4. 'Friday, SbOtNiiii8i) 14:: IYET " • AwfsH NEWS THE JEWISH NEWS OP-ED Serving Detroit's Metropolitan Jewish Community with distinction for four decades. Volunteer force of Americans Q advocated as an Israeli reserve 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 LOCAL COLUMNIST: Danny Raskin ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Lauri Biafore Rick Nessel Danny Raskin Seymour Schwartz OFFICE STAFF: Marlene Miller Dharlene Norris Phyllis Tyner Pauline Weiss Ellen Wolfe PRODUCTION: Donald Cheshure Cathy Ciccone Curtis Deloye Ralph Orme 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 7:26 P.M. VOL. LXXXVI, NO. 3 Another Israeli feat For the last five weeks, the two major political parties in Israel, Labor and Likud, have been jockeying for allies among their country's minor parties. In Israel, he who gets a majority in the Knesset — no matter how it is contrived — rules the country. No majority was forthcoming, so Labor leader Shimon Peres and Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir have agreed to share power in a unique bipartisan government. The government will be established for four years and two months. Peres will be prime minister for the first half of the government's tenure; Shamir will be his deputy and foreign minister. They will switch roles for the second half of the - government's life. Ever since its inception in 1948, the world has been in awe of Israel. It has frequently done the impossible. It has made the deserts bloom. It has made a home for the dispossessed. It has vanquished again and again an enemy _whose numbers are many times Israel's meager population. Now Israel has again done the impossible: It has given its voters a bargain basement government. The country will be getting two govenments for the price of one. It sounds cumbersome. It sounds doomed. But no government can survive without good intentions and the determination to succeed. We are sure that however clumsy the nascent Shamir-Peres government may seem, neither man would have entered into such an arrangement without a good heart. Israel is in too precarious a condition, especially economically and militarily, for anyone who cares about it to do anything rash or ill-conceived. If this experiment in a government-built-for-two works, it will be one of the major feats of the modern world. We wish Mr. Shamir luck. We wish Mr. Peres luck. We wish Israel luck. And we wonder what type of government we would end up with if this Israeli example of ultimate bipartisanship suddenly inspired a political marriage between Messieurs Mondale and Reagan. BY GARY AND LYNNE SMITH Special to The Jewish News Are our prayers, votes, and dollars enough to help the State of Israel against her multitude of enemies? Are we certain that the horrors of our his- tory will never overtake us in America? Complacency could be our downfall unless we prepare for the fu- ture foretold by our Prophets. Great battles are still to be fought by Israel. Ezekiel warns of a time when Russia and her allies will come against Israel as a cloud to cover the land. These very enemies are prepar- ing now for the destruction of our homeland. Although the State of Israel has proven herself to be capable and val- iant in battle, would she be any match for the Soviet threat without help from America to resupply and diplomati- cally intervene for her? World events, such as the loss of Middle East oil to the Western nations, might cause the- United States to change allegiance from Israel to her enemies in order to avoid nuclear war. Such a drastic change in U.S. foreign policy would have a devastating effect upon the se- curity of Israel and American Jewry. How would we feel watching the rape of Israel while we were willing but unable to help her? We cannot wait for a major crisis to occur before we decide to act. The purpose of this letter is to appeal for an expanded role by American Jewry in the defense of our mishpocheh. The fol- lowing proposal is made with the in- tention of creating the Jewish Con- tingency Reserve Force (JCRF) in America, capable of flying to Israel on short notice to augment the Israel De- fense Force (IDF) when needed. We must put aside our differences and unite to assure the security of Is- rael. Now is the time to devise a plan; to train soldiers under Israeli leader- ship; to obtain equipment and supplies; and to prepare American Jewish men and women for the inevit- able coming events. Imagine thousands of American Jews volunteering to join the JCRF. The Knesset and IDF could qualify applicants and call the Force into L. existence. Israeli instructors could teach us Hebrew, Middle East geog- raphy, discipline, military skills, tac- tics, and prepare the Force to stand ready fo leave for Israel rapidly. When 1 war against Israel breaks out, the JCRF could respond in a manner Imagine thousands of American Jews volunteering to join the JCRF. The Knesset and IDF could qualify applicants and call the Force into existence. which the U.S. military could not. This loyal and able contingent, a valued enhancement of the IDF, could make _ the difference between victory and de- I feat. Consider American synagogues and other Jewish organizations par- ticipating with manpower, support money, supplies, communications, and training facilities. The Force could permit American Jews to share in the defense of Israel even while retaining U.S. citizenship and residency. Envision a renewed spirit of the Haganah, the Jewish defense force which became the basis of today's Is- raeli Army, embodied in the American JCRF to face the challenges of the con- tinuing battle for Israel. When Israel needs us, we will not be helpless! Endorse this proposal and - send a list of JCRF volunteer candi- dates from your community to: President Chaim Herzog, President's Residence, Jabotinsky Street, '= Jerusalem, Israel. Vital Israeli duty There is unquestioned widespread jubilation over the current solution of the Israel problem over the selection of a prime minister and the reconstruction of a functioning government. It is accompanied by hopes for an approaching easing of that nation's serious economic problems. Equally urgent and perhaps more serious is the regulation still in force which enables a single percentage point in the electorate to throw a monkey wrench into the Israeli governmental machinery. The manner of establishing rules for government functioning is Israel's business. On this point, however, there is surely near-total agreement and a bit of advice from the Diaspora may be acceptable. It is the suggestion that one of the first acts of the new Knesset ought to be a change in the voting privilege which permits one percent of the population to vote itself into Knesset membership. It already spells trouble and increasing dissension should be averted. Trouble can be prevented by regulating that at least five percent of the voters can allocate unto themselves with their ballots a seat in the Israel parliament. That should be democratic enough, especially in an area where extremists find it conscionable to approve of violence. The endorsement of terrorism by some deluded people should justify regulations that would curb their means of reaching into the Knesset. Many Israelis are already thinking in terms of amending voting regulations. Therefore, this bit of Diaspora advice should prove acceptable. •