UP FRONT

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

Assistant Editor

W

hen Aryeh Bibi
stood up amid a
group of friends
while dining out in
Jerusalem earlier this mon-
th, restaurant patrons set
their forks and glasses down
and prepared for the worst.
The Jerusalem police
chief, they said, was about to
announce his decision to
leave the force.
Mr. Bibi offered no such
news. But one week later,
the rumors about the police
chief appeared justified.
Police Minister Ronni Milo
decided that Mr. Bibi would
stay with the force, but
would no longer retain con-
trol over the Jerusalem
police.
This week, Israel again
announced a change in Mr.
Bibi's position. National
Police Commissioner
Yaakov Terner on Tuesday
said Mr. Bibi will be - pro-
moted to full commander of
the district, a job which in-
cludes a raise in rank and
pay, but will remove Mr.
Bibi from any direct respon-
sibility for police actions.
This move has been viewed
as a sign that no disciplinary
action will be taken against
Mr. Bibi or the other two
senior police officials, Com-
missioner Terner and
Southern District Com-
mander Rahamim Comfort,

held responsible in last mon-
th's shootings at the Temple
Mount.
The revolving door of pro-
motion and demotion sur-
rounding Mr. Bibi apparent-
ly is the result of his actions
Oct. 8, when he led the
Jerusalem police in a charge
against Arab rioters on the
Temple Mount. The incident
left 17 Palestinians dead and
Jerusalem police struggling

The Zamir Report
called the police
shootings
"absolutely
justified," though
it criticized Mr.
Bibi for not having
been more aware
to the possibilities
of violence.

to defend what it insists
were defensive measures.
Subsequent reports,
specifically the United
Nations' review of the inci-
dent, have cast doubts on the
police department's actions
that day. But Mr. Bibi has
steadfastly maintained he
and his men acted ap-
propriately and without un-
called-for violence.
From their mosque on the

Temple Mount, the Arabs
began throwing stones at the
numerous Jewish wor-
shippers at the Kotel, Mr.
Bibi said in an exclusive
interview. "And they don't
come slowly," he said of the
rioters.
When such a large-scale
attack begins, police "have
no time even to think; they
have to move to protect" the
targets of the violence.
Mr. Bibi, who is never
without his constantly ring-
ing portable phone, was
essentially absolved of any
wrongdoing in the Zamir
Report, Israel's study into
the Temple Mount incident.
The Zamir Report, issued in
early November, called the
police shootings "absolutely
justified," though it
criticized Mr. Bibi for not
having been more aware to
the possibilities of violence.
"The use of fire was not
under strict control of offi-
cers," the report said.
"Individuals and groups,
operating on their own,
became involved in difficult
situations that obliged them
to use their weapons."
Mr. Bibi arrived at the
scene not long after tensions
began, when two policemen
became trapped in an out-
post at the Temple Mount
during the riots. He ordered
his force to use rubber
bullets and gas to quell the
violence and free the men at
the outpost. He said live

Photo by RN S/Re u ters

Israel Promotes Police Chief
Who Led Temple Mount Charge

Days after the Temple Mount riot, Jews demonstrate against what they
called the international media's distortion of events Oct. 8.

ammunition should be used
only in life-threatening
situations.
According to the Zamir
Report, some of the men did
not hear Mr. Bibi. They pro-
ceeded to the Temple Mount,
where they fired rubber
bullets "and when the
rioters continued to charge,
they fired live ammunition,
first in the air and then at
the attackers."
Israeli reports conflict as
to whether police knew the
Arabs were organizing an
attack. Mr. Bibi said the
police had no such knowl-
edge or they would have
been better prepared.
Knesset members have
lambasted the 59-page
Zamir Report, commissioned
by Prime Minister Yitzhak
Shamir, and the Jerusalem
police force for their actions
Oct. 8. Labor's Haim Ramon
said Israel must realize that

"shootings never solve
disputes." Agudat Yisrael's
Moshe Ze'ev Feldman added,
"Errors of judgment within
the senior police echelons
occur again and again, and
it's time (Police Minister)
Milo straightened things
out," while Mapam's Yair
Tsarban said the report
"lacked the courage to state
outright that some of the
dead were shot without
justification."
According to Mr. Bibi, for-
eign journalists — few of
whom reported the Arabs'
role in initiating the Temple
Mount riot — were not pre-
sent at the outset of the con-
flict.
A number of cor-
respondents reportedly
received their information
about the incident from
Arabs. They did not discuss
the matter with Jerusalem
police, Mr. Bibi said.

the Goldensteins; their
neighbors are Adolf Hitler
and Eva Braun.
According to reports in the
British press, the BSB is
well aware that the program
might be seen as offensive. It
did not permit journalists to
view the initial program, nor
did it send a copy of the
broadcast to the Board of
Deputies of British Jews.
Theatrical booking agents
reportedly also quickly real-
ized the show would be con-
troversial, and did not send
actors to audition . for "Heil,
Honey, I'm Home."

now -Rabbi Shmuel
Kaminetsky and his wife
have left the comforts of
American life and moved to
the Soviet Union to fill the
void.
Rabbi Kaminetsky came to
the position through Ezras
Achim, a Brooklyn-based
organization helping Jews in
the Soviet Union.
The Kaminetskys chose
Dnepropotrovsk because it
was the city where Rabbi
Levi Yitzchok Schneerson,
father of the Lubavitcher
Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, served
as chief rabbi.
Participation in Rabbi
Kaminetsky's first class
topped 200.

❑

ROUND U-P1

Soviets, Israel
Sign Agreement
Moscow — The Technion
Israel Institute of
Technology and the Space
Research Institute of the
USSR Academy of Sciences
have signed an agreement
calling for joint scientific
studies in space research for
peaceful purposes.
The two institutes will
conduct joint studies in
fields of mutual interest
such as observational and
theoretical astrophysics, X-
ray astronomy and X-ray
satellites, planetary ex-
plorations, developing scien-
tific instruments for Mars
exploration and ecological
monitoring.
The agreement specifies
that results of the joint
studies will be the common

property of both Israel and
the Soviet Union, and that
the parties may cooperate on
a commercial basis.
In addition, .conferences
will take place between the
two institutes on a regular
basis. The first conference
has been scheduled May
1991 at the Technion. The
topics of discussion will be
non-linear physics, chaos
and coherent structures in
astrophysics.

MDA Launches
Emergency Aid
Ramat Gan — Magen
David Adorn (MDA) has
launched a new emergency
push-button service for
home-bound residents of
Israel. The program, known
as Keshev, enables reci-
pients to contact MDA head-

quarters with the touch of a
push-button transmission
device connected to the
subscribers' telephone line.
The individual in distress
can activate two-way contact
with the Keshev head-
quarters in Ramat Gan by
pushing a button on a device
worn around the wrist or
neck, thus alleviating the
need to dial the telephone.

New Comedy Is No
Laughing Matter
London — Jews in Britain
-aren't laughing at a new
comedy shown on British
Satellite Broadcasting
(BSB).
The program, "Heil,
Honey, I'm Home," focuses
on two neighbors living in
Berlin in the 1930s. One
couple is a Jewish family,

Dnepropotrovsk
Gets A Rabbi
For 51 years, the Soviet
city of Dnepropotrovsk has
existed without a rabbi. But

Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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