The People Israel Lives
Happy 31st Birthday, Israel.
Israel's
Historic Legacies:
The Prophecies
and the
Hope for Peace
.
THE JEWISH NEWS
A Weekly Review
Commentary, Page 2
of Jewish Events
VOL. LXXV, No. 8 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $12.00 Per Year: This Issue 30c
Battle for
Israel's `Heart'
Remembered
on State's 31st
Anniversary
Special Feature
Page 56
April 27, 1979
Begin,Yadin Support
Capital Punishment
for Terrorist Cruelty
fheclaration of Independence
.
May 14, 1948
Eretz Yisrael was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual,
religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained statehood,
created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the
world the eternal Book of Books.
After being forcibly exiled from their land, the Oeople kept faith with it
throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to
it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.
Impelled by this historic and traditional attachment, Jews strove in every
successive generation to reestablish themselves in their ancient homeland. In
recent decades they returned in their masses. Pioneers, ma'apiliin ("illegal"
immigrants) and defenders, they made deserts bloom, revived the Hebrew lan-
guage, built villages and towns, and created a thriving community, controlling its
own economy and culture, loving peace but knowing how to defend itself, bringing
the blessings of progress to all the country's inhabitants, and aspiring towards
independent nationhood.
In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual father of the Jewish
state, Theodor Herzl, the First Zionist Congress convened and proclaimed the
(Continued on Page 2)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Premier Menahem Begin told members of the Knesset
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that he supports the implementa-
tion of the death penalty for terrorists in cases of "extreme, cruel behavior," and noted
that he will ask the- government on Sunday to propose legislation to that effect.
The issue of the death penalty for terrorists aroused renewed interest in Israel
following the terrorist attack Sunday in Nahariya, in which four persons, two of them
children, were killed. While the death penalty is included in Israel's legal rulings, a
standing governmental order prevents it from being implemented. The legislation
suggested by the Premier would involve altering this 1954 ruling.
It was reported that Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin also supports the im-
plementation of the death penalty,.not only -in cases of terrorist acts, but in any
act involving extreme aggressive behavior. The death penalty was proposed
Sunday by Knesset Speaker Yitzhak Shamir. -
Proponents of capital punishment say that its absence encourages the terrorists to
commit revolting crimes against civilians. The terrorists know they will only go to jail if
caught and stand a chance of being released in exchange for hostages, those in favor of
the death penalty say. They cite the recent release of 75 terrorists in exchange for one
Israeli soldier, Avraham Amram, who was captured by terrorists last year while on an
unauthorized tour in south Lebanon.
There are still many, however, who oppose
•
the death penalty. They argue that it would
From Chaim Nachman Bialik's "Al
only make martyrs of the killers and create
Hashehita — "On the Slaughter" —
sympathy abroad for the Palestinian cause.
quoted by Menahem Begin at the fun-
eral of the victims of the terrorist
Some security officials are also opposed. They
murders at Nahariya on April 23.
say terrorists would be less likely to surren-
der if they knew they were to be executed and
Ir1K1
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7
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less likely to provide valuable information
rv?pa ,nrO? ;17?*1.22
WR 1 1 . 7 .7 Cl
under interrogation.
According to senior security sources, the
— in*r rt -)9 - xl? -riv
gang that attacked Nahariya planned to take
hostages and hold them in Lebanon for the
ac-
Who cries Revenge! Revenge!
release of terrorists imprisoned in Israel.
cursed be he!
That
disclosure gave impetus for demands for
Fit vengeance for the spilt blood of a child
(Continued on Page 5)
The devil has not yet compiled .. .
Allied Jewish Campaign Closing
With Another Generosity Record
As this issue goes to press, final reports on the progress of the 1979 Allied Jewish Campaign,
which were to be finalized last night, give assurance that last year's gifts will be exceeded and that
a new accomplishment of generosity is assured for the current year.
The anticipated total for 1979 is expected to exceed $18 million, matching last year's Cam-
paign gifts of some $15.6 million and including $1.5 million for Project Renewal. The total Detroit
income for Project Renewal for the five-year project period is expected to exceed the $5 million
mark.
The 1979 Allied Jewish Campaign, which was conducted under the co-chairmanship of David
Handleman and Irving Seligman, concluded with a function at Cong. Shaarey Zedek last night.
Israel Ambassador to the U.S. Ephraim Evron was to be the guest speaker.