-z-71111111"

4

BUSINESS

IT'S THE
ONLY SPOT IN TOWN

Tuesday, December 24 9:00 pm•1:00 am

Jewish Community Center

Maple/Drake Building

'Don't Miss The
Event Of The Year,
Which Attracts
More Than 1,000
Single Jewish Men
and Women

**Dance The Night
Away!

**Refreshments!

Admission $8.00

Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance.

For further information call 661.1000, ext. 347

Sponsored by:

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Singles

and

THE JEWISH NEWS

No

102

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1991

IAA" qt.AdemlAve

,
(,44

Peace Dividend Fever
Hits Businessmen

NECHEMIA MEYERS

Special to The Jewish News

I

sraeli businessmen are
looking forward to a sub-
stantial peace dividend if
negotiations between Israel
and her Arab neighbors reach
a successful conclusion.
Quite apart from multina-
tional schemes that would
pour billions of dollars into
cooperative Mideast develop-
ment projects, enormous
economic opportunities are
expected to open up if, at long
last, normal trade links
develop in this part of the
world.
To- be sure, sub-rosa trade
already exists, as evidenced
by Arabs from neighboring
countries at the exhibition of
agricultural equipment and
techniques in Tel Aviv and by .
the availability of Israeli
goods in the Gulf States and
elsewhere. The candies, solar
heaters, disposable diapers
and shirts may have labels in-
dicating that they are from
Cyprus or Turkey, but
everyone knows their real
origin.
According to Professor Gad
Gilbar — who divides his time
between Haifa University
and the Dayan. Institute at
Tel Aviv University — Israeli
companies already sell
somewhere between $500
million and $1 billion worth
of goods each year in the Arab
world. Given peace, he adds,
that figure would be much
larger.
Professor Gilbar points out
that Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait import goods worth
tens of billions of dollars each
year and that Israel would
benefit enormously if it were
to win even a tiny part of
their business. Of particular
interest to these countries, he
observes, is Israel's agricul-
tural know-how, while Israel,
for its part, would undoubted-
ly wish to buy Gulf States' oil
(to supplement that which it
already purchases from
Egypt).
Other commentators have
remarked, for example, that it
would make more economic
sense for the top-flight dairy
at Kibbutz Yotvata in the
Arava to send its milk and
yogurt in refrigerated trucks
to the Jordanian port of
Akaba (just 25 miles away)
rather than to Tel Aviv (150
miles away). By the same
token, Israeli farmers would
find it advantageous to
market their fruits and
vegetables to consumers in
the Arab states rather than

fly them, at enormous cost, to
distant markets in Europe.
"Peace dividend fever" has
even hit Israeli hardliners
like Agriculture Minister
Rafael Eitan, who recently
suggested the possibility of a
joint Israeli-Jordanian
desalination project that
would produce 600-million
cubic meters of fresh water for
the two countries, both of
which are dangerously short
of this precious commodity.
Another member of the 'cur-
rent Likud government,
Transport Minister Moshe
Katzav, has asked ministry of-
ficials to gather data about
the possible reestablishment
of rail links between Israel
and her neighbors, which
were cut over four decades
ago. Going even further,
Tourism Minister Gideon Patt
has spoken of a "Middle East
Orient Express" that would
bring tourists from Athens to
Jerusalem via Damascus.
There are a host of other
peace dividends in prospect,
from a reduction in the
crushing burden of defense
costs now borne by Israel to
an increase in investments
here by multinational com-
panies no longer deterred by
regional unrest or the Arab
boycott. But before there can
be dividends, there must, of
course, be peace. ❑

■1

1 LOCAL NEWS

Ilimm

National ZOA
Elects Officers

W. James Schiller of
Baltimore was elected presi-
dent of the Zionist Organiza-
tion of America at the
organization's 88th annual
convention held in New York
City. He succeeds Sidney
Silverman of Detroit, who
was named honorary chair-
man of the national board.
Anne Gonte Silver, presi-
dent of Metro Detroit ZOA,
was elected national vice
president. Detroit delegates
were Ezekiel Leikin, Mr. and
Mrs. Malcolm Leventon,
Sheryl Silver and Mr. and
Mrs. Sidney Silverman.
Elected honorary vice
presidents were Leonard Her-
man, Irving Laker, Dr. Sidney
Leib, Louis Panush, Philip
Slomovitz, Dr. I. Walter Silver
and Rabbi M. Robert Syme.
Named to the national ex-
ecutive committee were Mor-
ris Baker, James Hack, Dr.
Jerome Kaufman, Marion
Leib, Malcolm Leventon,
George Mann and Dr. Leon
Warshay.