I Recollections of Dr. Nahum Goldmann Who Was `Nordau Redivivus' to Stephen Wise THE JEWISH NEWS A Weekly Review Commentary, Page 2 of Jewish Events Sholom Aleichem Comes to Life in Fascinatingly Humorous `Marienbad Review, Page 72 Copyright © The Jewish News Publishing Co. VOL. LXXXII, No. 2 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $15 Per Year: This Issue 35c September 10, 1982 Compromise Trends Emerge, Test U.S.-Israeli Peace Aims Begin Responds to Reagan's Initiative (Editor's note: The following response by Prime Minister Menahem Begin of Israel was sent to U.S. President Ronald Reagan following Reagan's latest Middle East peace initiative.) Dear Ron, I thank you for your letter of Aug. 31, 1982, which Ambassador Lewis was kind enough; upon instruction from his government, to bring to me in Nahariya, now free of rockets and shells. I enclose, herewith, the resolution of the Cabinet, Sept. 2, 1982, adopted unanimously. As each of the paragraphs is elaborated I have little to add except to state — taking, if I may, a leaf from your book — that the government of Israel will stand by its decision with total dedication. I have also read your speech which preceded by 24 hours the Cabinet consultation with my colleagues. It serves as an addi- tional testimony to your opinion, or resolve. Indeed, my friend, great events did take place since we last met in Washington in June. May I, however, give you a somewhat different description MENAHEM BEGIN of those events. On June 6, 1982, the Israel Defense Forces entered Lebanon in order not to conquer territory, but to fight and smash the armed bands operating from that country against our land and its citizens. This, the IDF did. You will recall that we could not, regrettably, accept your suggestion that we proclaim a cease-fire on Thursday, June 10 at 6:00 hours because at that time the enemy was still 18 kilometers from Metulla on our northern border. However, 24 hours later, we pushed the enemy further northwards; and on Friday, June 11, at 12 noon, we pro- (Continued on Page 13). Adhering to the rejections of claims that American Jewry is divided on the issues affecting Israel's current defensive policies, the collective declarations on the Reagan-Begin differences of views on the autonomy proposals for the Pales- tinians point to trends aiming at compromise to reduce the U.S.-Israel tensions. Scores of statements commenting on the latest confrontation indicate an element of support for President Reagan's proposals, although in the main, Prime Minister Begin is applauded for his determination not to sacrifice Israel's security under any circumstance. With the reservation that the Reagan position on Jerusalem and the avenue his proposal opens for PLO influence in a role proposed for Jordan, deliberation and negotiation on the plan rejected by the Israel Cabinet is advocated in many quarters. . Meanwhile, the 50-40 vote in the Knesset on Wednesday defeating a JULIUS BERMAN no-confidence motion strengthens the Begin position. The views of Thomas Dine of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee and Julius Berman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations highlight the discussions and difficulties. Berman said in a letter to President Reagan that it was the consensus of the 36 national Jewish groups comprising the Conference of Presidents that Reagan's Middle East peace proposal "does violence to the spirit of Camp David because it substitutes a specific American plan for the free give-and-take that is essential if the parties to the dispute are to resolve their differences. In our judgement, this is the wrong step, at the wrong time and for the wrong ATLANTA — Ku Klux Klan factions from six reasons." states, including Michigan, have formed a confedera- RONALD REAGAN But the letter to Re- tion and are planning a march and rally in Washing- agan, which was sent Tuesday, also pointed out that ton, D.C. on Nov. 6. If it takes place, it will be the first the Presidents' Conference found several positive KKK rally in Washington in more than 50 years. points in the' Administration's proposals. The group, The Klan held a weekend rally in Stone Berman said, welcomed Reagan's efforts to achieve Mountain, Ga. and announced the confedera- renewed Israeli-Arab negotiations; his call on Arab tion of Klan factions totaling 6,000 members from Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, North states to "accept the reality of Israel as a necessary and South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Illinois and pre-condition for progress toward peace"; his declara- Canada. tion that there must be no Palestinian state on the The groups spent the weekend burning crosses West Bank; and that Israel must not be required to and making speeches against blacks and Jews. return to its pre-1967 borders. Don Black was elected "grand wizard" and said "The4e statements give weight and sub- the Nov. 6 rally's purpose was "to stand up for white KKK Units Merge, Plan D.C. Rally interests." (Continued on Page 3) 3rd World Conference on Soviet Jewry In October Will Pressure for Emigration JDC Leaders Check on Lebanese Relief PARIS (JTA) — The World Conference on Soviet Jewry, the third since 1971, will convene at Versailles Oct. 24-26 with the participation of 1,000 representatives of world-wide Jewish communities, ranking Israeli leaders, U.S. Congressmen, and members of Britain's Parliament, the French National Assembly and of a dozen other national legislative bodies The Conference Steering Committee announced after a two-day meeting that Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy of France will formally open the proceedings and Premier Menahem Begin of Israel will deliver the closing address. Shimon Peres, chairman of Israel's Labor Party, will also speak. The conference will be chaired by Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and Jewish Agency Executives. A spokesman noted that the conference will convene at a time of mounting pressure against Jews in the USSR and sharply declining emigration figures. Only 1, 723 Jews were permitted to leave the Soviet Union during the first seven months of 1982 compared to 7,386 during the same period last year. Only 238 left in August. But conference organizers pointed out that the first two world gatherings for Soviet Jews in 1971 and 1976 had had a positive effect on the rate of Jewish emigration and that the first meeting in 1971 marked the start of the Jewish activist movement inside the USSR. Begin is scheduled to meet with President Francois Mitterrand while in Paris and with other members of the French government. The meetings are significant because Franco-Israeli relations reached a new low after the terrorist attack on a Jewish restaurant on the Rue des Rosiers in Paris last month. Israel charged that France's Middle East policy had created the climate "which enabled the terrorists to operate." Mitterrand strongly denied the charges. Franco-Israeli relations were further aggravated by the participation of a French unit in supervising the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization from west Beirut and the insistance by the French government that their departure should be carried out under "honorable" and "dignified" conditions. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee chairman Donald Robinson, left, and Herbert Schiff met with Bishop George Haddad in Tyre, Lebanon while reviewing JDC relief efforts. The JDC has helped innoculate 60,000 southern Lebanese children against polio, distributed bedding and cooking supplies, and helped clear 32 sites in Tyre for recon- struction of housing, water and sewer systems. .