THE DETROIT efiSH NEWS
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
DR. and MRS. MORRIS S. BRENT
tisrtzn rime: rue/5
MINDY, SAM & JOSH HERMAN
wish all their friends and relatives
a happy and healthy New Year
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
MAX and ELSIE JAFFE
nznzri `islet rutt,5
MR. and MRS. NATHAN FISHMAN & FAMILY
would like to wish all our family
and friends a healthy and happy
New Year
ARTHUR and GAYLE WEISS
wish all their family and
friends a year filled with
health, happiness, joy
and peace
To All Our
Friends & Customers and
Fellow Jews All Over The World
Tinto 5
Manny Mittelman &
Family
tam TIN
Wishing all our friends and
relatives a year of health
and happiness
NORMAN and ESTHER
ALLAN
LARRY and DAN!
ALLAN
Israeli Election, June 1981:
Emerging Two-Party Reality
By SHIMON
BEN NOACH
World Zionist Press Service
JERUSALEM — The
drama and controversy sur-
rounding the elections on
June 30 to Israel's 10th
Knesset appealed to the
sensation-seeking intern-
national media but disap-
pointed the political purists.
And the results were not
only close but revealed a
radical new situation, as a
two-party reality emerged
and most of the small par-
ties diminished.
Justice Moshe Etzioni,
chairman of the Central
Election Committee, had
scathing words for Israeli
election campaigns in gen-
eral. He described them as
"the most expensive, the
most wasteful and the most
hyper-democratic in the
world." He hastened to add
that it was the protracted
procedures rather than the
system of proportional re-
presentation to which he ob-
jected. Some felt that Etz-
ioni's comment about
hyper-democracy reflected
a strength and not a weak-
ness.
Pollster and analyst
Hanoch Smith regretted
that issues were blurred
while the campaign was
dominated by personalities.
This absence of adequate
discussion was particularly
unfortunate because un-
precedented world atten-
tion was focused on these
elections, as it was felt that
the upcoming talks on the
Palestinian question and
autonomy have brought the
region to a crossroads.
But if debate was lack-
ing, drama was not. After
an amazing resurgence of
popularity for Prime
Minister Menahem Be-
gin, who at the beginning
of the year was well be-
hind in the opinion polls,
it seemed as though any-
thing could happen and
just about everything
did.
The pundits in the inter-
national press immediately
began to talk of a country
cripplingly polarized be-
tween poor Sephardim
(Likud) and middle class
Ashkenazim (Labor). To
some extent this reflects a
crude generalization while
on another level it demon-
strates the tendency for Is-
rael to be judged differently
from others.
(Few would suggest that
the division of Republicans
and Democrats in the U.S.,
or Conservatives and Labo-
rites in Britain are splits
likely to tear those coun-
tries apart).
The preference of most Is-
raeli voters for the two
major parties, while reflect-
ing continuing ethnic di-
visions, also demonstrates
more social cohesion and
less fragmentation. In fact
the Sephardim accounted
for 30 percent of Labor's
votes, while only 50,000
Oriental Jews opted for par-
ties specifically appealing
to the ethnic vote.
The majority of these lat-
ter ballots went to Tami, a
newly formed breakaway
from the National Religious
Party, led by Minister of
Religious Affairs Aharon
Abu Hatzeira. He was
blamed for reopening
healed ethnic wounds,
while in turn accusing the
NRP Ashkenazi establish-
ment of under-representing
their North African suppor-
ters. At any rate the NRP
had their seats halved from
12 to 6, although ironically
increasing their power due
to the close result.
New Israeli
Stamps Issued
BARBARA and IRVING NUSBAUM
Arthur and Robby
wish all their family -and
friends a year filled with
health, happiness, joy
and peace
A very Happy, Healthy
and Prosperous New Year
to all our family and dear friends
GARRY and EBY KAPPY
IRVIN and IRA
liappg neat war
--r
A very Happy, Healthy
and Prosperous New Year
to all our family and dear friends
BERNICE and NATE SCHECTER
ilaPPlineuf WS- 1
A very Happy, Healthy
and Prosperous New Year
to all our family and dear friends
MR. and MRS.
MORRIS SMITH & FAMILY
The renewal of civil war
in Lebanon, the Syrian mis-
sile crisis, the destruction of
the Iraqi nuclear base, vio-
lence by a small band of Be-
gin's supporters and a
melodramatic 11th hour re-
conciliation between Labor
leader Shimon Peres and
former Prime Minister Yit-
zhak Rabin all provided the
gathered assembly of jour-
nalists with colorful mate-
rial.
Amazingly, three-figure
inflation seems to have been
largely forgotten in the
campaign.
Then came the close re-
sults. Initially they were
flashed incorrectly around
the world as a victory. for
Shimon Peres, after an
error in the computer pre-
diction of Israel TV analyst
Hanoch Smith.
When nearly two mil-
lion ballots had been
counted, it was found
that the two largest par-
ties, Likud and Labor,
had taken 80 percent of
the 120 seats, with almost
'equal strength: - •
Friday, September 25, 1981 91
ltappii neat gear
1311411a TIMM
Shown above are sev-
eral new postage stamps
issued by the state of Is-
rael: two of the stamps in
the "Roses in Israel"
series, and a com-
memorative stamp in
tribute to the opening of
the Ha-shiva highway in-
terchange.
Anti-Jewish riots in Po-
land in 1937 spurred Jews
to emigrate. HIAS supplied
funds for transportation
and visas to Jews from Po-
land and the independent
port city of Danzig.
Wishing all our friends and
relatives a year of health
and happiness
HENRY and
MALA DORFMAN