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Purely Commentary

Who Are the Friends of Israel in the News Media? ... The
Consistent Role of George F. Will, a Wall Street Journal
Editorial Opinion, a Refutation of the 'Hard Line' Charge

By Philip
Slomovitz

The Accusatory Motto, the Guilt and the Noble Few With a Sense of Justice

4

"Hard line" has become the accusatory motto against Israel, in diplomatic ranks and
of self-defense. I myself transmitted the Israeli message to Hussein in 1967,
the media. Menahem Begin is the target while Anwar Sadat is the softie. Hasn't the
promising Iim immunity if he did not join the Six-Day War. If he had stayed
Egyptian leader come to Israel to honor the Jews with his presence? Isn't peace the
out of the war, he would hold the West Bank and Old Jerusalem today."
Cairean's slogan?
Let it be recorded with gratitude that George F. Will is not alone. The Wall Street
That's how it's been moving, despite the overwhelming vote of confidence by the Israel
Journal, under the heading "A Begin Coup?", stated on March 27:
Knesset for Prime Minister Begin; in spite of the truth that it was he who invited Sadat to
There is not a scrap of anything to indicate that Washington knows better
Jerusalem, that it was Begin who made proposals for self-rule in Judea and Samaria,
than Tel Aviv or Cairo how to bring about peace. The recent progress has
with the eventual intent of solidifying amity with Israel's non-Jewish residents who are
come in spite of U.S. diplomacy, not because of it — except in the perverse
offered the hand of comradeship and kinship; in spite of the record which shows that
sense that Washington's efforts for a conference including the PLO and the
while progress was being made in committees that began to function for agreements
Russians drove Egypt and Israel into each other's arms for protection. Nor
between Egypt and Israel, Sadat disrupted the talks by cancelling them.
is Washington a font of wisdom on Israeli public opinion, which could well
Oh , those Israeli "hard-liners!" That's how the media greet every declaration by Begin
be poisoned if fateful decisions are felt to be forced upon Israel by
that there will be no submission to any effort to force his people into accepting a suicidal
Washington. For all we know, Mr. Begin's background and positions may
position.
be the ideal ones from which to conduct the coming phase of negotiations.
Meanwhile, there is a guilt that must be registered — the guilt of indifference to the
Most of all, if he is seen to be undercut by Washington, then Washington
Jew's right to exist and to resist the threat to insecurity with acts like the attack on PLO
assumes a strong measure of responsibility for whatever comes after, in the
strongholds in Lebanon in order to mid terrorism. It was this resistance-that compelled----- Israeli government, in the negotiations or on the battlefield.
We get,
the war-like task, and instead of admitting that Israel has been forced to take up arms
o n this
we remember the
against the enemy, with tragic results for innocent people, there is the renewed animos-
st tune the U.S. dumped the leader of an allied government for failing to
ity with comments about the "Israeli 'overkill.' " Israel was forced into such action, and
carry out policies dreamed up by some bright bureaucrats in Washington.
This was in 1963, when we gave the essential go-ahead for the coup against
the indifferent who stand by while Israel is threatened must accept the guilt for consequ-
ences of a war for life.
President Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. The State Department consi-
It isn't all black. There is a handful with a sense of justice. Call to witness the most
dered him inadequate in "winning the hearts and minds of the people"; but
consistent of Israel's defenders, George F. Will. Writing in. Newsweek under the title
after his assassination the battlefield situation only deteriorated.
"The Real 'Obstacles' to Peace," Will declared:
A decision to move against Mr. Begin would of course not work out in a
The Carter Administration has focused its moral
precise repetition of this episode, but it would easily have equally un-
microscope on the Middle East and decided that Is-
fathomable consequences. The Administration outht to devote its efforts to
rael, which for 30 years has sought negotiations with
deciding who should run the Office of Management and Budget and be U.S.
its neighbors, and has received from them four wars,
Attorney in Philadelphia and leave the question of who should be Prime
Minister of Israel strictly to the Israelis.
is an obstacle to peace. The Administration has been
erratic, but consistently wrong. It was wrong to put
It is obligatory also to give prime space to the editorial opinion of the New Republic
the misnamed "Palestinian issue" at the top of the
where the following appears under the title "Life Support for the PLO":
agenda, wrong to try to install the Soviets as
There can be no joy from the Palestinian death tolls in Lebanon. But the
peacemakers, wrong to court the extremists, Syria
hypocritical counsel of forbearance, preached at Israel by governments
and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and
themselves habitues of violence, is contemptible. Thirty-two more Israeli
innocents were cut down by PLO terrorists. No country could allow such
wrong to press for a "comprehensive" peace process
that would give maximum leverage to extremists at
carnage to go unpunished.
the negotiating table. By branding Menahem Begin an
There's something contemptible about the State Department's reluctance
even to identify the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the criminals in
obstacle to peace, the Administration now has re-
warded the intransigence of Egypt's Sadat and Jor-
this deed, long after the PLO's officials had smugly claimed the crime as
dan's Hussein, and has nourished their hope that the
their own. The exquisite sensitivity of the great powers toward the feelings
U.S. will extort from Israel what they have been un-
of the PLO has helped to keep that organization just live enough for murder,
able to win in battle and are unwilling to discuss in
live enough to hold Compromise and peace negotiations hostage to assassi-
GEORGE WILL
negotiations.
nation fears, live enough to have dismembered Lebanon. Those who cau-
He said much more and he drew upon the record. It's puzzling why those who make so
cused in the diplomatic corridors and decided to allow the PLO guerrillas
much, under the tutelage of President Jimmy Carter, of UN Resolution 242 of November
their bases amidst noncombatant Lebanese must bear some responsibility
1967 never mention the interpretation of it by Eugene Rostow, who was among the chief
for the casualties of the ensuing battles.
advisers of President Lyndon Johnson at the time of the adoption of that resolution.
Zbigniew Brzezinski and President Carter might puzzle whether their
George F. Will does and this is what he states in his Newsweek column:
hollow rhetoric may have breathed reviving breath into a PLO already left
for finished on the bloody battlefields of Arab fratricide. Of course it will be
Eugene Rostow, Yale law professor and former Under Secretary of State
says:
harder for Brzezinski to puzzle. Much criticized and also very thin-skinned,
he fights back by orchestrating a campaign against charges that he is
"The West Bank and the Gaza Strip (unlike the Sinai) are not recognized
anti-Semitic — charges, however, which no one has made. He is not anti-
territories of any sovereign state. They are parts of the Palestine Mandate,
Semitic: of that long-time friends and long-time intellectual adversaries are
an area which until 1946 included Jordan, Israel, and the territories in
eger to testify. Let's put an end to that discussion. But his is a brittle
dispute between them ... The mandate-is a continuing trust of an interna-
rationalist intelligence, given to logical syllogisms unhappily not germane
tional character, like the mandate for German Southwest Africa, now cal-
to the passions and complexities of Middle East politics.
led Namibia. The continued vitality of the Palestine Mandate as a trust is
Brzezinski has been consistently wrong, too dense to understand the
confirmed by Article SO of the UN Charter and the most recent advisory
requirements for security and peace of Israelis and moderate Arabs alike,
opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Namibia case.
The territory of the mandate is Palestine, and those who have the right to
out of sync with the views of the American people and our representative
institutions.
live there are 'Palestinians' — Christian, Muslim, and Jewish alike. Jordan
Meanwhile, the venom spreads, cartoonists are maligning Jews as well as Israel,
held the West Bank as the military occupant between 1948 and 1967 after a
newspapers are resorting to the "eye for an eye" misrepresentations, responsible Jews
war of aggression. Although Jordan sought to annex the West Bank in 1951,
called a cartoon in NewsWeek anti-Semitic and at least one piece by the Detroit News
only two countries recognized that annexation. None of the other Arab
cartoonist was so vile that it disgraced decent journalism.
states has recognized Jordanian sovereignty there. Israel's claim to the
Call to judgment, therefore, the abused in self-defense, the guilty for unfairness, the
area under the mandate is at least as good as that of Jordan; some experts
defenders of fair play for recognition. It is quoted and resorted to in the confident hope
consider it to be better, because Israel occupied the area in 1967 after a war
that Fair Play will remain the honored American motto.
Personalities in the News:
the American cantors. For nearly half a century he has
Maquya of Japan: Bible
been the inspirer of Shaarey Zedek congregants.
Celler and Magen David,

Sonenklar, Zionist Cantor

Lovers Rejoice in Israel

His services were as much
Israel serves to fulfill the historic purpose of the In-
in other spheres. He was be-
loved ip the Home for Aged gathering of the Exileg — Kibutz Galuyot.
It is now the great attraction for tourists from all parts of
where he conducted services
on many occasions. He was the globe. Reportedly about 40 percent of the tourists are
On the national scale, acclaim is on the agenda for former
a welcome guest in many non-Jews.
During the World Zionist Congress sessions in
synagogues. He has
Congressman Emanuel Celler. He served his Brooklyn
(N.Y.) district in the U.S. House of Representatives for 50
an interesting group ofJapanese came to Israel
peared at hundreds of ap-
im- Jerusalem,
for an
years and lost his seat to the young Elizabeth Holtzman.
portant functions as a guest Hotel. 11-day visit, five of them at the Jerusalem Hilton
Then he turned to the practice of law and continues to
and volunteer for important
follow his profession actively although he has just turned
They are the Maquya, members of a sect of Bible lovers.
causes.
90.
There are 50,000 of them in Japan, and 250 were on the
Cantor Sonenklar's chief mission to Israel last month. They wore special uniforms
contribution to communal
For many years, continuing to this day, he made Magen
with
large Magen David symbols on their backs.
activisim continues to be his
David Adorn — Israel's equavalent of the Red Cross — his
One
One evening the entire group, smiling, with salutations
to the Zionist
chief avocation. No wonder, therefore, that the American
leader
of
Shalom,
greeted those returning from the World Zionist
cause. He has been a lead
Red Magen David for Israel sponsored a testimonial dinner
Congress sessions. They were dressed in the special un-
in his honor this week.
in the Zionist Organization iforms displaying the Magen David and their Shalom
ofDetroit, has worked for greeting reverberated, their sense of joy at being in the
What he does for Magen David Adorn is memorable in its
the Keren Kayemet (Jewish Holy Land of the Bible reverberating in the large
records. He has elevated the cause and he has earned
National Fund) and to this
Jerusalem Hilton lobby.
gratitude for his labors.
day shares in local Zionist
CANTOR SONENRLAR
It was as if their spirit had dominated the entire area.
activities.
On the Detroit scene, Cantor Jacob H.
Thus, the Bible's influence captured a large group in a
Sonenklar merits It is a distinction to be called a Zionist Cantor
gratitude as a community activist.
and on his distant land and found its roots in the City of Peace. The
leadership as a musician, as one He has gained a place of 85th birthday, this week, this writer joins an appreciative joys of Shalom and Israel thereby created a link between
of the most prominent of community in saluting him with respect and appreciation. Jews and Japanese.

There is always justification for interruption of discus-
sion of world affairs in order to give recognition to the
creative efforts of noted personalities in our midst.

