COATS
UNLIMITED
• Bloom 06 Bloom •
•
.11
• Registered Electrologists •
Troy
Troy Commons, 16 Mile (Big Beaver)
at Rochester, 2 miles east of
Somerset off 1-75 • 689-4860
Come and let us remove your unwanted hair problem and improve your appearance.
Oak Park
Lincoln Center, Greenfield at 10 1 ? Mile
968-2060
Near 12 Mile Rd. bet. Evergreen & Southfield
559-1969
Appt. Only Ask For Shirlee or Debby.
West Bloomfield
Orchard Mall, Orchard Lake
at Maple (15 Mile) • 855-9955
GUESS WHO'S TURNING
ON JULY 9TH, 1986
JANE
(ALTMAN)
c
n
WEINER
(313) 352-4240
AND
JERRY TEPMAN
(313) 354-2225
THEY'D LOVE IT IF YOU'D CALL AND
WISH THEM - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY"
LOVE TO BOTH - FROM THE G'S
HAVING A
WONDERFUL TIME .. .
WISH YOU WERE HERE!
Summer Health Club
JULY
$65 I 1 Month
$110 / 2 Months
AUGUST
• ti S • \
MUST BE PAID IN FULL,
IN ADVANCE
JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
OF METROPOLITAN DETROIT
6600 W. Maple Rood
661-1000
28
Friday, July 4, 1986
Ext. 265
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
BACKGROUND
Israeli 'Travel Abroad:
A Vital Safety Valve
NACHEMIA MEYERS
Israeli Correspondent
R
ehovot, Israel — Israeli
youngsters have verytle
little breathing space
between the regimentation of
the classroom and the regimen-
tation of the barracks. So those
who can afford it are off to
Europe for a few weeks of
backpacking in the brief interval
between their high school
graduation and their callup.
This year my 17-year-old son
Oren will be among them.
lbgether with a few pals, he will
be exploring the fjords of Nor-
way, while many other class-
mates will be wandering about
southern and central Europe (ex-
cept for Austria, which most
Israelis are avoiding this sum-
mer following Waldheim's
election).
'IWo to three hundred thou-
sand adults will also be taking
overseas vacations in the coming
months, their exact number
depending on whether the
Government raises the present
travel tax of "only $120" to last
summer's sky-high $300. This is
quite apart from the 20% tax
that Israelis are required to pay
on airline tickets and ground ser-
vices. The latter tax, however,
can be avoided by arranging for
what is colloquially called an
"aunt's ticket," namely one paid
for by an overseas relative, real
or imaginary. Some one-third of
Israeli vacationers escape the 20
percent tax in this way.
One thing they can't avoid is
a full-fare ticket. For while the
U.S. Government's deregulation
policy has resulted in cut-rate
fares for American passengers,
the Israel Government has this
year banned competition and
neither airlines nor travel agents
can legally offer discounts. Con-
sumer groups and the reformist
Shinui Party have protested
against this policy, so far to no
avail.
While high school graduates
are almost all going to Western
Europe, many adult Israelis are
traveling farther afield, par-
ticularly to the U.S. and Can-
ada — including, of course, a
visit to Expo 86 in Vancouver.
Some of the more affluent are
also taking advantage of the fact
that China has finally opened its
borders to people with Israeli
passports.
Communist countries in
Eastern Europe are doing the
same. So many former residents
of Warsaw, Budapest and hun-
dreds of little hamlets that were
once predominantly Jewish are
"going back home" for the first
time in 40 or 50 years.
Some Communist nations, as
well as staunchly anti-Com-
munist 'flukey, welcome dollar-
bearing Israeli tourists but
nevertheless make trouble for
Israeli intellectuals. Weizmann
Institute Prof. Mordeckai
Magaritz and three of his profes-
sional colleagues from the Israeli
Geological Survey, for example,
will probably be unable to at-
tend an international conference
that is to take place in Istanbul
next month because, according
to the Turkish Consulate in Tel
Aviv, visas are only granted to
Israeli scientists if they receive
special permission from the
Thrkish Foreign Ministry, and
after weeks of waiting, this has
not yet been received. Prof.
Magaritz thinks that the Thrks
want to discourage participation
in conferences by Israeli re-
searchers lest the Arabs, in pro-
test, withdraw their monetary
support for such meetings.
It might be argued that
economically hard-pressed na-
tions like Israel shouldn't allow
their citizens to "waste dollars"
by taking overseas trips, but for
those who live in a country
where both young soldiers and
middle-aged civilians are under
constant pressure, travel abroad
provides a valuable, indeed vital,
safety valve.
Israel, Poland
Expected To
Resume Ties
Jerusalem (JTA) — Israel and
Poland are preparing to ex-
change diplomatic represen-
tatives, a move which may open
the way for the establishment of
full diplomatic relations some
time in the future. Yediot
Achronot . reported last • week
that a delegation from the Polish
Foreign Ministry visited Israel
and an official Israeli delegation
will leave for Warsaw in the next
few days.
The Polish party reportedly
inspected a building in rIbl Aviv,
formerly a Polish bank, where
the Polish mission will be
housed. Renovation work is ex-
pected to begin immediately.
They also met with senior
Foreign Ministry officials in
Jerusalem.
The Israeli delegation will go
to Poland to check arrange-
ments at the `Netherlands Em-
bassy in Warsaw where Israel's
mission will be located. Accord-
ing to Yediot Achronot, the mis-
sion will be headed by Mor-
dechai Paltzor who was attached
to the Israel Embassy in War-
saw before Poland broke rela-
tions with Israel nearly 20 years
ago.
Tehilla Honors
Immigrants
New York — Tehilla, the coor-
dinating body for aliyah for Or-
thodox American Jews, this
month honored 150 people from
all over the United States who
will make aliyah to Israel this
year under the organization's
sponsorship.
,/