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May 18, 1984 - Image 4

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1984-05-18

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

-4101101040.

4 Friday, May 18, 1984

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

ff, ;2- 5

THE JEWISH NEWS

Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community
with distinction for four decades.
Editorial and Sales offices at 17515 West Nine Mile Road,
Suite 865 Southfield, Michigan 48075-4491
TELEPHONE 424-8833

PUBLISHER: Charles A. Buerger
EDITOR EMERITUS: Philip Slomovitz
EDITOR: Gary Rosenblatt
BUSINESS MANAGER: Carmi M. Slomovitz
ART DIRECTOR: Kim Muller-Thym
NEWS EDITOR: Alan Hitsky
LOCAL NEWS EDITOR: Heidi Press
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Tedd Schneider

OFFICE STAFF:
Marlene Miller
Dharlene Norris
Phyllis Tyner
Pauline Weiss
Ellen Wolfe

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES:
Drew Lieberwitz
Rick Nessel
Danny Raskin
Seymour Schwartz

PRODUCTION:
Donald Cheshure
Cathy Ciccone
Curtis Deloye
Ralph Orme

July 23 just might become
the Labor Party's victory day

BY WOLF BLITZER
The Jewish News Washington correspondent

Washington — All of the recent
public opinion polls in Israel have
consistently pointed to a Labor vic-
tory over the Likud in the July 23
elections. Indeed, some of the polls
show Labor winning as many as 52 or
even 54 seats as opposed to only
about 40 for the Likud.
Still, there are many skeptics in
Washington who are not taking a
Labor victory for granted. At the
State Department, the White House
and elsewhere in the U.S. gov-

© 1984 by The Detroit Jewish News
(US PS 275-520)
Second Class postage paid at Southfield, Michigan and additional mailing offices. Subscription $18 a year.

CANDLELIGHTING AT 8:28 P.M.

VOL. LXXXV, No. 12

The terror syndrome

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir was right. A "disaster" was
averted when Israeli security forces arrested more than 20 Jewish extremists
recently for allegedly plotting to blow up Arab-owned buses in Jerusalem.
The disaster would have been human and political. If the plot had succeeded,
more than innocent lives would have been lost: Israel's well-deserved
reputation as a nation that scorns terrorists' acts would have been tarnished.
If Israel cannot control her own citizens, the argument would have gone, what
right does she have to condemn terror from Arabs?
Terror in the Mideast seems to be on an upward, deadly spiral. There has
been a spate of violence directed against Israelis. Buses have been hijacked by
Palestinians and bombs have exploded in Jewish marketplaces. Prior to that
there were several attacks against Arabs and three Israeli Jews have been
accused of trying to plant explosives at the Temple Mount, a site holy to Jews
and Moslems.
Israel's government deserves credit for pursuing the Jewish group
known as Terror Against Terror, knowing full well that the world press would
highlight the charges against this small extremist organization. But Israelis
are fully aware that terror can never be condoned. No matter how legitimate
the grievance, advocating terror must always be viewed as an illegitimate
response.

The remnant lives on

Tens of thousands demonstrated in New York on May 6 in protest against
continuing anti-Jewish policies in the Soviet Union. The USSR doors are
practically closed to the hordes seeking to emigrate, and leading Americans
of all faiths joined in their demands for a change in the bias practiced by
Soviet leaders.
But the day after that impressive demonstration at the United Nations
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, the rabbi of the Moscow Choral Synagogue,
reputed to be the largest of the three functioning Moscow synagogues,
dismissed the American voice against bigotry as an anti-Soviet rather than a
pro-Jewish demonstration. He said: It will not have any influence in any
way."
This is interesting as an indication of the role played by Rabbi Adolf
Shaveyich's invitees to this country. He was brought here by the National
Council of Churches. This is in itself a tribute to the United States — that
interfaith influence has a role in proper treatment of people of differing
religious views. But before a man of faith can be applauded for faithfulness he
must also have acceptance by and with kith and kin. The Moscow rabbi
apparently chose to be hosted by strangers.
Yet, in his message to this country, Rabbi Shaveyich asserted that there
are Jews who, previously uninterested in Jewish observances, now have a
desire "to identify with one's roots." He said that on Passover at his
synagogue there was an attendance of 3,000 inside and 5,000 outside his
synagogue.
With all the negations embodied in the Moscow rabbi's contradictory
status, he introduces, even if it be by accident, a defiance to the regulations by
his government which remain symptoms of prejudice. The minority in Russia
chooses life as Jews, and even a rabbi who did not choose his hosts in the
United States in that fashion affirms it. He gives credence to the /o omut ki
ekhye —"I shall not die but live" — emphasized in Psalms and to the principle
ofshe'arit Yisrael — the remnant of Israel — surviving all crises defiantly.

Shiinon Peres sees better signs in 1984.

ernmental bureaucracy, senior offi-
cials recall that most of the Israeli
pollsters were wrong in predicting
the 1977 and 1981 elections.
The fact is that Israeli public
opinion — like that in the United
States — is relatively fluid. People in
both countries are capable of chang-
ing their minds on important issues
virtually overnight. They are easily
influenced by all sorts of external
events. That, of course, suggests that
polls in both the United States and

Israel, while accurate at the time
they are taken, have a' shelf life of
only a few days.
One State Department official
who has closely monitored the cur-
rent campaign in Israel makes the
case that the election is simply im-
possible to call. "It's still a long time
between now and July 23," he said.
But having said all this, a cc
and detatched analysis of the politi-
cal scene in Israel at this stage does
indeed suggest a return of the Labor
Party to power. There are several ad-
vantages which Labor has in 1984
which were missing in 1981, when
Menachem Begin brought the Likud
a come-from-behind victory.
This is important to recall be-
cause the two major Israeli parties
wound up three years ago with
roughly the same number of overall
votes — just more than 720,000
apiece. Likud captured 48 seats in
the 120-member Knesset. Labor won
47 seats, only about 400 yotes shy of a
48th.
Thus, while the two parties
emerged in rough parity, Likud had
first crack in forming a coalition with
some of the smaller nationalist and
religious parties. Labor, for a second
time, was left on the sidelines.
But 1984 is not 1981. Things
have changed since then. Here are
some of the reasons why Labor
should do better this time:
• First and foremost, Begin is
not heading the Likud list. While
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has
proved himself a steady and compe-
tent leader, he certainly does not
have the personal stature and follow-
ing of Begin. The former Prime
Minister was a dynamic force in Is-
raeli politics. His rousing campaign-
ing in the final days before the 1981
election was the decisive element in
pushing through a Likud success.
• The economic situation in Is-

,

Continued on Page 30

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