An Historic Cultural-Spiritual Achievement Attained with Revised Bible Translation THE JEWISH NEWS A Weekly Review Commentary, Page 2 of Jetuish Events Realities Filled With Tensions as Lebanese Situation Beckons for Factual Treatment Editorial, Page 4 Copyright (g) The Jewish News Publishing Co. VOL. LXXXI, No. 17 . 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $15 Per Year: This Issue 35c June 25,1982 Israelis Backed by Lebanese; :1( ietiewal of Terrror Predicted r Community Centers Encourage IDF Units troops about to cross into Lebanon were packages by the community center in By ELIEZER WHARTMAN Joint Distribution Committee (Editor's note: Whartman, of JDC-Israel, toured some of the front-line community centers affiliated with the JDC-assisted Israel Association of Commu- nity Centers during the fighting in Lebanon.) Our first stop was Kiryat Shmona, a development town of 15,000 located a few kilometers from the Lebanese bor- der. Just south of the town we heard over the car radio that the ceasefire with the Syrians would commence in one hour. We hurried north to get the reaction to the news, for Kiryat Shmona had absorbed a brutal pounding from bar- rages of Katyusha rockets. Unlike our visit after the last massive Katyusha shel- ling in the summer of 1981 where we had found a town with a shattered morale, this time everyone was buoyant. (Continued on Page 18) Despite bitter confrontations with members of both houses of Congress, Israel Prime Minister Menahem Begin returned to Israel on Wednesday with assurances of continuing friendly relations between the two countries. With sporadic fighting continuing, ceasefire decisions being constantly broken, Lebanese leaders who are unmolested by pressures and interference from anti-Israel antagonists are strongly endorsing Israeli aims to assist in freeing the terrorized country from PLO and Syrian oppression. Israel is officially providing massive aid for sufferers from the war's calamities with medical assistance and by providing food for the needy. Reports of monumental casualty figures are repudiated by Israel, and the Red Cross statements are seriously resented in these refutations. (Commenting on a private session with Prime Minister Menahem Begin, together with six other Senators, Monday evening, in Begin's hotel room in Washington, Senator Carl Levin said he was convinced of a chance for peace "if we will but seize it." Senator Levin said he favored U.S. participation in a multi-national peacekeeping force. See story on Page 23.) Friends of Israel in Michigan were urged this week to write or wire President Ronald Reagan, urging a continuing U.S. policy defending Israel and supporting the aims of a PLO-free Lebanon as an assurance of peace in the Middle East. Mrs. Paul Borman, Mrs. Ida Joyrich, Sol Lachman, Sidney Silverman, Irving Laker and associates in commit- tees organized for such efforts, stated that such expressions of sentiments are vital to Israel's safety and the hoped-for peace. Akiva Hebrew Day School last Friday filed for re- In New York, calling Israel's invasion organization under Chapter XI of the U.S. bankruptcy laws. of Lebanon "long /overdue," a representa- Dennis Eisenberg, Akiva executive director, said the school has tive of the Lebanese Christian community $175,000 in outstanding bank obligations and ran a $70,000 operational deficit for the school year just completed. The school appealed Tuesday for the withdrawal of all projects a $100,000 operating deficit for the 1982-1983 school foreign forces from his country and urged year unless it is allowed to re-organize. that a multinational force be established Meanwhile, Yeshivath Beth Yehudah has asked the Jewish that would include the United States. Welfare Federation of Metropolitan Detroit for an emergency Dory Chamoun, Secretary General of grant of $100,000 "to keep our doors open." the National Liberal Party of Lebanon and The yeshiva completed the school year this week with a the son of former Lebanese President $200,000 deficit and is six payrolls (12 weeks) behind in paying Camille Chamoun, spoke at a press con- its staff. ference. Rabbis Norman Kahn and E. B. Freedman told The "For most of us Lebanese, the Israeli Jewish News that the yeshiva is planning a campaign to Akiva, Beth Yehudah Fight Financial Crises (Continued on Page 11) Israelis in the Midst of a War Gather Relief Aid for Lebanon By ROBERT ST. JOHN JERUSALEM — Israelis are amazing people, in more ways than one. While the war was still raging in the Beirut area and young Israeli soldiers were still being killed, 60 of the country's best doctors, busloads of nurses, a number of plastic surgeons and truckloads of medical equipment and medicines left Israel for Lebanon — aid for the sick and the wounded. - Also 100 tons of blankets and clothing in good condition have been piling up this week at 46 Magen David Adom first aid stations around Israel for shipment to the war zone. For Arabs. For "our cousins the Lebanese." Abie Nathan, of peace ship fame, is back from dis- tributing $10,000 worth of chocolates to Lebanese and Palestinian children. More than 1,000 Israeli families have volunteered to "adopt" Lebanese mothers and children temporar- ily as part of the Lebanese Children Campaign. Despite the Israeli Army's need to use the roads of . Lebanon for military movements in both directions, per- mission was given for the roads to be shared with an endless caravan of trucks loaded with Israeli building material and Israeli workmen, who will help the Lebanese rebuild shops and homes partially or totally destroyed by Israeli shells. Some Israelis tell me they have a bad conscience about what they call "the excessive destruction." (I cannot recall that the Nazis worried much about excessive destruction, and our country did very little about rebuilding Dresden.) But the Israelis are a strange and amazing people. While the short war was at its height, some Israelis, ROBERT ST. JOHN (Continued on Page 28) (Oontinued on Page 5) Renewed Strife in Middle East Brings Benefits, Politics in U.S. By MORRIS J. AMITAY WASHINGTON — With Israel in Lebanon, Begin in the United States, a new king in Saudi Arabia and the PLO in real trouble, the Middle East has been front and center in Washington. Overshadowing all other -aspects of Israel's dazzling military operations has been the performance of her Air Force vis-a-vis the Syrians in air-to-air combat. While American-built F-15s with their "look down shoot down" capability and modern F-16s are technically superior in many ways to Soviet MiG-21, 23 and 25s Israel's lopsided success highlights the skills, tactics and training of her pilots. In this regard Israeli fighter pilots put much more time in the air than their American counter parts — sometimes flying as much as three or four times a day. Just as a concert pianist maintains his touch by - - hours of practice, Israel — at great expense in avia- tion fuel and maintenance costs — keeps the skills of her pilots well-honed. The U.S. Air Force, on the other hand, due to budgetary constraints and other priorities, has been cutting down on the flight hours of its pilots. It is this combination of technology and human skills that resulted in 80 aircraft downed by Israeli pilots over the skies of Lebanon, and the astonishing 371-3 ratio in the Yom Kippur War. And, as opposed to the exaggerated claims of its Arab foes — Israeli pilots are credited with "kills" upon verification by the film in their gun-sight cameras. The Lebanon fallout on Capitol Hill was surprisingly mild — given the media's general negative tone, and the Washington Post's usual anti-Israel bias. The small coterie (Continued on Page 10 MORRIS AMITAY