EDITORIAL

No 'Transfer' Option

Not long ago in Israel, only Rabbi Meir Kahane publicly discussed
the option of "transfer" as a solution to Israel's Arab population pro-
blem — "transfer" being the euphemism for forced expulsion.
But according to the disturbing results of a recent poll in Israel,
virtually half of the Jewish population would advocate a "transfer"
solution. Conducted in June by the Israel Institute of Applied Social
Research and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the poll asked:
"if the territories remain under Israeli rule, what should be done
to preserve the (a) democratic and (b) Jewish character of the state?"
Thirty percent of the respondents advocated relinquishing the
territories to the Palestinians; 20 percent favored either denying or
granting rights to the Palestinians; and 49 percent chose to "cause
the Arabs to leave (transfer)."
Clearly the long, bloody months of the intifada, or Palestinian
uprisings, have taken their toll on the Jewish citizens of Israel, who
appear to be growing increasingly intolerant of the Palestinian
population. Rehavam Ze'evi, former commander of the Israel Army's
Central Command and, more recently, director of Tel Aviv's Eretz
Israel Museum, has established his own political party whose major
platform is the espousal of the "transfer" policy. He asserts that such
a policy of "voluntary exchange" will prevent wars, but he does not
say what he will do if the Arabs refuse to leave. Expel them by force?
Open fire against them? Load them on to cattle cars?
Simple solutions to complex problems are often appealing, par-
ticularly to a people living under great stress. But that does not make
them worthy of discussion. lb even elevate the option of "transfer"
would strip Israel of her moral superiority and cause an irrevocable
split between Jews in the Diaspora and the Jews of Israel.
"Transfer" is simply not an option for a civilized, democratic
country whose memories of persecution at the hands of those who
expelled them are still painfully fresh.

.

— to national security, the national debt or foreign policy — that
does keep cropping up in both parties. The issue is anti-Semitism.
The fact that it seems to taint both parties this year, no matter how
slightly, is a blot on Democrats and Republicans alike.
For Democrats, the candidacy of Jesse Jackson was the worry.
With his past record of insensitivity to Jews and cuddling up to PLO
leader Yassir Arafat, would Jackson's emerging role in the party
alienate Jewish voters?
The jury is still out on that question, but there is no doubt that
Republicans have been trying to capitalize on it. Handicapping GOP
inroads into the Jewish electorate have been revelations about anti-
Semites' role in the Bush campaign: The co-chairman of Bush's
"ethnic panel" was a staunch defender of convicted ex-Nazi John
Demjanjuk, two other members of the panel are being investigated
for links to pro-Nazi groups; and Bush's southern regional chairman,
the governor of South Carolina, reportedly used anti-Semitism in
his successful 1978 congressional campaign against a Jew.
Such people have no place in politics, whether it be a race for
the White House or for local dogcatcher.
"The test for us will be whether we can develop a counter-
strategy," said one Jewish Republican activist.
But the real issue is not "strategy" versus "counter-strategy."
The ultimate issue is what, in this day, and age, motivates the
politicos in question to dally with anti-Semitism; why Jew-haters
and Jew-baiters think they can find a home in either of the major
parties; and what it is about the parties that attracts them.

Ousting The Anti-Semites

This has not been the most enlightened of presidential cam-
paigns. Mr. Bush has impugned the patriotism of his opponent and
made vague associations between Michael Dukakis and that
threatening leftist, Jane Fonda. Last week, Dukakis, who had been
taking it on the chin for too long, came out swinging and charged
Bush with "McCarthyism."
Such is the state of our quadrennial debate on national issues.
Bush is making Dukakis and his "card-carrying" proclivities — his
"liberalism," by any other word — the issue; Dukakis, on the defen-
sive, resorts, almost desperately, to a charge of "McCarthyism" to
portray his opponent's tactics. It is a sad turn of events.
There is one matter not related directly to the broad "issues"

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LETTERS

George Bush
And John Sununu
George Bush comes out of
the Republican Convention as
a known friend who is warm-
ly esteemed by, and popular
among American Jewry. For
this reason he could be view-
ed by some among this poten-
tially critical urban voting
group to have an edge on
Michael Dukakis. But he
faces a real obstacle in nail-
ing down his Jewish support:
Governor John Sununu.
As chairman of the World
Zionist Organization-
American Section, in 1986 I

6

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1988

initiated and conducted the
campaign, along with others
who were concerned citizens
to have our nation's governors
issue official proclamations
condemning the United Na-
tions 1975 General Assembly
Resolution equating Zionism
with racism. We achieved
remarkable success when 49
of our 50 governors issued
such proclamations.
Indeed, in early 1987, we
called upon Mr. Bush as a
good friend, to ask Gov. John
Sununu of New Hampshire,
the only state chief executive
holdout, to issue such a state-
ment and thus permit us to

achieve unanimity on this ef-
fort. However, despite the
Vice President's greatly ap-
preciated efforts, Gov.
Sununu adamantly main-
tained his position — the on-
ly derelict among his peers.

Now, as Jewish leaders
speak about George Bush's
valued efforts and leadership
in behalf of the world
democracy in general, and
Israel in particular as a Mid-
dle Eastern outpost of
freedom and an ally of our na-
tion, they find themselves
challenged by queries concer-
ning the Vice President's

relationship with Gov.
Sununu .. .
It seems to us quite
ludicrous and contradictory
that the Vice Presidents con-
tinues to welcome the support
of Sununu. Not only does his
party platform declare "the
Republican Party reaffirms
its support for the rescission
of UN Resolution 3379 which
equates Zionism with racism.
Failure to repeal that resolu-
tion will justify attenuation of
our support for the UN," but
George Bush himself has une-
quivocally said so as well .. .

Bernice S. Tannenbaum
New York

Expert Explains
Demjanjuk Testimony
Neal M. Sher, director of the
Justice Department's Office
of Special Investigations, has
published certain allegations
concerning my conduct as a
forensic documents expert
prior to and during the Dem-
janjuk trial in Jerusalem.
Two of his allegations are
false: (1) that, at a press con-
ference prior to my testimony
in Jerusalem, I stated that
the key prosecution evidence,
the Trawnicki identification
was not a forgery; and (2) that

Continued on Page 10

