150 Congressmen at AIPAC
•
WASHINGTON — More
than half of the U.S. Senate
and over 100 members of
the U.S. House of Represen-
tatives attended the 24th
annual American Israel
Public Affairs Committee
(AIPAC) policy conference
in Washington last week to
show their support for Is-
rael. Three of the leading
Democratic presidential
candidates — former Vice
President Walter Mondale
and Senators Alan
Cranston (D-Calif.) and
Gary Hart (D-Colo.) — also
underscored their own
strong pro-Israel senti-
ments.
The conference, which in-
cluded three days of plenary
sessions, political action
workshops and private
meetings between delegates
and their Senators and
Representatives, brought
together more than 1,200
friends of Israel from 41
states and 130 college cam-
puses to discuss U.S. policy
in the Middle East.
Thomas A. Dine, AIPAC's
executive director, outlined
the priority areas of the
Middle East agenda for the
pro-Israel community, in-
cluding enhanced strategic
and economic cooperation
between the U.S. and Israel.
He offered a critique of the
Reagan Administration's
"on-again, off-again ap-
proach to our alliance with
Israel" and listed a number
of "erroneous preconcep-
tions" on which U.S. policy
has been based.
Dine warned that
"these same errors could
easily reappear in this
city with regard to an
Arabist approach to
Syria — and the- Soviet
Union" and further em-
phasized that "only by
continuing and bolster-
ing our very active role in
the American political
system . . . are we able to
shape and reshape
American foreign pol-
icy."
The conference also in-
cluded keynote addresses by
Lawrence Eagleburger,
undersecretary of state for
political affairs, and Teddy
Kollek, mayor of
Jerusalem. Eagleburger
stressed the Reagan Ad-
ministration's "preoccupa-
tion with Israel's security
and well-being" and stated
that "the U.S. can and will
continue to assure under
any and all circumstances
that Israel has the military
strength it needs to defend
itself."
He focused on Israel's role
in resisting Soviet
encroachment in the Middle
East and maintained that
the U.S. will support Israel
in the event of a Soviet-
backed, Syrian-PLO attack.
Meir Rosenne, Israeli
ambassador to the U.S., fo-
cused on the importance to
Israel of close relations with
the U.S.
Senators Paul Laxalt
(R-Nev.) and Chris Dodd
(D-Conn.) spoke at the
main banquet. Laxalt,
thought to be President
Reagan's closest per-
sonal friend in Congress,
called for "closer consul-
tation between Israel and
the United States" and
warned that "to do
otherwise is dangerous
and counterproductive."
He affirmed that "Israel
is not a satellite but an
ally; a fiercely dedicated,
strategically invaluable,
stable ally."
Sen. Dodd focused on Is-
rael's importance as a U.S.
ally and stated that the
Jewish state should be
treated as such. "We can
have our debates and dis-
agreements," said Dodd,
"but it is those fundamental
values of those prominent
issues that bind us together
particularly in our hour of
need for allies." He also
stressed that the Senate
would guarantee Israel's se-
Pioneer Women
Praise Supreme
Court Ruling
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Pioneer Women/ Naamat,
the women's Labor Zionist
Organization, said last
week it would redouble its
efforts to protect women's
freedom of choice in reprod-
uction in both the United
States and Israel.
Phyllis Frank, of Wash-
ington, vice president of the
50,000 member organiza-
tion, made that statement
in hailing the June 15 rul-
ing by the U.S. Supreme
Court striking down a series
of local legislative restric-
tions on access to abortions.
"The Supreme Court's de-
cision is a victory for all
American women, for the
cause of freedom and for the
principle of church-state
separation," Ms. Frank
said. "We welcome the rul-
ing as a significant advance
for the American idea of
freedom of choice."
curity.
At the end of the banquet,
the assembly received mes-
sages of friendship from
President Reagan and
Prime Minister Begin.
Israeli Rabbi
Warns Orthodox
Extremists
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
leader of the Conservative
movement in Israel warned
here last week that if "ex-
treme elements" of Or-
thodox Jewry in Israel will
continue to harass the Con-
servative movement "then
we will urge American Jews
not to assist them any-
more."
Rabbi Philip Spectre, the
executive director of the
Movement for Conservative
Judaism in Israel, charged
in a press conference at the
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary of America, that a re-
cent incident in Kiryat Gat,
a town in the south of Israel,
in which Lubavitcher
Hasidim disturbed a Bar
and Bat Mitzva celebration
by the Conservative move-
ment, has made the leader-
ship of Conservative
Judaism in Israel deter-
mined "not to let this con-
tinue." The incident with
the Lubavitcher Hasidim
took place last month,
Spectre said.
Spectre said that his
movement, which has about
10,000 registered members
in Israel "has no problem
with enlightened Orthodox
Jews in Israel but with the
less enlightened such as the
Lubavitcher Hasidim." He
said that the Conservative
movement is gaining in-
roads in Israel. "We want to
achieve reciprocal respect
with Orthodox Jews in Is-
rael and elsewhere," he
said.
For deliciously cool summer-
time refreshment, pour on the
Sanlo Brand Decaffeinated
Coffee. -
Place one rounded-tea-
spoon Sankol• Ihstanfai
Freeze-Dried Decaffeinated
cold wateK.' dd
YPv. .W40
e:
okip de
GENERAL FOODS
YOUNG? JEWISH? 7-15 YRS.?
THINKING About the summertime blahs? WHY?
COME & JOIN US FOR SUMMER FUN
at
CAMP TAMARACK &
CAMP MAAS!
Call Fresh Air
Society at
661-0600 for
further
information and
assistance.
9 DAY SPORTS SKILLS CAMP
7/3-7/12 (Ages 8-10/co-ed)
Call Fresh Air Society at 661-0600 for details.