ISRAEL

Remember the
11th Commandment:

Persuasion Is The Weapon
For This Israeli 'Commander'

"And Thou
Shalt be
Informed"

NECHAMIA MEYERS

Special to The Jewish News

M

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JIM FLEISCHER

26 FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1989

ichael Shiloh, re-
cently appointed ad-
viser on world Jewry
to Foreign Minister Moshe
Arens, is as much on the front
line of israel's struggle for
survival as a tank com-
mander on the Golan Heights
or the head of a paratroop
unit in Gaza.
But in his battle to win sup-
port for Israeli policies from
overseas Jews, he can't give
orders to his "troops?' all of
whom are volunteers. He may
be deeply distresed, for exam-
ple, should the heads of
American-Jewish organiza-
tions refuse to lobby on behalf
of Israel, but he can't fire
them. He may be angry when
they meet with Arafat, but he
can't discipline them. Persua-
sion is his only weapon.
Whatever the difficulties,
however, Shiloh cannot do
without his American-Jewish
"troops?' After all, they are
Israel's principal spokesmen
in the United States, where
the Israel Foreign Ministry
spends a pitiful $1.3-million a
year on informational
activities.
Israel and her American-
Jewish allies, Shiloh points
out, face - increasingly
sophisticated Arab adver-
saries. An example of this
sophistication is the Arab-
sponsored Anti-Discrimina-
tion Committee, patterned on
the veteran, Jewish-
sponsored Anti-Defamation
League.
The ADL has for many
years sent three or four
groups of influential
Americans to Israel annually
in the hope that they will
depart as friends, which they
usually do. Now, the ADC is
sending more than twice as
many groups of influential
Americans to Israel each
year, but these ADC groups
spend almost all their time
with disaffected Arabs in
Israel and the Thrfitories.
Thus they tend to leave this
country, quite understan-
dably, as its sworn enemies.
Shiloh says that Arab
sophistication is also evident
in the frequent debates about
Israeli policies on U.S. televi-
sion and campuses. Arab
representatives, usually
Americans of Palestinian
origin, know how to present
their case in a moderate man-
nerm, carefully differen-
tiating between nasty
Zionists and nice Jews.

They have become so polish-
ed, in fact, that they
sometimes run circles around
supporters of Israel.

Having spent several years
as Consul General in Boston,
Shiloh is well aware of many
other developments in the
United States — among them
the growth of anti-Semitism
and the inroads of assimila-
tionism — that should and in-
deed' do concern throughtful
Israelis. But because Israel's
resources of money and man-
power are so severely limited,
she must leave the handling

of these matters to American
Jewry, says Shiloh.
He will be meeting several
thousand U.S. Jews next week
at the General Assembly of
the Council of Jewish Federa-
tions in Cincinnati, where he
will be representing Foreign
Minister Arens.
Shiloh expects to hear plen-
ty of criticism of Israeli
policies at the gathering, but
he feels certain that his
"troops" will still rally to
Israel's banner; for, as he
points out, she remains the
world's one and only Jewish
state. ❑

Tales of Israeli Justice
Have Distinctive Flavor

CARL ALPERT

Special to The Jewish News

C

rime and the courts of
justice have always
been a rich source of
human interest stories, and
Israel is no exception.
Perhpas the tales from Israel
have a distinctive flavor all
their own, as, witness the
following:
The Thieves Broke In Twice
— When theives burglarized
the office of a lawyer in
Kiryat Shemonah, the only
thing they found was a
50-shekel note and a book of
receipts. Upon examining
their loot later, they
discovered that the money
was intended for a synagogue
charity fund. The next night,
they broke in again and
returned the money.
Choosing The Right Name
— Reuven Bonjo, driving
without a license, was stopped
by the police. Knowing that
he had a record of other traf-
fic offenses, he gave the police
a false name. As luck would
have it, the name he had
chosen in random appeared
on the police computer as one
wanted for other offenses.
Bonjo wound up in court.
Thorns In The Roses?
Shmuel Ben-Asher, of Tel
Aviv, chanced to meet a
childhood sweetheart and the
flame was rekindled. He pur-
sued her fervently, but she re-
jected him and finally got a
court order calling on him to
refrain from any further con-
tact with her. He sent her a
dozen roses and was prompt-
ly arrested, jailed and fined
for disobeying the court order.
The judge admonished him
that he could not say it, even
with flowers.

—

Return On An Investment —
In a divorce case, a Raanana
husband agreed to a 50-50
split of the family's assets
with his wife. But he also
demanded a share of all her
future income as a dentist on
the grounds that, during the
entire period of her studies,
he had supported her and
even borne the brunt of rais-
ing the family, at the expense
of his own career.

Equal Responsibility —
Found guilty of income tax
evasion, Moshe Beracha and
his wife, Iris, were sentenced
to four months in jail.
However, so as not to create
hardship for the children, the
judge ruled that they could
serve the time individually,
alternatively.

Laid Off
A young pro-
stitute, who claimed she had
been pursuing a successful
career, sued both the driver of
a car which struck her and
his insurance company, for
loss of income which she said
she was no - longer able to
earn. The insurance company
maintained that she was still
fit to follow her profession no
less than before the accident.

—

Why Was I Born? Prior to
her marriage, a girl in whose
family there was a history of
a genetic disease sought
medical advice whether she
should have children. The
doctor gave her a clean bill of
health, but her child was born
with the dread ailment. She
sued the doctor and the
hospital, both on her own
behalf and in the name of the
infant. Israel's Supreme
Court upheld the right of the
child to protest its own
birth. ❑

—

