon was defeated by a slight majority, just as was his defeat some two years earlier when he attempted to achieve the Knesset speakership. None would deny that Navon would not have embar- rassed the state of Israel or the Labor Party in either of the two posts. Yitzhak Navon would have added hon- or to another important post toward which he strove two years ago— the chairmanship of the Jewish Agency Executive. But, just as Golda Meir had blocked the first two appointments, so was the third blocked by her successor, Yitzhak Rabin, and aaain Navon was denied the opportunity to serve his people and his movement in a senior post. Thrice he was tripped up on the inside, even though everyone was ready to admit that he is "well-liked and suited to the job". The qualifications demanded during the tenure of the previous regime were evidently far from the traits he had to offer. Now when does his party commit itself to backing him? When its strength is gone, when it is out of office, when its influence is at low ebb, when it is trying to sweep its failures and mistakes under the carpet, when it suddenly wakes up to the fact that the candidate's merits and public prestige are more important than the regrettable black blemish in- curred by his faithfulness to his friend and mentor, David Ben-Gurion. Under these circumstances. studying the facts, could any knowledgeable American Zionist vote other than Slate Number 3? _ Perhaps the atmosphere can be cleans'- by American representatives on the 41ewi Agency Executive. Perhaps Max Fisher, Charlotte Jacobson and their associates can avert another injustice and assure Mr. Dul- zin's retention in the leadership he has earned and for which he is highly qualified. Under any circumstances, to protect in a striving for justice this columnist endorses a large vote for the WZCongress Slate Number 3. Rocky Road to Peace on Which Sadat Meets Antagonists Not Only in Libya But Also at U-M and WSU Campuses Is the average citizen puzzled, or stunned by what is occuring-around him? Anwar Sadat had called upon the world's leadir% diplomats to join him in talks in Cairo preliminary to peace negotiations for an end of warfare in the Middle East. Israel accepted the invitation promptly. The United States and the United Nations hesitated but accepted. Then came a period of revelations. Arabs convened conferences of their own. in Libya and in Iraq. UN Secretary General Kurt Waldik_im wanted followup conferences in New York under his tuletage and Israel showed spunk with a sharp NO! to such an invitation. Does Israel need a continuity of hatred under UN directorship? Russia played her role by rejecting the call to Cario—understandably, because she was courting the Arab extremists. President Jimmy Carter succeeded in causing a delay in the Cairo meetings, which were to commence on Dec. 3, until Dec. 14. Was this some sort of an appeasement for some of the Arab states that are battling the Sadat peace proposals? Then began the Tripoli meetings at the behest of Libya, and some who had previously posed as peacemakers joined the ranks of those who are saying No to Sadat's "No More Wars, No More Bloodshed." Chief among the so-called peace-lovers who were among the first to reach Tripoli and who received a royal welcome was Houari Boumedienne. He is the Alegerian who often talked of peace and who showed his real intentions by making demands upon Israel so extreme that he could have matched Yasir Arafat. • Whence cometh good sense and support for amity? When in mankind's history has there • been such a demonstration against peace when two contending forces actually had embraced in a pact of friendship for peace? Not only in the Middle East but in America's academic community the answer to a call for "no more war..." by the chief Arab leader was blasted with a call to arms by Arabs on the campus of the University of Michigan! This need not negate peace. It must instead inspire all efforts to attain what a brave Egyptian leader has inspired with a bold move from Cairo to Jerusalem. Now the road is to Cairo to assure that out of Yerushalayim—the City of Peace—will come the clarion call never to abandon the human factor of "No more war. No more bloodshed." Anti-Israel, anti-Sadat groups also have their cohorts at Wayne State University, where the Communist influence was in evidence. The Young Socialist and Workers League mobilized a demonstration against the Egyptian leader. When the method of measuring the value of peace comes from the Kremlin, there is little more to expect from the WSU Socialists than from the disciples of Arafat in Beirut and those who learn from George Habash in the ranks of would-be destroyers of Israel. Therefore, the Sadat mission is certain to have obstacles. If he persists and refuses to yield to threats from those who, as it has been said, are prepared to fight against Israel "until the last Egyptian," then at least a partial peace is possible. This was unbelieveable and inconceivable a month ago. Now it has a measure of possibility. From Miracle to Miracle — Datelines from Cairo It isn't far from Cairo to Tripoli. Yet the distance is worlds apart. In Cairo, the leap.._ of the Egyptians keeps progagating for peace and his words are echoed in Jerusalem. In Tripoli, Arabs vowed war and threatened that the man of peace in Cairo would be assassinated. Now the world may be awakened to the facts in the case. Is it any wonder that Egyptians now say, "We are not Arabs." as the Lebanese had said in the past that they, too, were not Arabs, affirming, "We are Phoenicians." But these are minor matters, as long as Anwar Sadat accepts Arab !Lade! ‘t- iip and seeks amity in that part of the world. All mankind should applaud the response Sadat gets from his constituents. There is little reason for doubt that his people back him in his courageous efforts. The only danger stems from the few who are murderers. The entire world has reason to be in jitters over what may occur, because if Sadat's life should be endangered there is the threat of Russian domination not only over Egypt but in the entire Middle East. Didn't Sadat say that what happened in Tripoli was Russian-made "rubbish." Meanwhile, there is reason to rejoice: Many hundreds of correspondents are expected to be in Cairo to cover the Sadat conference on peace with Israel. For the first time— with only one exception—reports to The Jewish News will be datelined CAIRO. The only exceptions were when Robert St. John represented this newspaper and wrote a series of articles for us from the Egyptian capital. The first Israeli whose passport was recognized in Cairo and who was given a royal reception last week was the Yediot Achronot correspondent, Sami Greenshpan. Dec. 1, the day of his welcome to Cairo, should be marked down among the historic days in Middle EaSt peace efforts. It is one of the many glorious days to be anticipated as a result of the courage shared by Anwar Sadat and Menahem Begin.