In public, pro-Israel forces con- tinue to insist that next year's $3.2 billion in aid to Israel is safe. But in private, they say that the accelerating momentum driving the budget cutters — and the fact that even core domestic programs will be slashed when the blood- letting is finished — will make it almost impossible to resist any effort on the House or Senate floor to cut Israel's aid. The budget chaos also means that it is unlikely Congress will scrape together additional funds to support the faltering Middle East peace process. There is growing speculation that Syrian President Hafez Assad's reluc- tance to continue direct negoti- ations with Israel is related to his perception that the conservative Congress is not likely to give him the aid and trade benefits that he wants. The rush to cut the budget will also give Washington less flexi- bility in supporting the experi- ment in Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and the West Bank. In theory, Pentagon programs are safe from the meat-axe bud- geting. But when the numbers start to fly, nothing will be safe, including the numerous strate- gic cooperation programs that are vital for Israel's security. But there is another aspect to the upcoming battle of the bud- get that should concern the Jew- ish community. The recent terrorist explosion in Oklahoma was just one more indication of a new social volatility in our nation, a growing level of intolerance and intergroup friction that threat- ens our democracy itself. In recent decades, the govern- ment-funded social service net- work has played a significant role in limiting the impact of enor- mous disparities of wealth and opportunity that continue to char- acterize our society, despite our egalitarian ethos. In a sense, part of our big fed- eral budget deficit is the price we all pay for a modicum of social stability. Hasty, ill-considered efforts to balance the budget by hacking away at programs that ease the lot of millions of Americans may add enormously to the rise in in- tergroup conflict. In the impending budget fight, powerful groups will be able to protect their government perks more effectively than the power- less; that, too, will add to the ex- plosiveness of our current social environment. And as history teaches with such depressing clarity, times of burgeoning social strife are al- ways bad for the Jews. ❑ NJCRAC Seeks Pollard's Parole New York (JTA) — As Jonathan Pollard nears his first parole hearing, most of the organized American Jewish community is now calling for his release. The National Jewish Commu- nity Relations Advisory Council called on the U.S. Parole Com- mission to parole Pollard. Mr. Pollard, a former U.S. Navy analyst, was arrested in November 1985 for passing clas- sified information to Israel. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced in 1987 to life in prison. Mr. Pollard will first be eligi- ble for parole in November. The parole hearing is scheduled for May, according to Pollard lawyer Nancy Luque. Ms. Luque called the NJCRAC letter "a critical piece of support for Pollard's parole, signaling an across-the-board belief that he's paid for his crime." NJCRAC is an umbrella group for 13 national and 117 local com- munity relations agencies. NJCRAC's support at this juncture, said Ms. Luque, has added weight because of NJCRAC's reluctance to support Mr. Pollard's quest for clemency. "It isn't like this is just a bunch of Jews getting together and say- ing he should be given a break. These were some of his harshest critics in some ways," she said. NJCRAC's long-standing re- fusal to engage in advocacy for Mr.Pollard made it the focus of some of the Jewish community's most heated debates over Mr. Pollard. In the 1980s, a NJCRAC com- mittee decided that Mr. Pollard's fate was not a matter of Jewish communal concern because there was no evidence that anti-Semi- tism motivated the life sentence imposed on Mr. Pollard. But after Mr. Pollard's legal appeals were exhausted, his time in prison lengthened and his staunch supporters attracted in- creasing numbers of people to the campaign for his freedom, the mainstream Jewish organiza- tions began shifting their stance. As an umbrella group, howev- er, NJCRAC was one of the slow- est to change course. In 1993, delegates to the orga- nization's annual plenum voted down a proposal to ask President Clinton to review Mr. Pollard's sentence with an eye toward clemency. The next year, NJCRAC ap- proved sending a letter to the president. In Honor of National Nurses Week May 6 - May 12 The Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah Nurses Council Recognizes and Supports Our Colleagues in Israel. Patricia Averbuch, RN Linda Belkin, RN Nancy R. Berman, RN, CS, MSN Debbie Bernstein, RN, BSN, MBA Randee Bloom, RN, MBA Suzy S. Darmon, RN Deborah Orloff-Davidson, RN, MPh Audrey Demak, RN, BS Fern Carnick Edelstein, RN Debra Eichenhorn, RN Annette L. Frumin Elyazam, RN, MSN Marilynn Emmer, RN Deedee Fair, RN Jan Walters Faultersack, RN, BSN Laurel Felsenfeld, RN, BSN, CRRN Jane M. Foreman, RN, BSN Pamela Friedman, CRNA Sharon Gadoth' Lisa Gather, RN Susan Gibbs, RNC Susan Ginzler, BA, RN Meredith Goldberg, RN, BSN Carol Golob, RN, BSN Meryl Greene, RN, BSN Cathy Herman, RN, BSN Roslyn Holtz, RN Barbara Horowitz, RN, MSN Elaine Horowitz, RNC, BA, BSN Libby Kaplan, RN Susan Kay, RNC, M.Ed. Bonnie Sue Korn, RN, MSN Randee Kovacs, RN, BSN Shirley Kramer, RN p,D ASSA voR sEs cou Nca tr. %0 11 'V V" 01 A A. (17 psEsTINGot-stc.' Susan T. Lankowsky, RN, MSN Susan D. Loss, RN, BSN Debra L. Luria, MSN, RN, CS Cindy Madgy, RNC Andrea Marcus, RN, MS Adele Mattingly, RN Phyllis Meer, RN, BSN, CPNP Joyce Meckler Miller, RN, BSN Cynthia Nagel, CRNA, BSN Barbara Nowak Elaine Robins Rita G. Rubin, RN Agnes Schare, RN, BSN Joy Schumacher Elaine Serling, RN Deborah L. Silverman, RN, BSN Lori Steinlauf, RN Barbara Stern, RN Rhoda Tashjian, RN Gail R. Victor, RN, BSN Carol Walters, RN, BSN Elaine Webber, MS, RNCS Rosanne Weiler, RN Sandra Weiss, RN, BSN Lois Winer, BSN, RN Wendy Winkler, BSN, RN Beth Zoller, RN For membership information call Hadassah 683-5030 or 357-2920 GRAND PIANO SALE FACTORY DIRECT LOWEST PRICES GUARANTEED! SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ONLY! MAY 6th. 10 AM - 6 PM MAY 7th. 12 NOON - 5 PM SAVE $3800 TO $25000 OFF FACTORY DIRECT SAVINGS TO YOU! lEtaillawrrie GYoulw4rHAiw 90 DAYS SAME AS CASH O.A.C. SCHIMMEL PIANOS gloornborittr YAMAHA KAwm WEBER NEW • USED • REBUILT • FLOOR MODELS AND MORE! EY LA MLWIC 2184 Telegraph, Bloomfield Hills (810) 334-0566