for Sephardic Chief Rabbi Supports Plan to Ease Conversions in Israel HE JEWISH NEWS Nasser' Tanks Replace Tractors New Left Role and Challenges From With in Our Ranks Editorials Page 4 Vol. LVI, No. 21 JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Itzhak Nissim on Monday called the exclusively to the creation of a special "bet die—rabbinical tribunal — to devote itself public response from the handling of conversion cases. Rabbi Nissim's statement was the rabbinate to the cabinet decision to investigate ways to speed up the conversion process. It presently takes about three years. Rabbi Nissim said the proposed tribunal would gather valuable ago, but proposal two experience and hasten the process considerably. He made a similar yeas t he Ash- it was rejected by the Supreme Rabbinical Council, mainly because of opposition f kenazic rabbis. The cabinet has named a ministe rial .committee to discuss the matter of conver- sions with the chief rabbinate. It consists of Minister of Justice Yaacov Shimshon Shapiro, of the Labor Party and the ministers of interior and religious affairs, Moshe Shapiro and Zerach Warhaftig, both of the National Religious Party. Detailed story of ruling on "Who Is a Jew" on this page I A Weekly Review Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper — 27 I of Jewish Events Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd., Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. Rabbi Nissim Black Bias Rejected by Negro Leaders Analysis of Nixon's Newest Policy on Israel Commentary Page 2 February 6, 1970 $7.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c 'Who's a Jew' and Law of Return Matters Linked in Decisions Overruling Israel High Court JERUSALEM (JTA — The Knesset Tuesday easily defeated a motion of no-confidence filed against the government by the opposi- tion HaOlam Hazeh faction over the proposed amendments to the Law of Return. The vote was 73-5. But the chamber was thrown into an uproar when Shalom Cohen of HaOlam Hazeh dramatically tore up his identity card in a symbolic protest against the amendment which establishes religious Criteria as -the sole determinant of who is entitled to J e w i s h. nationality. The tiny (two-man) faction demanded that nationality be deleted from population registration forms and identity cards. The speaker of the Knesset, Reuben Barket, threatened to take legal action against Cohen for violating the decorum of the chamber. But legal experts said the threat was an idle one because the Knesset member enjoys parliamentary immunity. Yuri Avneri, the Tel Aviv magazine publisher who heads HaOlam Hazeh, argued that religion and nationality are a personal affair and should not be subjected to prying officials or listed on personal identity cards. Minister of Justice Yaacov Shimshon Shapiro declined to comment on grounds that the matter will be debated in the Knesset next week when the amendment to the Law of Return comes up for a vote, but he criticized HaOlam Hazeh for bringing up a motion of no con- dence on a measure that has not yet been discussed in the Knesset. HaOlam Hazeh was supported in the voting by two Communist factions. Abstentions were recorded by the State List, headed by former Premier David Ben-Gurion, the Free Center and the ultra- Orthodox Agudat Israel. JERUSALEM (JTA)—The cabinet Tuesday approved and sent to the Knesset draft legislation that will establish religious criteria as the only valid instrument for determin- ing who is a Jew. The measure was worked out by a ministerial committee on legislative matters in line with last week's cabinet decision to amend the Law of Return so that the non-Jewish spouses and children of immigrants receive equal rights but cannot be reg- istered as Jews. The draft meets Orthodox demands to nullify last month's Supreme Court ruling that persons may be Jewish by nationality even if they are not Jewish by religion. But it is almost certain to raise Orthodox hackles because it would accept c-^river- sion to Judaism performed by a non-Orthodox rabbis. The bill that emerged from the com- mittee goes beyond the original cabinet proposals by extending equal privileges to the grandchildren of mixed marriage immigrant families. It also stipulates that the registrar of population must accept the immigrants' statements unless he has documentary or other valid proof that the statements are incor- rect. This will place the burden of proof on the ministry of interior r a t h e r than on the migrant in cases where "Jewishness" is in doubt. The Orthodox National Religious Party opposed the liberal element in the amend- ments to the Law of Return. The minister for religious affairs, Zerach Warhaftig, who is a member of the ministerial committee that produced the draft, tried to have them de- leted. He also demanded that the bill affirm the exclusivity of the Orthodox rabbinate in matters of conversion but was rejected by his colleagues. According to Jewish religious law, a person is Jewish only if born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism. The Orthodox insist that only Orthodox rabbis are qualified to perform .conversions and refuse to recognize conversions performed by rabbis of the Conservative and Re- (Continued on Page 5) form branches of Judaism. New York's Snub of Pompidou May Bring Shortening of French President's Itinerary 17 Michigan Congressmen Sign -Names to Declarations in Support of Israel LONDON (JTA)—French officials are considering whether to shorten President Georges Pompidou's visit to the United States and omit New York City from his itiner- ary in order to avoid demonstrations by Jewish groups against France's arms sales to Libya, it was reported here. But other sources in Paris said the French gov- ernment was in no way disturbed by the refusal of Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York to extend an offi- cial welcome to the French chief of state. President Pompidou is scheduled to arrive in Washington Feb. 24 as the guest of President Richard M. Nixon. His itinerary will take him to Cape Ken- nedy, San Francisco, Chicago and New York where he is due March 2 for one day. In New York he is scheduled to lunch with Secretary General U Thant of the United Nations and will be guest of honor at a dinner party to be given by a French-American organ- ization. Mayor Lindsay promised that President Pompi- dou would not receive the gala official welcome that New York normally extends to visiting foreign digni- Pompidou taries. The welcome usually includes a ticker-tape par- ade up Broadway and an official reception at City Hall. The mayor made his promise who is one of the major in a letter to Rep. Bertram Podell, a New York Democrat congressional critics of France's Mideastern policies. According to reports from Paris, the official French attitude is that "If Mr. Lindsay does not want to be courteous, that is his right. This does not affect the American government and it does not affect us." (The Washington Post reported that President Pompidou had refused to see Arthur J. Goldberg, former United States ambassador to the United Nations and honorary president of the American Jewish Committee. Goldberg was in Paris last week to attend a conference on the plight of Jews in the Arab countries. According to Washington Post correspondent Jonathan C. Randal, he wanted to solicit Pompidou's support for humanitarian efforts to help Jews in Syria, Iraq and Libya and other Arab countries.) (Continued on Page 30) All congressmen in the Tri-County area, and most from outstate, have indicated their support of direct negotiations between Israel and her Arab neighbors, it was reported this week by Jewish Community Council President Lawrence Gubow. Most of the congressmen were contacted in Washington, D.C. by the Detroit delegation to the National Emergency Conference on Middle East peace. They signed a declaration affirming that "The parties to the conflict must be parties to the peace achieved by means of direct, unhampered negotiations." The declaration further indicated "our support for the democratic state of Israel which has unremittingly appealed for peace for the past 21 years" and asserted that: "Our declaration of friendship for the state of Israel is consistent with the uninterrupted support given by every American President and the Congress of the United States since the establishment of the state of Israel." Those congressmen not contacted during the emer- gency conference earlier indicated in congressional resolutions their support of the principle of direct ne- gotiations. Signers of the declarations, in addition to Sena- tors Philip A. Hart and Robert. Griffin, are: Reps. John Conyers Jr., John D. Dingell, Charles Diggs Jr., William D. Ford, 11Iartha Griffiths and Lu- cien Nedzi, Wayne County; Jack McDonald and Wil- liam Broomfield, Oakland County; and James G. O'Hara, Macomb County. Congressmen from outstate who signed the dec- larations are Reps. Donald Riegle, Flint; Garry Brown, Kalamazoo; Elford A. Cederberg, Bay City; Gerald R. Ford, Grand Rapids: James Harvey, Saginaw, and Edward Hutchinson, Benton Harbor. A total of 226 congressmen have signed the so- called Celler statement on Mid East peace, and 63 Conyers (Continued on Page 10) MARCH 27, 1992 107