INSIGHT

THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND
TNE OF GREATER DETROIT

'21112iLt

Invites you to attend the

Keter Shem Toy Award Dinner

honoring

The army may soon turn to harsher military means in putting down the
Palestinian revolt.

Israel May Soon Use
A Much Heavier Hand

JACK AND MIRIAM SHENKMAN

In recognition of their leadership, many services and
contributions to the Community, the State of
Michigan, the Nation and the State of Israel.

THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1989

Congregation Shaarey Zedek

27375 Bell Road, Southfield

Cocktails: 6 p.m.

Dinner: 7 p.m.

Couvert 180

General Chairman:

DAVID B. HERMELIN

Associate Chairrmen:

LAWRENCE S. JACKIER
D. DAN KAHN

Dinner Vice Chairpersons:

Norman Allan
Elaine J. Beresh
Louis Berry
Harold Beznos
Paul Borman
Morris and Tillie Brandwine
Allen Charlupski
Gloria and Martin Cohen
Henry Dorfman
Ann Y. Eisenberg
Marcy Feldman
Martin R. Goldman

Erwin and Sylvia Harvith
David B. Holtzman
Richard Kughn
Irving Laker
Eric Yale Lutz
Michael Maddin
David Mondry
Ann Newman
Irving Nusbaum
Michael Perlman
Jack Robinson

Richard Rosenhaus
Emma Schaver
Arnold and Devorah Shenkman
Martin and Shelly Shenkman
I. William Sherr
Robert Sosnick
Bernard Stollman
Max Stollman
Phillip Stollman
Lawrence Wolfe
Jack Zwick

For further information and reservations, please call

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND

(313) 557-7016 or (313) 557-7059

46

FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 1989

GIORA SHAMIS AND
LOUIS RAPOPORT

Special to The Jewish News

erusalem — The Israeli
army is in the process
of major changes, a
direct result of the failure of
its commanders to put down
the Palestinian uprising. This
week, Amram Mitzna, the
general in charge of the Cen-
tral Command, which in-
cludes the West Bank, asked
to be relieved of his duties. We
believe the chief of staff, Dan
Shomron, is the next to go.
And in the current crush of
epoch world events, we would
not be surprised if Israel took
some dramatic military ac-
tion in the near future.
Mitzna shaped the army's
methods for dealing with both
the intifada and the
responses of the Jewish set-
tlers. But many critics, from
the right and now from the
left, are saying that the big-
gest failure in the army is the
chief of staff himself,
Shomron. Only once before in
Israeli history has the
political leadership sacrificed
the chief of staff at a time of
war. Just after the end of the
1973 Yom Kippur War, the
prime minister, Golda Meir,
asked for the resignation of
Chief of Staff David Elazar, in
order to save her own political
skin. Shamir and Rabin ap-
pear ready to act similarly; or
they could neutralize Dan
Shomron through reshuffling
his senior staff, giving more
authority to Deputy Chief of
Staff Ehud Barak.
In the coming weeks, the
IDF's tactics will be changed
drastically, and a much
heavier hand will be used to
suppress the Arab revolt —
something that Dan Shomron
has consistently opposed. The

j

changes in the Israeli
military have come about
because of several related fac-
tors that seem to be converg-
ing. The average Israeli is fed
up with a political and
military leadership which is
regarded as inept and in-
decisive in dealing with the
Palestinians. In the last few
months, much of the anger
was focused on army com-
manders like Shomron and
Mitzna, who backed the
school of thought that there is
no military solution to the in-
tifada. Now that anger is
beginning to focus on
Shomron's boss, Defense
Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and
on Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir himself. Shamir and
Rabin were so preoccupied
with holding together the na-
tional unity government and
their Palestinian elections in-
itiative that they did not pay
heed to the changes in the
mood of the nation. Sudden-
ly, they are trying to win back
popular political support
through changes in the army.
Shamir this week told Likud
leaders, "The government is
now working to introduce an
improved plan for the IDF
and other security forces to
crack the intifada." Why has
it taken 18 months for
Shamir to decide that the in-
tifada should be crushed?
Shamir is a man who reacts
slowly to events, mainly to
buy time, and he is no in-
novator. He used the
moderate approach toward
suppressing the intifada in
order to develop a political
strategy to counter the enor-
mous gains of the Palestine
Liberation Organization. But
now, it is becoming obvious to
him that his political strategy
cannot work if the intifada
continues at the same level.