24
Friday, January 21, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Mystery Shrouds Israeli Arms Sales
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By HUGH ORGEL
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Is-
rael's arms sales to many
countries throughout the
world — both of new
Israeli-designed and man-
ufactured items and also of
used war material — are an
open secret.
But details of what is sold,
in what quantities and to
whom, is a closely guarded
secret.
Some of the smaller
Israeli-produced items
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which are sold abroad are
not such a secret, though lit-
tle information is available
— apart from photographs
in the press and on televi-
sion. When the President's
guards or secret service
operatives, or anti-terrorist
squads are in action, they
frequently are seen carry-
ing Israeli-made Uzzi sub-
machineguns.
These weapons are also
supplied to NATO coun-
tries. In an attack on
President Reagan in
1981, his security guards
were seen brandishing
such Israeli-made
weapons. Other. Israeli-
manufactured war
equipment on sale can be
seen at Israeli pavilions
at international air
shows such as the
prestigious Le Bourget
show near Paris.
But while there are few
problems in the sale abroad
of such wholly Israeli-
produced items, there are
far more problems with the
sale of major items such as
aircraft and tanks, parts of
which — especially engines
— are imported from coun-
tries such as the United
States which demand veto
rights over the final disposi-
tion of the weapons.
Israel is known to have of-
fered for sale its Kfir fighter
aircraft to a number of
European and Latin Ameri-
can countries. These poten-
tial customers have ex-
pressed interest in the Is-
raeli product, but sales have
been blocked by American
refusal to allow the deals to
go through because of the
U.S.-made engines.
Israel's sales of captured
war material have raised
eyebrows throughout the
world. They have included
reported sales to Iran and to
Argentina before and dur-
ing the recent British-
Argentine war.
Criticism has also been
expressed about arms
sales to South Africa, be-
cause of its apartheid
policies. But in none of
these cases are any de-
tails available about
what is being offered or
sold, in what quantities
and at what prices.
Arms sales are big busi-
ness in any country. And in
Israel they obviously are a
welcome source of foreign
currency, as well as the
dubious advantage of help-
ing to win political friends
and influence otherwise un-
friendly or neutral nations.
Brit Mila on Way Out in U.S.?
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright 1983, JTA, Inc.)
A founder of the Brit Mila
(ritual circumscision) Board
of America estimates that
as many as 80 percent of the
circumcisions which
American Jews arrange for
their newborn sons are not
done in accordance with
Jewish religious law.
Rabbi Eugene Cohen,
who is also coordinator of
the Brit Mila Board of New
York, said the figure was a
"guesstimate" since he
knew of no study on the sub-
ject-. But, he added, his
"guesstimate" was based on
observations of laymen,
rabbis and mohelim (ritual
circumcisers) throughout
the United States.
Cohen said the most
common deviation from
Halakha is the tendency by
parents to have their sons
circumcised in the hospital
before the mandated eighth
day. He said that while the
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rite must be postponed
when it must not be done for
medical reasons, a
Halakhically-valid circum-
cision may not be done be-
fore the eighth day.
Because many mothers
go home on the third or
fourth day after delivery,
parents have to make a
conscious choice to post-
pone the circumcision
rite until a number of
days after the mother and
son have left the hospital.
Cohen commented that
"having just entrusted their
lives and the lives of their
newborn babies to their
physicians, many mothers
feel that a circumcision per-
formed in the hospital by
that same physician would
be a safer one in the event
that complications arise."
Cohen said he has re-
ceived anguished calls from
young Jews seeking to live a
more religiously observant
life who want to know
whether the circumcisions
performed on them as in-
fants were "Halakhically
valid." Cohen pointed out
that some Jewish parents
may not be aware that the
roots of Brit Mila are reli-
gious, and not just health,
social and ethnic. He said
those parents need con-
sciousness raising.
He stressed that few par-
ents realize how rare com-
plications are from circum-
cision. He quoted a finding
by Dr. Elliott Leiter, a prac-
ticing pediatric urologist
and chief of urology at New
York City's Beth Israel
Medical Center that ritual
circumcision, "when ex-
pertly performed by a
trained mohel, has a minor
complication rate of less
than 0.13 percent." Leiter
has added that "most of
these complications consist
of excessive bleeding,"
which can be corrected
without permanent afteref-
fects.
Cohen said that, in de-
viating from Halakha,
Jewish mothers may also
allow non-medical,
pragmatic considera-
tions surrounding cir-
cumcision to affect their
decisions. He said they
may feel that a hospital
circumcision is prefera-
ble because they are in
"too weakened a condi-
tion" to be hostess to a
party in their homes, so
soon after delivery, and
because their homes are
too small for such fes-
tivities.
He suggested that "a
pragmatic and desirable
solution would be a return
to the practice of having the
circumcision performed in
the synagogue," adding that
this practice was becoming
much more common in the
U.S. among members of all
branches of Judaism. He
said most synagogues have
facilities for collations, re-
moving one additional bur-
den from the recuperating
mother.
An Ode to Jonathan
Hero of Entebbe
By DR. GEORGE BERNSTEIN
• Reunions & Anniversaries
Jonathan, warrior of David's clan,
In haste you left your Babylon,
In haste to reach your people's land.
Carried up on wings of faith,
You shepherded your threatened kin
Into the silver eagle's craw.
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But the devil's legions rose
To snuff your flame,
Kindling anew
The fires of Zion
To light the ages
In your new, your ancient land.