DETROIT Juggling Three Concerns Forms U.S. Mideast Policy Says Author ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM Assistant Editor L ike a juggler balancing three balls, the United States forms its Middle East policy based on its need for oil, its support for Israel and its determination to prevent Soviet expansion in the area, a Middle East ex- pert said here last week. Speaking at Wayne State University, John Rothman said any of these three con- cerns may be prominent at any given time, which ex- plains why the United States can back Israel and, at the same time, join forces with Israel's adversary, Syria, during the Gulf war. Active in numerous polit- ical campaigns and the au- thor of articles on the Middle East, Mr. Rothman is former president of the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews in San Francisco and of the North Pacific Region of the Zionist Organization of America. A member of the national board of trustees of the American Zionist Youth Foundation, he was a dele- gate in 1982 and 1987 to the World Jewish Congress. Mr. Rothman said that for many years the United States and the Soviet Union competed for power in the Middle East. But the Soviet Union has withdrawn and Iraqi leader Saddam Hus- sein stepped in to fill the void. , Had Saddam won the Gulf war and controlled both Iraq and Kuwait, he would have held 40 percent of the oil produced in the world to- day and would have become a competitor with the United States in the region, Mr. Rothman said. Discussing the American interest in oil, Mr. Rothman said every president since Franklin Roosevelt has been committed to maintaining the Saudi family's . power in Arabia so as to safeguard s U.S. access to oil. The United States sup- ports Israel because the Jew- ish state is a strategic ally and a democracy, he said. It is also the sole Middle East nation that wins its battles, he added. He recalled that in 1981 Israel bombed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, which otherwise would likely have been used against the allies in the Gulf war. "The vital sense of Israel's military was 14 FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1991 demonstrated at that mo- ment," he said. Mr. Rothman described Israel's relations with Egypt as "a cold peace that has been maintained through ups and downs for more than a decade." Today, Mr. Mubarak is a staunch American ally, Mr. Rothman said. But the day he loses the Egyptian army's support is the day Mr. Mu- barak will be ousted. Be- cause the Egyptian leader has no clear successor, the Arab nation's continued re- lationship with the United States and Israel both become questionable if Mr. Mubarak loses power, he said. During the Gulf war, Jor- dan's King Hussein did "precisely what he should have done — nothing," Mr. Rothman said. The United States would not have tolerated Jordanian forces joining Saddam. At the same time, the Arab nation's population, the majority of which is Palestinian, would have revolted had the king supported the allies. Some Arab countries, angry that Jordan did not fight against Saddam, are raising the idea of "Jordan as Palestine," Mr. Rothman said. Israeli leaders, including Housing Minister Ariel Sha- ron, have voiced support for a similar plan. In 1970, Mr. Sharon suggested Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yassir Arafat take control of the Jordanian state, Mr. Rothman said. Jor- dan was created out of 80 per- cent of Palestine by the United Nations in 1947. Despite Mr. Sharon's sug- Some Arab countries, angry that Jordan did not fight against Saddam Hussein, are raising the idea of "Jordan as Palestine." gestion, both Israel and the United States are committed to the Jordanian monarchy, he said. The two countries regard King Hussein as stable, "a better bargaining partner than Yassir Arafat." Syria's Hafez Assad benefitted greatly from the Gulf War, Mr. Rothman said. His major military competitor, Iraq, was destroyed. John Rothman: Israel is between a rock and a hard place. Syria maintains a "cold war" with Israel. He added, "The only place he (Assad) is prepared to fight Israel is in Lebanon." Though he called bilateral talks important, Mr. Rothman thought it unlikely that Israel would establish peace treaties with Jordan, Syria or Iran, a nation "firmly committed to the destruction of Israel." Among the war's big losers was the PLO's Arafat, a strong supporter of Saddam Hussein, Mr. Rothman said. "Yassir Arafat blew it all the way around." If he were the PLO leader, Mr. Rothman said, he would have recognized from the beginning that his organiza- tion's funding came from Iraq's wartime opponents, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. "The minute Kuwait was invaded I would have jumped to its defense." And when Iraqi Scud mis- siles exploded in Israel, Mr. Arafat should have de- nounced the attack on civilian populations, he said. This would have won the gratitude of the West and assured Israel that the Pa- lestinians want peace. Now, Israelis retain vi- sions of Palestinians cheer- ing the bombs landing in Tel Aviv, "and they are not go- ing to forget it." Mr. Rothman described Israel as stuck between a rock — geography — and a hard place — demography. The demography problem is the 1.5 million Palestin- ians in the territories, none of whom want to live under Israeli rule. Yet Israel's tiny size makes it vulnerable to outside attack, especially if it were to give up the ad- ministered territories, he said. Israel has committed human rights violations against the Palestinians, he said, but at the same time it has made repeated attempts to negotiate with residents of the West Bank and Gaza. Israel's bottom line is that "the Palestinians have rights," Mr. Rothman said. "But not at the expense of Israel's right to exist." ❑ Detroit Jews To Help The Minsk Community SUSAN GRANT Staff Writer D uring a 1985 trip to Moscow, Dr. Zvi Gitelman and his wife attended a Jewish studies class conducted without the knowledge of Soviet authorities. The teacher, Petia Polonsky, had no books. Instead, he taught chumash (Bible) from photographs taken of the • text. A few months ago in Min- sk, Dr. Gitelman was leafing through some Hebrew and Russian textbooks in one of the city's Jewish schools. The book was published in Israel by a Pinkhas Polon- sky. "It was the same fellow," Dr. Gitelman said. "He had moved to Israel and was publishing religious books" and they were being read openly in the Soviet Union. It is with the guidance of those books and other educa- A boy studying in a Minsk Sunday school. tional aids from around the world that the Jewish com- munity in Minsk is slowly reclaiming its heritage. Minsk's Jewish commun- ity, like so many others in the USSR, was a thriving one until the rise of commu- nism, Dr. Gitelman said. With perestroika, the Jew- ish community has blossom- ed, said Dr. Gitelman, who spent a week in late December observing parts of the Jewish community numbering 40,000 in Byelorussia's capital. At the request of Detroit's Jewish Community Council, Dr. Gitelman traveled to Minsk to determine the city's con- ditions and what Detroit Jews could do to help those in their Soviet sister city. The Council, which in December sent 600 menorot to Minsk, recently augmented its commitment by funding renovations of the synagogue, including its heating and electrical systems, and providing a curtain on the ark and a shulkan (Torah table) cover. Other improvements include helping renovate the cultural center, getting med- icines for the community and supplying Jewish schools with educational materials. Although he doubts the Minsk Jewish community will ever achieve its former prominence, Dr. Gitelman discovered that despite lim- ited resources, the city's Jews are once again forming a cohesive society. A factory was converted into the city's only syn- agogue two years ago, Dr. Gitelman said. A single Jew- ish star on a window gives the only hint to the facility's use.