2 Friday, July 10, 1981
THE DETHOIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Election With Many Aspects, Nation's Resolve in Selecting
a Leader, the Decision Being Made by Israelis and Not by
Speculators on the Outside, Thus Affirming a Sovereignty
By Philip
Slomovitz
The Much-Maligned Menahem Begin, the Defiant Role of a Victor Even Under Duress
•
Even during the bitterest moments of the American political campaign, Reagan
battling Carter, or those in France, Mitterrand battling to oust d'Estaing from power,
there was not a scintilla of the vileness of the attacks in countries outside Israel upon
Menahem Begin.
He was treated as a menace for the world and as the evil spirit whose election could
mean Israel's collapse and eventual total destruction.
These were the warnings of Flora Lewis writing for the New York Times from Paris,
of Anthony Lewis in correspondence to the New York Times from Jerusalem, in a very
antagonistic editorial in the Chicago Tribune, in comments by news analysts and radio
and TV commentators in many lands, in suggestions that White House and State
Department preferred Shimon Peres as a moderate to be dealt with.
None of this left an imprint on Begin the Victor. He was the militant the world came
to know when he appeared on TV on Sunday. He is the belligerent politically and the
staunch embracer of the religious partners in what appears like another coalition
dominated by Likud.
Is it good for Israel and for the world? Is the Jewish state on the verge of collapse? Is
the People Israel in jitters when a commentator poses as prophet with an augury of doom?
It could well be that an element that cheers Begin may have increased its strength
upon listening to the brutal comments about their leader.
Shimon-Peres and the Labor Alignment will be watched universally for the test to
which the "the loyal minority" will be put in the months, possibly years ahead. There is
much to be improved in Israel and if Menahem Begin seeks and aspires to an inerasable
place in history he must complete the peace tasks and simultaneously correct his nation's
errors and improve upon the country's economic miseries.
There is another matter that will need correcting. In a Jewish sphere monarchy is
rejected. The cry of "Begin, King of Israel" didn't sit well with many Jews. Even for those
who support and admire Begin it was an irritation. There were the eras when non-Jews
were the ones who acclaimed Theodor Herzl and Chaim Weizmann, referring to each in
their biographies as "King of the Jews." It was not an acceptable salutation then and it
isn't now. Begin may correct it himself in his anxiety for emphasis on Israel as a
democracy.
The abuses leveled at Begin may never cease. What matters is that they be rejected
when they develop into abuses for Israel. Then they become abuses for world Jewry.
The era of the election, the Begin versus Peres contest, was filled wih agonies,
Labor Zionist Anniversary:
The Notable 75-Year Record
GOLDA MEIR
DAVID BEN-GURION
Israel's Labor Alliance remains distinct in the Jewish
state's socio-economic-political structure. It is deprived of
the prime ministership, but it is dominant in the country as
an undisputable leader. It matched the Likud in vote-
gathering.
This significance for the Jewish state, and therefore
also for the Jewish people judged on a worldwide basis,
echoes in an important anniversary now being observed
both in Israel and in the Diaspora.
The 75th year of Labor Zionism and the 60th of its chief
fund-raising instrument, the Histadrut, now being cele-
brated here and in hundreds of Jewish communities simul-
taneously with observances in Israel, invites widest atten-
tion.
Israel was built by Halut-
ziut, by devoted pioneering.
The Yishuv that preceded
Israel in pre-statehood
Palestine was populated by
the halutzim whose dreams
for statehood were accom-
panied by the earnestness
with which they created ag-
ricultural settlements and
once again made the an-
cient homeland blossom
like a rose in the areas in
which they struggled to
transform the desert.
The founders of the Labor
Zionist movement, the early
Poale .Zionpioneers, were
MOSHE SHARETT
among the leaders in Is-
rael's, creativity.
LM.vid Ben-Gurion, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, their thousands
of associates, were the builders of Zion.
Recognition must be appropriated in these great ef-
forts to the devout, the religious Jews. They were the major
accusations, attacks that might have split the nation. Yet there is a large measure of
confidence that trust in Israel has not and will not vanish. The election was followed by
the Maccabia Games, the Israeli Olympics, with thousands of athletes participating, tens
of thousands cheering on the ablest to victory. Israel Bonds and United Jewish Appeal
representatives are assembling at important conferences. The world's leading scientists
and academics hold their conventions in Israel. Progress is made in scientific research by
Jews in the redeemed homeland.
The struggles for leadership always arouse some venom. A people with the experi-
ence of the builders of Zion knows how to repel them. That's how the victors in political
competitions defy obstructions.
Prime Minister Begin has the serious obligation of continuing the peace talks with
Anwar Sadat. The crucial months ahead will put him and his associates, whoever they
will be, in his Cabinet, and the world may well witness a mellowed leader.
One thing is certain: he'll hold on to power as long as a politician can. The predictioill
of a new election could prove as visionary as those of 1977 when the augury was that
Begin would not last. He lasted and he believes he will now be his nation's master for 41/2
more years. Considering the human nature of politicians aiming at retention of their
political advantages as long as they can, it may well be that Begin and his associates-to-
be will refuse to abandon power.
In any event, those chief struggles for security, for protection of Israel's sovereignty,
will not become a party struggle. There was and there will be name-calling. Begin will be
charged with belligerency, his opponents with a lack of national confidence. When the
nation's security is under challenge the nation's needs will not be betrayed.
Only the role of the religious factions remains a matter of deep concern. They are the
chief victors in all Israeli elections. They make demands that are often intolerable. The
fact that under the existing rules there can be religious freedom for all faiths in Israel but
the Conservative and Reform Jews are discriminated against is a fault of all parties. It
began with the Labor Alliance, it continues under the Likud. That's the chief cause for
concern in Israel.
Otherwise, there must be trust in a people choosing its leaders. It won't be done by
Flora Lewis in Paris or Bonn, by Anthony Lewis on a visit in Jerusalem, or the TV
commentators in the American and world media communicative systems. When dealing
with Begin they confront a tough guy. Apparently the Israelis feel that's the kind of
politician they need at the head of their government.
settlers. Their devotion was a role of great importance in
the return to Zion. They were the spiritual factor; the labors
were dominant in the ranks of the constructive workers.
They were not alone. The religious settlers shared im-
mensely in their efforts; they of the labor ranks toiled
uncomplainingly and established an inerasable record for
service in establishing a foundation for statehood.
They were the leaders also in diplo-
macy; Ben-Gurion, Ben-Zvi, Moshe
Sharett, Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol and
so many too numerous to mention who
were the leaders in making firm the
roots of Israel.
These are unforgettable factors to be
remembered in marking the 75th an-
niversary of the Labor Zionist Poale
Zionists and affiliated movements and
the 60th year of the function of Histad-
BEN-ZVI
rut.
It is for this reason that our proposal was sub-
mitted independent of other efforts being made to
reach a comprehensive solution of the Arab-
Israeli conflict. Israel's proposal is an unlinked
deal, separate from anything which may delay its
fulfillment, and without prejudice to any political
or legal claim which any of the states concerned
may have on any other.
The Blum statement is clear enough not to need elab-
oration. Essential to the debate on the nuclear subject is the
recognition of the fact that no matter what Israel proposes,
the Arabs refuse to meet with Israel on an equal basis. It is
this obstacle that is the cause of many disputes and of the
major obstacles to peace. Failure to recognize this fact is to
be blind to reality.
Israel's Proposal to the UN
for a Workable Nuclear Ban
RAMAT GAN — Both the
Reform and Conservative
movements have evolved
into more traditional forms
in Israel as a result of their
situation in the more con-
servative Israeli environ-
ment, according to Dr. Ep-
hraim Tabory, a lecturer at
Bar-Ilan University.
In his doctoral thesis, "A
Sociological Study of the Re-
form and Conservative'
Movements in Israel," he
submits that part of the rea-
son for the Reform move-
ment's efforts to establish a
Reform presence in Israel is
due to the fact that the
movement in the United
States has not developed as
dedicated a core as its lead-
ers there would desire.
Within the Conservative
movement there is less
"soul searching," says Dr.
Tabory. The Conservative
movement may be classified
as somewhat more "indig-
enous to Israel to the extent
that the congregations are
established by local resi-
dents rather than by exter-
nal catalysts.
Whether the Conserva-
tive movement in Israel
succeeds in breaking out
of its ethnic mold and at-
tracts native Israelis may
depend on the future so-
Non-Proliferation debates and accusations that Israel
refuses to cooperate inspired a reply from Yehuda Z. Blum,
Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations.
Dr. Blum reminds his associates in the UN that this
country is on record for calling on all states to cooperate in
an effort to establish a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
His reminder asserts:
Israel's draft resolution of Oct. 31, 1980, called
upon all states of the Middle East and others con-
cerned "to convene at the earliest possible date a
conference with a view of negotiating a multilat-
eral treaty establishing a nuclear-weapon-free
zone in the Middle East." Such a treaty would be
modeled on the Tlatelolco agreement, whihc es-
tablist.ed the nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin
America.
In the course of the deliberations just con-
cluded in the Security Council, Israel asked the
states concerned to indicate their consent without
delay to convening a conference with the negotia-
tion of such a zone in mind.
Israel's initiative at the General Assembly was
welcomed by a number of Western and Latin
American countries. The United States delegate,
in praising Israel's position, noted that our pro-
posal recognized that a zone of this kind "could
come into being only with the full and free coop-
eration of the states in the region."
To Israel's regret our initiative was rejected out
of hand by a number of Arab states — first and
foremost by Iraq.
However, Israel's proposal stands. While it ob-
viously will not solve the Arab-Israeli conflict as a
whole, we nonetheless believe that, if advanced, it
will constitute a significant contribution to the
future well-being and security of the entire Mid-
dle East.
Israel Conservative, Reform
Jews Different from U.S.
cial situation in Israel.
There are some indica-
tions that the future of
the Conservative move-
ment may be more af-
fected by its attitude
towards Jewish educa-
tion than through its
congregation frame-
work.
At the present time, both
the Reform and Conserva-
tive movements have not
yet sufficiently established
themselves on the Israeli
scene to guarantee a vib-
rant, dynamic future rather
than a period of stagnation
and perhaps eventual de-
mise.
The movements in Israel,
says Dr. Tabory, are, to
some degree, "ethn
organizations, in that nca.,
of the members are "immig-
rants" who brought their
membership in the move-
ments with them. In the Is-
raeli setting, the move-
ments have made deliberate
attempts to be in less "ten-
sion" with their new social
environment, and this has
led to their adopting some-
what more traditional
forms and practices in the
synagogue than abroad.
In his research, Dr. Tab-
ory interviewed many Is-
raelis.
'