THIS ISSUE 60
SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY
Is Israel Playing
By Enemy Rules?
HELEN DAVIS
l'orctgn Correspondent
Was Israel's abduction of Hez-
bollah's Sheik Abdul Kareem Obeid
an act of self-centered banditry or a
coolly calculated display of "alter-
native" diplomacy?
It may be some time before the
final verdict is delivered, for ultimate-
ly, the Israeli action will be judged on
results; specifically, on the fate of the
ANALYSIS
Western and Israeli hostages being
held by the Islamic fundamentalists
in Lebanon.
If the hostages are released, Israel
will be vindicated; if not, it will be
vilified. In either case, the admiration
or outrage of the world will last only
until the next Middle East-centered
crisis breaks upon the head of an un-
suspecting world.
The lesson of the Obeid affair,
AUGUST 11, 1989 / 10 AV 5749
I CLOSE-UP I
however, is that Israel is now playing
the game according to the rules of its
enemies — a high-stakes game that
permits options which transcend the
traditional, accepted limits of
Western diplomacy.
True, Israel has taken controver-
sial, unconventional action in the past
— from the Entebbe rescue operation
to the destruction of the Iraqi nuclear
reactor at Osirak and the bombing of
the PLO headquarters in Tunis.
What sets the Obeid affair apart,
however, what marks it as a new
departure, is that Israel has not
deployed its undoubted strength to
solve an otherwise intractable
diplomatic problem; rather, it has
employed military prowess to beat the
terrorists at their own game.
Obeid was not abducted for any
high-minded diplomatic or juridical
purpose. He was not snatched from
his bed to stand trial for offenses
against Israel or to be extradited to
the United States for crimes against
Continued on Page 14
Soviet Jews Receive
Boost From Detroiter
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Features Editor
With a grant from a Bloomfield
Hills resident who once studied at
Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
Soviet Jews for the first time can tem-
porarily leave the Soviet Union to
study there.
The program is being funded by
businessman Sam Nivy for the
Rothberg School for Overseas
Students at Hebrew University.
University officials declined to
disclose the amount of the grant and
details of arrangements with the
Soviet Union.
About 10 Jewish students from
Leningrad, Moscow, Kiev and other
Soviet cities with large Jewish com-
munities began their studies this
month at the university, said David
Litwack, regional director of the
American Friends of the Hebrew
University. Litwack said the univer-
sity is fund-raising to continue the
program after the grant expires.
Litwack said the students will
study at the school then return to the
Soviet Union prepared to lead
cultural activities in their com-
munities. He said they will teach
Hebrew, Jewish history, the Holocaust
and other Jewish subjects.
Nivy said he became interested in
a study program for Soviet Jews after
his visit last October to the Soviet
Union. He met with refuseniks in
Leningrad and Moscow.
Nivy said he was concerned that
the Soviet Jews lacked education and
were given negative information
about Israel.
Several months later, Nivy at-
tended a reunion of Hebrew Univer-
sity alumni in Jerusalem. Nivy, who
was born in Poland, attended Hebrew
University in the 1930s.
At the reunion, Nivy discussed
with Hebrew University Chancellor
Avraham Harmon his idea to help
educate Soviet Jews who would
return with their knowledge to the
Soviet Union.
Litwack said the school had been
considering a program for Soviet Jews
for some time. With Nivy's financial
support, they were able to begin.
"The window for Soviet Jews is
open today," Litwack said. "We must
take advantage of that now, because
it may not be open forever."
The
Door
To T
Israeli author Anton Shammas opens
the door to a world of reality and
imagination, agony and beauty
and a thousand disguises.