Time Bomb Still Ticking

For most of the 1980s and 1990s, there was
a time bomb waiting to explode within the
Jewish community; No, we are not talking
about terrorists or images of the mangled un-
derbelly of New York's World Trade Center.
We're talking about the Jewish Home for
Aged.
A basic institution in our community, fac-
ing a series of challenging demographic, fi-
nancial and regulatory issues, was unable to
respond effectively. The result: embarrassing
reports of inadequate care, the threat of los-
ing its license, and an emergency $4.5 million
injection via the Federation to keep the Home
for Aged up to code and afloat, for now.
The magnitude of the bailout has rightful-
ly raised the eyebrows of other Jewish com-
munal agencies who provide care and services.
Essentially, they have been asked to do more,
with less, and to be responsible managers and
directors.
The community must decide if, in 1993, it
wants to be in the Home for Aged business.

And if so, at what cost? But there is an equal-
ly pressing issue which Federation and its
agencies must address — the role and the re-
sponsibilities of agency boards of directors and
the amount of accountability Federation
should demand in return for Allied Jewish
Campaign allocations.
From the Home, to the Agency for Jewish
Education to Sinai Hospital, unwieldy, inef-
fective boards of directors have been replaced
or shunted aside, largely because of "emer-
gencies," in favor of smaller, hands-on boards
capable of providing real direction and de-
manding accountability from professional staff.
It would be wise for Federation to look close-
ly at other agencies with large, ceremonial
boards of directors, and demand change now.
Similarly, the Federation's process of allo-
cating funds for the agencies needs to be sharp-
ened. After all, the Home's problems were
largely overlooked or unnoticed by Federation,
too.

An Encouraging Thaw

Reports on the White House meetings between
President Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin earlier this week have been
more than positive.
Israeli fears about Washington's role in the
Mideast peace process appear to have been al-
layed. The personal chemistry between Mr.
Rabin and Mr. Clinton was good – a marked
improvement over the surly Bush-Shamir re-
lationship –and the U.S.-Israeli meetings at
the Pentagon seem to have gone particularly
well, with the United States assuring Israel
of its commitment to provide the Jewish state
with a qualitative edge regarding military
equipment.
Mr. Clinton also promised to oppose any cuts
in aid to Israel, which totals about $3 billion
a year. Further, reports of a joint Washing-
ton-Jerusalem science and technology com-
mission would be the harbinger of future
cooperation between the two allies that does
not involve an increase in direct financial aid.
Israel under Mr. Rabin has displayed an ea-
gerness to achieve peace with the Arabs and
a willingness to make territorial compromis-

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es.
For his part, Mr. Clinton has indicated an
appreciation for Israel's position and a reach-
ness to support it without balancing every pro-
Israel statement with a pro-Arab one.The next
round of Mideast peace talks is set for April
20, in Washington, though the Palestinians
say they won't attend unless Israel makes
more accommodations on the deportees in
Lebanon.
So far the United States has stood firm in
asserting that Israel has already done its part
by compromising and allowing about one-quar-
ter of the deportees to return. Now it's up to
the Palestinians to recognize that their only
hope for progress is through participating in,
not boycotting, the peace talks.
This week's meeting between Mr. Clinton
and Mr. Rabin is only one step in the long and
tortuous road to peace, but it represents an
encouraging and welcome sign in that Wash-
ington seems eager again to acknowledge its
commitment to Israel's economic, political and
military security.

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such as these in the fog of their
anger and resentment against
some of his supporters.

I want to thank Adrien Chan-
dler and The Jewish News for
the excellent article (Feb. 19)
"Finding Her Roots."
It is rare to examine the
honest views of everyone in the
adoption circle, including
adoptee, birth parents, adop-
tive parents, and social work-
er. I have received many
positive comments from the
Jewish community concerning
the article.
My feeling is that adoptees
need to combine their self in
their adopted family with their
self from their birth family.
Only in this way can the
adoptee become whole.

Esther Krystal

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Besser And
Jonathan Pollard

With reference to James Bess-
er's article on Jonathan Pollard
(Feb. 26), it is a shame that,
rather than complaining about
Jonathan Pollard's more noisy
and aggressive supporters, Mr.
Besser did not address some of
the important questions rele-
vant to whether or not Mr. Pol-
lard's sentence should now be
commuted.
For example, why was Pol-
lard's sentence much more se-
vere than any ever given for a
comparable offense? One an-
swer that has been offered is
that the damage he is esti-
mated to have done to Ameri-
can security was very great, in
Caspar Weinberger's opinion.
Now, over seven years after
he was jailed, was that dam-
age estimate accurate, espe-
cially in light of the Gulf War
and the U.S. position toward
Iraq? Even Caspar Weinberg-
er "has quietly removed his ob-
jections to executive com-
mutation."
Further, is there anything
to be gained by keeping
Jonathan Pollard in jail any
longer?
It is a tragedy for Jonathan
Pollard that James Besser and
members of the National Jew-
ish Community Relations Ad-
visory Council have lost sight
of Mr. Pollard and questions

Margot Gardner

Bloomfield Hills

Pollard Case:
Wrong Questions

Jonathan Pollard, an Ameri-
can intelligence officer, was
never indicted with treason or
charged with giving Israel any
document pertaining to Amer-
ican defense of diplomatic se-
crets or with anything harming
the United States, its people or
security.
Pollard's "crime" was that he
disobeyed orders and provided.
Israel with American intelli-
gence information that Syria
and Iraq were making prepa-
rations for poison gas missile
attacks. U.S. officials had in-
tentionally withheld that in-
formation in spite of an
agreement with Israel to share
such vital intelligence:
In 1991, Saddam Hussein
attacked Israel with Scud mis-
siles and threatened to use his
large stockpiles of chemical
munitions to destroy the Jew-
ish state. But Israel, as a result
of Pollard's warning five years
earlier, was prepared to pro-
tect the lives of its people with
plastic-lined "sealed rooms,"
specially-designed "cocoons" for
infants, antidote Atropine in-
jections and a distribution sys-
tem.
Jonathan Pollard, for that
"crime" of disobeying orders
and "passing classified infor-
mation to an ally," warning Is-
rael they faced the grave
danger of the destruction of
their country and the mass
murder of their people, was
sentenced to spend the rest of
his life in prison.
Last November, Bill Clinton
promised that if he won the
presidency, he would prompt-
ly review the Pollard case. But
our National Jewish Commu-
nity Relations Advisory Coun-
cil this February told the
president he shouldn't bother,
that our Jewish community
doesn't care about Mr. Pollard.
We Jews have to speak for
ourselves, not depend on our
leaders. We have to tell Wash-
LETTERS page 8

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