CONTENTS If Only The U.S. Listened To Israel M.J. ROSENBERG Special to The Jewish News ou would think Ku- wait was pre-war Czechoslovakia or even France from all the tears being shed over its demise. The media talks about "tiny Kuwait" the way it once spoke of Israel, evoking im- ages of a small people strug- gling against the mighty Ira- qi oppressor rather than of a wealthy corporation that hap- pens to have a flag. It's hard to believe, but on- ly a few weeks ago, neither Washington nor the Ameri- can people at large cared much about Iraq and the threat Saddam Hussein posed to other Mideast countries. Certainly there was very lit- tle reaction (outside of the pro-Israel community) to Sad- dam's threat to use poison gas on Jews as he had used it on Kurds and Iranians. And there was even less reaction when Israeli officials warned that Saddam was not bluffing. The Bush Administration was singularly unmoved, test- ifying against Congressman Howard Berman's bill to im- pose trade sanctions on Baghdad and fighting hard against efforts to have the Senate consider sanctions. Right up to the last minute, Mr. Bush and company be- lieved that sweet talk rather than tough actions would bring Saddam Hussein around. But that changed overnight when Iraq ' swallowed up Kuwait. The sanctions bill sailed through Congress and, with the President leading, a total embargo of Iraq was im- posed. George Bush now could hardly be tougher, swearing that Iraq's conquest of Kuwait "will not stand" and putting military muscle behind his words. Mr. Bush's stand has wide public support and it should. But few bother to point out that this whole crisis could have been avoided if the President had taken Sad- dam's threats — and Israel's warnings — seriously right from the start. American boys are now in Saudi Arabia in large part because this Ad- ministration chose to devote more effort to threatening Israel over the presence of Soviet Jews in Jerusalem — and over Prime Minister Shamir's refusal to accept the "Baker plan" — than it did to standing up to Saddam Hus- sein. And now all of us, and y particularly those American boys who have been shipped over to the Middle East, will have to pay the price. It's unlikely that Mr. Bush will learn from his mistakes. The top echelon of his Ad- ministration (with the excep- tion of Vice President Dan Quayle) are fierce adherents of the idea that Israel is part of the Middle East problem — not part of its solution. That is why the President chose to ignore Saddam's threats to in- cinerate Israel and why Ad- ministration figures never mention Israel as an asset that is of strategic value in any Middle East conflict. It is also why you haven't heard a single Administra- tion figure give Israel credit for taking out Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981. Menachem Begin's action prevented the Iran-Iraq war from going nuclear just as it prevents the Iraqis from utilizing the ultimate weapon in the current climate. But no U.S. official will mention that. Meanwhile, Yitzhak Sha- mir remains the one Mideast leader not to receive a re- assuring telephone call from George Bush since Iraq moved into Kuwait. If the Ad- ministration has any under- standing of the fear Israelis rightly have of Saddam Hus- sein and of an Arab world that largely backs him — they are keeping it to themselves. But the Administration pro- bably won't be quiet for long. As soon as things calm down, and maybe even before, Mr. Bush or Secretary Baker will come out with a statement saying that the current situa- tion only adds urgency to fin- ding a solution to the Palesti- nian problem. They will say that the lesson of Iraq's ag- gression against Kuwait is — you guessed it — that Israel should negotiate with the PLO and get rid of the West Bank. But, of course, the lesson Iraq's aggression teaches is something very different. The first is that territorial depth does matter, even in this age of missiles. For years, critics of Israeli policy have been saying that the West Bank is an irrelevancy in an age when missiles can span the desert in minutes. But Israelis have surely noticed that Iraq did not conquer Kuwait with missiles. Tanks, armored vehicles, and troops were necessary to do the job. If ter- ritory with the depth and hil- Continued on Page 12 r."-- 15 DETROIT Deaf Yeshiva PHIL JACOBS Two Detroit rabbis plan a deaf school in Baltimore. 22 FOLLOW UP Afterglow ALAN HITSKY PHIL JACOBS KIMBERLY LIFTON RICHARD PEARL STEVE WHITELEY The Youth Games athletes have left, but the glow remains. 40 CLOSE-UP Reclaiming Lost Jews 22 MICHAEL POUSNER The subtle effort to mix Soviet emigres and Judaism. At Home In Detroit Aro I OPINION SUSAN GRANT Detroit has several programs to make the emigres feel at home. OUTLOOK A Good Death ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM This group doesn't fear death, only the way they might die. 40 ENTERTAINMENT Good News MIKE ROSENBAUM Columnist Laura Berman heads straight for success. EDUCATION Ethical Students? 9 IRA RIFKIN A consultant believes day schools are failing. DEPARTMENTS 48 Synagogues 95 Weddings 102 Births 105 Single Life 110 Classified Ads 133 Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 69 7:51 p.m. Friday, August 31, 1990 Sabbath ends September 1 8:52 p.m. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 7