YEAR IN REVIEW 5748 YEAR IN REVIEW
YITZHAK SHAMIR was often
an embattled prime minister
this year, dealing with the
Palestinian uprisings and
criticism of Israeli military
measures; resisting U.S.
Secretary of State George
Shultz's persistent efforts to
achieve a Mideast
breakthrough; and contending
with open hostility from his
Foreign Minister, and rival,
Shimon Peres.
SHIMON PERES spent much
of the year advocating a
peace plan contingent on a
joint Jordanian-Palestinian
delegation, only to see it
crumble with the
announcement by King
Hussein that Jordan was
severing its 40-year
association with the West
Bank.
MENDEL KAPLAN received
high marks from long-time
critics of the Jewish Agency
for his leadership of the
troubled organization. The
South African businessman
has sought to professionalize
the staff and programming of
the organization.
I
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU left
GENERAL ARIEL SHARON celebrated Chanukah by moving into
his new home in the middle of the Moslem Quarter of Jerusalem.
Some praised the Industry and Trade Minister for underscoring that
Jews have a right to live anywhere in Israel; others criticized him for
what they saw as a direct provocation to the Arab population.
CHAIM HERZOG became
Israel's first president to make
an official visit to the U.S. and
was praised for his diplomacy.
LEGENDARY ISRAELI
STATESMAN Abba Eban
found his long political career
seemingly at an end when he
did not make the Labor Party
list for the upcoming Israeli
elections.
his post as Israeli Ambassador
to the United Nations to gain a
top slot on the Likud's list for
the upcoming elections. He is
seen as a future leader in
Israel.
SIMCHA DINITZ was elected
chairman of the Jewish
Agency and World Zionist
Organization. Favored by the
Americans, he beat out the
favored Israeli candidate Akiva
Lewinsky.
what came to be known, in Defense Minister Yit-
zhak Rabin's chilling phrase, as the "iron fist"
policy. At other times Israel tried curfews, tear gas,
rubber bullets, arrests, deportations. But it became
clear, even as trained soldiers were pressed into ser-
vice as military policemen, that Jerusalem was
unable to stop either the violence or the sharply
negative image she was projecting. The world media
was filled with photos, television footage and
printed reports of soldiers beating Arab men,
women and children.
In Israel there was frustration and anger at the
world's double standard. Politicians and statesmen
pointed out that every state has a right to protect
itself and its citizens from violent demonstrations
and efforts to overthrow the government. But the
image of Israeli soldiers confronting Arab youths
lingered longer than the rhetoric of political reality.
Israelis have become increasingly polarized.
Some argue that the intifada proves it is time to
give up territory for the chance of peace. Others,
and apparently a greater number, assert that the
violence underscores that the Arabs must be dealt
with from strength.
The upcoming national elections in November
will provide an opportunity for a mandate on the
critical issue of how to deal with the Palestinians.
With Labor and Likud locked in an ongoing strug-
gle over personality and policy, there is a strong feel-
ing in Israel that a clear victory — by either party
— would be far more preferable than the current
locked embrace of bitterness and inertia in
Jerusalem.
Right-wing parties, including Rabbi Meir
Kahane's Kach, seem to be gaining strength, and
talk of "the transfer of Arabs," a euphemism for
deportation, is now spoken of more openly. Israelis
concerned about maintaining democratic ideals are
fearful that if Likud wins a narrow majority, it may
form a coalition with a mixture of right-wing and
religiously fundamentalist parties.
While the Israeli political scene remains fluid,
the uprisings have underscored the differences
among Jews in America over how to resolve the
dispute, and even how to argue the case. The issue
of whether or not American Jews have a right to
protest Israeli policy — an issue that has arisen in
recent years over the Lebanon war, settlements in
the territories and the Pollard spy case — resumed
anew in regard to land-for-peace and the beating
of Arab civilians.
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, president of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations, said in
a letter to Israeli president Chaim Herzog that the
policy adopted to quell the riots "is an offense to
the Jewish spirit." He said it "violates every prin-
ciple of human decency, and it betrays the Zionist
dream."
Rabbi Schindler was excoriated by many Jewish
leaders, in Israel and America, for making his case
public and in such strong terms. But President Her-
zog, in his reply, chose not to join that attack. In-
stead he pinpointed his nation's dilemma simply
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