UP FRONT
emocratic Party Platform
Draft Is Strongly Pro-Israel
CYNTHIA MANN
Special to The Jewish News
Washington (JTA) —
Democrats have drafted one
of the strongest pro-Israel
party platforms in recent
nlemory, in a process free of
the rancor and discord that
plagued the party in 1988.
The platform includes a
plank affirming the
`..!special" U.S.-Israel rela-
tionship, admonishing the
Flush administration for not
being an "honest broker" in
he peace process, declaring
Jerusalem to be the capital
of Israel, condemning anti-
S emitism and calling on the
United States to assist the
a,bsorption of Jewish immi-
grants into Israel.
Insiders said the provi-
sional plank represents the
- culmination of efforts by the
Democratic Party to repair
recent damage done to its
ties to the Jewish commun-
ity. That damage was sus-
tained during bruising
battles over calls for a Pales-
inian state before and dur-
ing the party's 1988 conven-
tion.
-
The plank was approved
by the platform subcom-
mittee in Santa Fe last
weekend. Staffers at the
Democratic National Com-
mittee stressed that it is a
working document, subject
to change before the final
vote by the full committee,
scheduled for June 27 in
Washington.
But the language on Israel
is unlikely to be substantive-
ly amended, said drafting
committee members.
It is language that
prompted lavish praise by
Tom Dine, executive director
of AIPAC, the American
Israel Public Affairs Com-
mittee.
The plank is
"outstanding," he said. It is
"a credit to the multitude of
Democrats who are friends
of Israel, who have worked
to ensure that this national
platform and those passed at
state conventions
throughout the country
reflect these traditional
Democratic Party values."
The plank also won
plaudits from Jonathan
Jacoby, president of the
more liberal Americans for
Peace Now, who said diverse
pro-Israel organizations had
hoped to avoid intraparty
conflict over Israel.
"It is certainly a document
that most Democrats within
Americans for Peace Now
can support," Mr. Jacoby
said of the plank.
For Steve Grossman, there
is "no question" that the
"stronger and more
declarative plank reflects a
lot of time and effort" to
rebuild an understanding
between Democrats and the
Jewish community, follow-
ing the party's unrespon-
siveness to Jewish concerns
in 1988.
Mr. Grossman is the
Massachusetts party chair-
man, a member of the plat-
form drafting subcommittee
and a national vice president
of AIPAC.
He attributed a large part
of the success to Democratic
Party Chairman Ron Brown,
"who worked hard to ensure
that negative perceptions of
'88 were gradually undone."
Mr. Grossman also
credited the apparent Dem-
ocratic presidential nomi-
nee, Gov. Bill Clinton.
"While George Bush may
have walked away from that
(special) relationship with
Israel and the right of Jews
to lobby on behalf of Israel,"
he said, "the Clinton ad-
ministration will stand by
the sentiments in the plat-
form."
Mr. Grossman said that
under the leadership of both
Mr. Brown and Mr. Clinton,
the party is a place where
"American Jews can find the
values and principles they
are committed to," as
reflected throughout the
Santa Fe document.
The platform affirms a
"special relationship" bet-
by the continual Arab
presence in Israel."
Fun-filled Tidbits
From Israel
Now, for the latest news on
telescopes and electric
shock, provided by Dr.
Yitschak Ben-Gad, consul
general of Israel to the Mid-
west:
• Three Israeli space tele-
scopes are expected to be
launched within the next
two years in a joint Israel-
Denmark research project,
which uses a Russian space
rocket.
• The engineering
department of Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev has
created a new device for put-
ting out fires by generating
a field of electric power. The
device will be used to pre-
vent the spread of flames
from open fuel reservoirs.
• Researchers from the
Hammer Foundation have
proposed the establishment
of a medical center to serve
all Middle Eastern coun-
tries, with a total population
of 150 million.
ROUND UP
director of the JTS Melton
Research Center for Jewish
education, dean of students
and associate dean of the
rabbinic school. He wrote
the 1984 tshuvah providing
the halachic basis for the or-
dination of women as rabbis
in the Conservative move-
ment.
He also is the author of
Sefer haMordecai on Trac-
tate Kiddushin and The
Halachic Process: A
Systematic Analysis.
Rabbi Roth
JTS Rabbinic School
ames Rabbi Roth
Rabbi Joel Roth, a Detroit
native and professor of
Talmud and rabbinics at the
Jewish Theological Semi-
nary, has been named head
of the JTS rabbinical school.
• He replaces Rabbi Gordon
Tucker, who served as the
sc hool's dean for the past
eight years.
Rabbi Roth has served as
'
Dershowitz Files
Brief For Kach
Attorney Alan Dershowitz
last week filed a Friend of
the Defense statement op-
posing the decision by the
Knesset Election Committee
to ban the Kach Party from
participation in the upcom-
ing Israeli elections.
In his statement, filed on
behalf of Kach, founded by
the late Rabbi Meir Kahane,
Mr. Dershowitz said, "The
essence of a democracy is the
right of its citizens to decide
who shall hold elective of-
fice. Disqualifying a party
from seeking office because
of the content of its ideas is
incompatible with democ-
racy and civil liberties."
He added, "The concept of
`racism' is far too ambiguous
and is far too capable of be-
ing manipulated to be a le-
gitimate basis for electoral
disqualification: witness the
notorious and now rejected
General Assembly resolu-
tion equating Zionism with
`racism.' "
"If a government takes
away the right of people to
choose whom they want to
represent them, then the
same government can hard-
ly scream in righteous in-
dignation when people take
matters into their own
hands when they believe
their voice is not being
heard," said Kach leader
Baruch Merzel. "Since the
killings of Jews by Arabs are
increasing daily, and the
government continues to do
nothing, then it is not hard
to see why people are upset."
Mr. Merzel added that
Kach will continue its street
activities and rallies "to
awaken the Jewish people to
the threat of their survival
Israelis Go Wild
For Cable TV
Jerusalem (WZPS) — Move
over, falafel. Forget those
kibbutznik sandals. The
coolest thing in Israel today
is cable.
The success of cable TV in
Israel has been remarkable,
according to Udi Meron, di-
rector of the Israel Cable
Programming Co. "In two
years, we've achieved a rate
of 55 percent, just 5 percent
less than the U.S. rate,
which took American cable
companies 20 years to
achieve."
Mr. Meron said 260,000
Israeli families already have
become cable TV subscribers,
a figure expected to jump to
400,000 by the end of the
year.
Cable in Israel offers 26
international channels, in-
cluding CNN and the BBC,
plus French, German, Rus-
sian, Turkish and Egyptian
television stations, as well
as four local channels, for
about $30 a month.
Compiled by
Elizabeth Applebaum
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11