Israel's Women
Who Helped
in the Underground
and in
Pioneering
HE JEWISH NEWS
Special Feature
on Page 2
of Jewish Events
A Weekly Review
VOL. LXXVII, No. 13 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suit; 865 Southfield, Mich. 48075
424-8833
50th Anniversary
of Jewish Braille
Institute:
Notable Services
for Handicapped
Commentary, page 2
$15 Per Year: This Issue 35c
May 30, 1980
Menahem Begin Unhindered;
Continues Control of Cabinet
By DAVID LANDAU, GIL SEDAN and YITZHAK SHARGIL
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Premier Menahem Begin announced a major
cabinet reshuffle Tuesday which would shift Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir
to the post of defense minister, replacing Ezer Weizman who resigned Monday.
Energy Minister Yitzhak Modai, the newly-emerged strong man of Likud's
Liberal Party wing, would become foreign minister, and Minister-Without-
Portfolio Moshe Nissim, also of the Liberal Party, would take the Energy
Ministry post.
But Begin's decisions, viewed as deft political footwork aimed at restoring
unity to his increasingly restive coalitam, promptly ran into trouble when the
Democratic-Movement, headed by Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin, informed him
that Modai was unacceptable. Their position infuri tted circles close to Begin
inasmuch as the DM, the smallest faction in the coaly; on, had previously vetoed
the naming of Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon as the new defense minister.
A meeting between Begin and the DM leaders Tuesday evening reached no
conclusions and was adjourned for consultations. The National Religious Party
and Likud's La'am faction also expressed anger that Begin had announced his
reshuffle without prior consultation with them. La'am is also opposed to Modai,
-
but not for the same reasons as the DM.
The NRP, which first appeared to be happy with Begin's choices, is
apparently troubled because it had expected Moshe Arens, chairman of
the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, to be elevated to
the Cabinet in which case their own man, Yehuda Ben-Kony, would have
taken the powerful Knesset post.
Begin, however, was careful to re-arrange the portfolios within the ranks of
the present Cabinet. Sharon, a hard-line militant, had threatened to resign if an
outsider was brought in-as defense minister. He, in fact, had presented himself
as the most suitable candidate and may, indeed, have been Begin's first choice.
But the Liberal Party, as well as the DM, was adamantly opposed.
Begin's first concern apparently was to satisfy the Liberals who have been
chafing since Simha Ehrlich was forced to resign as finance minister last year.
They will now have their own man in the most senior and prestigious Cabinet
post, if Begin's plan is implemented, as well as the important Energy Ministry.
But, although Modai is a hardliner who has consistently taken tougher positions
on key issues than most of his Liberal colleagues, the weighting of the Cabinet
on the Liberal Party side is bound to anger members of Begin's own Herut
faction.
The Cabinet reshuffle will give the government a further tilt to the right.
According to observers, this means an even tougher stand on such matters as the
autonomy talks with Egypt, which have been in suspension for the past two
weeks, Jewish settlements on the West Bank and quelling Palestinian unrest in
(Continued on Page 5)
Israel Invites
Saudi Prince
M.E. Events
Cancel. Speech
Israel Ambassador to -
Egypt Eliahu Ben-Elissar
was scheduled to address an
- Israel Bond reception in
honor of Graham and
Joseph Orley on Wednesday
evening. Yitzhak Rager,
executive vice president of
the Israel Bond Organiza-
tion, substituted for him at
the gathering at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. David Herme-
lin.
Ben-Elissar was recalled
to Jerusalem for consulta-
tions this week on the
stalled Palestinian au-
tonomy talks.
EZER WEIZMAN
MENAHEM BEGIN
YITZHAK SHAMIR
1-m-5 Russian Jews
Still Speak Jewish
Olympics Boycott
Joined by Israel
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The Israel Olympic Committee
voted 17-8 May 22 to boycott the 1980 Olympic Games in
coscow. The decision, after hours of intense debate be-
closed doors, endorsed appeals for a boycott by
t'remier Menahem Begin, the Knesset Sports Commit-
? and Soviet Jewish emigre groups in Israel. It means
gat Israel's Olympic team will be disbanded.
Israel has thus followed the lead of the United States
and other Western countries to boycott the Games- be-
cause of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
It was reported that U.S. Ambassador Samuel
Lewis informed the Olympic Committee that Wash-
ington would back Israel should attempts be made
to bar it from future international sports contests
as a consequence of its boycott of the Moscow
Gaines.
The decision came two days before the deadline for the
committee to act. The committee stated that if there are
any changes in the international situation with respect
to the Olympics, it would reconvene to reconsider its
decision. Of the eight members who voted for participa-
tion in the Games, seven were from the Hapoel sports
organization and one was from the Maccabis. The mem-
.
(Continued on Page 7)
YITZHAK. MODAI
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
The Washington Post re-
ported Wednesday that Is-
raeli Premier Menahem
Begin "invited Saudi Ara-
bian Crown Prince Fand to
Jerusalem to address the
parliament about his
willingness, under certain
conditions, to bring the
Palestinians and other
Arabs into a peace agree-
ment with Israel."
Begin made the offer in
the course of a wide-ranging
interview in Jerusalem on
Tuesday with Katherine
(Continued on Page 7)
LONDON — An analysis of the linguistic composition
of Soviet Jewry, which forms part of a research report
published by the Institute of Jewish Affairs in London,
- reveals that nearly 400,000 Jews — more than one in five
— still speak a Jewish language (mostly Yiddish).
This fact emerges from the IJA's detailed analysis of
the results of the 1979 Soviet Census, some of which have
been published recently in a Soviet statistical journal. The
data on Jewish languages constitutes important informa-
tion on the cultural state of Soviet Jewry. The report
suggests that while all assimilatidn processes are progress-
ing virtually one way — to the Russians — the survival of
Jewish languages is evidence of the continued strong
adherence of Soviet Jews to their natural culture.
The report also analyzes the considerable fall in
the total number of Jews in the USSR — from 2,151,000
in 1970 to 1,811,000 in 1979 — and shows how the place
of the Jews in the numerical order of the Soviet
nationalities has fallen from census to census. It ex-
plains that the fall in Jewish population is due in
about equal proportion to the emigration of 174,000
Jews in 1970-1978 and natural decline.
In a resolution adopted at its recent annual meeting
(Continued on Page 7)