THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
A SHOW OF UNITY, so unusual in Israeli politics, came about this month when Shimon
Peres, receiving congratulations here from new deputy prime minister David Levy, took
the helm of the government. His chief rival, Yitzhak Shamir, left, is scheduled to succeed
Peres at the half-way point of the 50-month term of office.
Friday, September 28, 1984
MEIR KAHANE, the rabble-rousing rabbi, was buoyed by
his election to the Knesset in the July elections. The
former JDL leader's threats to forcibly evict the Arabs
from Israel embarrassed many Israelis, including those
now seeking to require that a candidate gain more than
the one percent of the electoral vote now needed to win
a Knesset seat.
ETHIOPIAN JEWS did not make headlines often but they
continued to arrive in Israel in small but more frequent
numbers. Jerusalem was still criticized by activists for
not doing enough to bring the Falashas to Israel, but
was praised by many for its successful absorption pro-
cess once the lucky survivors arrived.
SEPHARDIM IN ISRAEL continue to play an influential role in the country's politics. Now
a majority of the electorate, they remain anti-Labor and helped Shamir's Likud finish
stronger than many pollsters had predicted.
THE SHEKEL SHAKEDOWN continued throughout the
year with various efforts made to help ease Israel's
runaway inflation of 400 percent.
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