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le 19 1987
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
aifa — The Knesset,
Israel's national par-
liament, is often a
doleful place, with members
lecturing to a bare minyan of
the public's representatives.
Occasionally the proceedings
are enlivened by bitter politi-
cal polemic, especially when
major issues are debated. And
every once in a while a light
and humourous spirit pervades
the august chamber, when the
Knesset members seek relief
from their weighty delibera-
tions by displaying concern for
some trivial matter, or by sub-
jecting an important issue to
frivolous treatment. Even
then, political barbs are not
absent.
That is what happened not
long ago when Knesset
member Meir Cohen-Avidav
proposed that steps be taken to
increase the Jewish birth rate,
and that the year 1986-87 be
proclaimed as the Jewish "Be
Fruitful and Multiply Year."
Each child born during that
year, Cohen-Avidav recom-
mended, should be exempt
from payment of fees at nur-
sery school. Furthermore,
every third and fourth child
born into a family during the
B. F. and M. Year should be
provided by Egged with a pass
entitling it to free bus trans-
portation until the age of 22.
Parents who have only two
children display family
egoism, he said. Experience
shows that additional children
are more economical on the
family budget because of the
larger scale family cooking,
and the handing down of clo-
thing. He denied thatit was his
intention to compel women to
have more children.
His proposals were made in
all seriousness, but he opened a
flood gate of comment and
heckling. Shulamit Aloni
noted that her reply was
limited by Knesset regulation
to only three minutes,
presumably so that members
could without delay hasten
home to implement the honor-
able member's proposal. How-
ever, such matters take time.
The sexual urge must first be
stimulated, and this might
best be done by increasing the
flood of pornography in Israel.
She also got in som cracks
about rabbis who were marry-
ing off children in their early
teens. All means of contracep-
tion should be destroyed, and
women who have abortions
should be prosecuted.
She carried her satire
further. The rights of mistres-
ses should be legally expanded;
bigamy should be legalized,
,
and if so, why not polygamy?
Cohen-Avidav rushed to de-
fend his idea. He complained
that demographic surveys had
revealed that the Jewish prop-
ortion in the population was
falling behind, and something
had to be done to protect the
Jewish majority. He informed
the Knesset that the chairman
of the Jewish Agency, Aryeh
Dulzin, had promised to take
necessary steps.
"You can't rely on Dulzin to
do anything in that regard,"
called out one voice from the
hall.
Cohen-Avidav paid tribute
to Knesset member Elazar
Granot, of the opposition party,
Mapam, because he had seven
children, and showered
blessings on him.
Granot: "Do I have to con-
tinue, or can I quit now?"
Cohen-Avidav: "Just as you
wish."
As the debate continued, an-
other member called attention
to the fact that if the Knesset
members wasted their time in
idle discussion like this, when
would they have time to give to
actually increasing the birth
rate?
By common consent the pro-
posal was passed on to the
Knesset Committee on Wel-
fare and Labor (sic!) for further
study. The Communists and
the Arab Progressive Party
voted against.
One of the daily papers
sought a new angle, and inter-
viewed Zion Farjun, one of six-
teen children. How did it feel to
be one among so many chil-
dren? Did the kids ever hold it
against their parents because
the family was so large?
"Not at all," replied Farjun.
"It was just great, and we all
helped each other. My parents
have since passed on, but they
left behind 46 grandchildren.
Wherever I go I find a Farjun;
our family is on the map. I have
four children, but I'm ready to
go to work at once in response
to a Knesset resolution."
Israel Tourism
Hits New Heights
Aviv (JTA) — Iburism
was up by a quarter over last
year and more than in the
peak tourism year of 1985,
the Iburism Ministry re-
ported last week.
The Ministry announcement
said that in the first five
months of 1987, some 559,000
tourists arrived in Israel, an
increase of 24 percent over
the comparable period in
1986, and 4 percent more
than the parallel period in
1985, the , peak year for
tourism.