THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, December 2, 1983

Israeli Commentators Criticize Euphoria Over POWs

By DAVID LANDAU

JERUSALEM (JTA) - —
Some of Israel's leading
writers, editors and mili-
tary commentators are hav-
ing sober second thoughts
over the euphoria that
swept the country last week
when six prisoners of war
captured by the Palestine
Liberation Organization in
Lebanon 14 months ago, re-
turned home — in exchange
for some 4,500 Palestinians
and Lebanese held prisoner
by Israel in Lebanon and in

Israel.
These observers of the na-
tional scene, writing in
major dailies, have
expressed serious
concern on two counts:
first, the frenzied
heroes' welcome given the
returned POWs was not
warranted by the cir-
cumstnaces and could have
long-range deleterious ef-
fects on the morale and
fighting spirit of the Israel
Defense Force; second, Is-
rael seems to have aban-
doned its long-standing pol-

Young Leaders Are Cited

Recipients of the Jewish Welfare Federation's
Young Leadership Awards received special recogni-
tion at the Council of Jewish Federations General
Assembly in Atlanta. Detroiters Mark E. Schlussel
and Sharon Hart were cited by CJF Leadership De-
velopment Chairman Lloyd P. Levin, right.

Weizmann Official Visits

Prof. Amiela Globerson, center, Weizmann Insti-
tute of Science cell biologist, is pictured with Susan
and Robert Sosnick during a recent cocktail recep-
tion in their home to benefit the institute.

U-M Prof to Address Jewish
Historical Society Luncheon

Prof. David L. Lewis of
the graduate school of busi-
ness administration at the
University of Michigan will
address the semi-annual
luncheon meeting of the
Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan noon Sunday at
Cong. Beth Achim.

Dr. Lewis will speak on
"Henry Ford's anti-
Semitism and its repercus-
sions." Dr. Lewis is the au-
thor of "The Public Image of
Henry Ford."
There is a charge, and
guests are invited. For re-
servations, call Evelyn
Noveck, 661-1642.

IDF Seeking
More Volunteers

PROF. DAVID LEWIS

NEW YORK — Israel De-
fense Force (IDF) officials
are seeking the services of
500 civilian volunteers per
month on an ongoing basis,
according to Rabbi Yehuda
Hazani, director of the vol-
unteer program in Israel.
For information or an ap-
plication, contact Volun-
teers for Israel, 40 Worth
St., Suite 710, New York,
N.Y. 10013.

icy of never surrendering to
terrorist "blackmail."
The prisoner exchange,
given the vast disparity in
numbers returned by each
side, was clearly a moral
and political victory for the
PLO. Israel released men
the PLO wanted released,
among them many hard-
core terrorists, and the
long-range meaning of this
acquiescence is yet to be de-
termined.
"The practical damage
of the repatriation ex-
travaganza is that we
ourselves encourage the
other side, the PLO or
whoever, to raise the
ante, the price to be paid
for the release of pris-
oners" in the future, ac-
cording to veteran jour-
nalist Shalom Cohen
writing in the Jerusalem
Post.

Military correspondent
Eitan Haber, writing in
7ediot Ahronot Sunday,
measured the extent of the
erosion of Israel's no-
surrender policy. The gov-
ernment's rationale for the
POW exchange wad that the
lives of the six soldiers were
in immediate danger due to
the warfare in northern
Lebanon between PLO dis-

* *

PFLP Will Not
Try 2 POWs

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Be-
irut Radio reported Monday
that a dissident Palestinian
terrorist group did not plan
to place on trial two Israeli
soldiers it holds prisoner.
The report, which quoted an
official spokesman for the
Popular Front for the Lib-
eration of Palestine-
General Command, headed
by Ahmed Jabreel, followed
a warning by Israel that it
holds Syria directly respon-
sible for the safety of the
soldiers.
An Israeli Defense Minis-
try spokesman said Syrian
responsibility arises from
the fact that the Syrians
"fully control the Jabreel
faction" which has its head-
quarters in Damascus. The
faction, an offshoot of the
Palestine Liberation
Organization, is one of the
groups rebelling against the
leadership of PLO chief
Yasir Arafat.
Three other Israeli
soldiers remain in Syrian
hands and five are still
listed as missing.
Israel's concern for the
two held by Jabreel
mounted after reports
from Damascus quoted a
Jabreel spokesman as
saying they may be put
on trial before a military
court because they "in-
vaded an Arab country
and waged war on it."
The report indicated they
could be sentenced to
death.
But Beirut Radio said
that a Jabreel spokesman
said the group had no inten-
tion of trying the Israeli
soldiers. They were visited
by a representative of the
International Red Cross
this week and found to be in
good health.

sidents challenging Yasir
Arafat's leadership and
Arafat loyalists who were
holding the Israelis pris-
oner.
Haber pointed out that
lives have been sacrificed
time and again in the past to
uphold the principle of no-
surrender to blackmail. He
recalled the massacre of
children in Maalot when Is-
raeli troops charged the
schoolhouse where they
were being held hostage by
PLO gumen rather than ac-
cede to terrorist demands;
the similar incident when
terrorists seized the Savoy
hotel in Tel Aviv; and the
1972 massacre of the Israeli
Olympics team in Munich.
In 1976, Israel carried out
the long distance raid to re-
scue hostages held by ter-
rorists at Entebbe airport in
Uganda, despite the apprec-
iable risk to the lives of the
hostages and members of
the rescue team, one of the
leaders of which, Yonatan
Netanyahu, was killed.
Haber suggested, not
without irony, that the
policy turnabout began

* * *

Herzog, Eitan
Criticize POWs
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
President Chaim Herzog on
Tuesday said he "absolutely
agreed" with former Chief
of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan
who severely criticized the
heroes' welcome which
greeted the return last
Thursday of six Israeli pris-
oners of war.
Eitan, who was Chief of
Staff during the war in
Lebanon, told the Tiberias
Rotary Club that the six
POWs "fell into captivity in
a disgraceful way." He did
not rule out court martial-
ing them if the army's in-
vestigation of the circum-
stances of their capture in
September, 1982, found
such action was called for.

under the Likud govern-
ment which has consis-
tently taken a harder line
toward terrorism and the
Palestinians than its pre-
decessor Labor regimes.
The "threshold of suffer-
ing" of the nation has
"dangerously declined"
over recent years. "The
government and the
army must carefully
think about what they
have done," Haber wrote.
Other commentators
stressed the anomaly of the
public reaction of the POW
exchange. They pointed out
that the capture of the six
soldiers was hardly a glori-
ous or edifying episode. The
full details of how they were
surrounded by a PLO unit
on the front line in Lebanon
in September 1982 have
never been released. But
one fact is clear — they were
not captured during a fight.
No shots were fired.
Retired Brig. Gen.
Yaacov Hasdai summed up
the feelings of many obser-
vers in a newspaper column
titled "Joy — But Not
Honor." He urged the na-
tion to make a careful dis-
tinction between the return
of heroes and that of ordi-
nary soldiers who had tilt
misfortune of falling into
enemy hands.
Inevitably, critics seek

scapegoats and the Israeli
media, particularly radio
and television, have become
the target of charges that it
whipped up the popular
adulation bestowed on the
six returned POWs. Shalom
Cohen's piece in the
Jerusalem Post, headlined
"Sorry Spectacle," de-
nounced "the wild celebra-
tion which was semi-
organized and which verged
on infantilism."
Haaretz faulted the
media, especially Kol Israel
Radio, for setting the tone.
The state-owned radio de-
cided last Thursday to can-
cel its regular prograMs for
day-long coverage of the
POW return. Yosef Lapid,
director general of the
Broadcasting Authority, re-
jected the criticism. Radio
and television merely
covered the events, they did
not create or magnify them,
he said.

Honor Israeli
Youth, Plant
Trees = JNF

Corrections

In
last
week's
synagogue listing, the
name of the Bar Mitzva at
Cong. Bnai David should
have read Gerald Katz.
The name of the Cong.
Bnai Moshe Bar Mitzva
celebrant was Anatoly
Shaboshov. The Jewish
News regrets the errors.
* * *
Sam & Sons advertise-
ment in the Nov. 25
Jewish News should have
read "Faygo pop, three for
$1.19." The Jewish News
regrets the error.

the perfect gift.

RABBI ROSENBAUM

Rabbi Stanley M. Rosen-
baum, president of the Rab-
binical Commission of the
Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit,
announces that the Rabbin-
ical Commission encour-
ages youngsters of all ages
to celebrate Hanuka by pur-
chasing gifts in the form of
trees from the Jewish Na-
tional Fund to honor their
counterparts in Israel.
Trees can be planted by
calling the JNF, 557-6644.

• •

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