ANALYSIS JEWS AND THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE NEW WORLD 1492 / 1992 The Growing Influence Of Israel's Radical Right Writer Ehud Sprinzak says they are no longer just small fringe groups. COHN-HADDOW CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUD _ IES WSU JAMES D. BESSER JEAN & SAMUEL FRANKEL CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES Washington Correspondent D University of Michigan o the recent develop- ments in the Middle East peace process mean that Israel's radical right is no longer a powerful and disruptive political force? Not according to an Israeli political scientist who just finished a stint at Georgetown University's School of Government. Ehud Sprinzak's new book, JEWS AND CONVERSOS IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN Sunday, October 27, 1991 Rackham Building, University of Michigan Ann Arbor 1:00 p.m. 1:30 p.m. OPENING SESSION JEWS AND CONVERSOS IN MEDIEVAL SPAIN 2:30 p.m. Benjamin R. Gampel, Jewish Theological Seminary CONVERSOS IN THE FORMATION OF SPANISH SOCIETY Joan Ullman, University of Washington Diane Hughes, University of Michigan 7:30 p.m. SEPHARDIC CULTURE BEFORE THE EXPULSION Moshe Lazar, University of Southern California Discussant: Steven Dworkin, University of Michigan EXPULSION AND DIASPORA Monday, October 28, 1991 McGregor Memorial Conference Center, WSU Detroit 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. THE SPANISH EXPULSION Benjamin R. Gampel, Jewish Theological Seminary SEPHARDIC JEWRY IN EXILE Miriam Bodian, University of Michigan Discussant: Fauna Muge Gocek, University of Michigan UPCOMING EVENTS 1492: WATERSHED IN WORLD HISTORY Sunday, March 29, 1992 JEWS AND CONVERSOS IN THE ENCOUNTER Saturday, September 12, 1992 Sunday, September 13, 1992 JEWS, CONVERSOS AND THE INQUISITION IN THE NEW WORLD Sunday, NOvember 8, 1992 Monday, November 9, 1992 LEGACIES Sunday, December 6, 1992 Wayne State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer Wayne State University WINTERIZE NOW Call For Details ‘. 54 RICK WALD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1991 489-5862 J The Ascendance of Israel's Radical Right, is a biting analysis of far right political groups that he says claim the loyalty of between 20 and 25 percent of Israelis. "What I argue in my book is that you cannot under- stand Israeli political life without understanding how the radical right operates," Mr. Sprinzak said in a recent interview. "Unlike what most people here believe, the Israeli radical right is not a small fringe group, but a significant cultural and po- litical force within Israeli public life." Although Mr. Sprinzak's book is a damning analysis of those parties, the author admits to a personal admira- tion for many far right leaders. "I take them very seri- ously," he said. "I disagree with them politically — but I have a great respect for many of the individuals in- volved. Some of them are very profound thinkers. Many are exemplary leaders who overshadow most of Israel's mediocre leaders." The fact that so many moderate political leaders are ineffectual, he said, has provided a fertile climate for the growth of far right par- ties headed by more dynamic leaders. But the right-wingers, he said, are jeopardizing Israel's security by focusing their attention on expanding settlements in the occupied territories and setting up new roadblocks for the peace process. "I like to say that they're doing the right thing in the wrong place," Mr. Sprinzak explained. "I admire their Zionist pioneering spirit. But I would like to see that spirit applied in the Negev, in the Galilee, vast ter- ritories that need to be set- tled. Unfortunately, these people concentrate their set- tlement activity only in places where there are dense populations of Arabs." They are also highly skill- ed political operators in Israel's fractious political system. "Some of their leaders are extremely able and skillful politicians," Mr. Sprinzak said. "They know every rule in Israeli politics — espe- cially how a minority can blackmail the majority. Israeli politics is coalition politics. They have become very effective in par- ticipating in coalitions." The radical right, he argues, represents a fun- Yitzhak Shamir is "a prime minister under house arrest." Ehud Sprinzak damental threat to the Israeli system of govern- ment. "They create a major prob- lem for Israeli democracy, because many of them — es- pecially those in the re- ligious parties — do not con- sider democracy the ultimately desirable system of government," Mr. Sprin- zak said. "Others think that democracy is fine — but that when you're in a troubled situation, it is a very low priority." American Jews, he said, fail to understand the power now wielded by the far right groups. "Since June 1990, they have achieved a veto power within the government," he said. "They can bring the government down — which gives them enormous leverage. They have become a group inside the govern- ment. They are not on the outside any more." Mr. Sprinzak's interest in radical politics started at Yale in the late 1960s, when he began to study the New Left of the United States. "I was working on my Ph.D., and I was fascinated by this kind of idealistic radicalism," he said. "From that point on, I started to look at left-wing extremism in Israel. Before 1973, most