(DETROIT)
THE JEWISH NEWS
This
7.7
Different Audiences
Hear A Warning
Benjamin Netanyahu visits Detroit, and tells of a
precarious future for Israel under Rabin.
PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
W
Tel Aviv To Jerusalem?
Jews react to Michigan lawmakers' votes against moving the
U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER
M
Mr. Senor said that although
some members of the Jewish
community have called to ex-
press disagreement with Sen.
Abraham, they remain sup-
portive of the senator.
Mr. Egren is one of those sup-
PHOTO BY GLE NN TR IEST
ichael Egren holds United States to make a decision
Spencer Abraham in regarding the relocation of its
high esteem, primarily embassy. He said he will sup-
because the senator port whatever agreement Israel
takes a firm stance on fiscal re- and the PLO reach.
On the House side, 37 U.S.
sponsibility.
"While I don't agree at all with representatives voted against
him on the issue of school the measure, including
prayer, unless we solve our tax, Michigan lawmakers
deficit and economic issues, Joseph Knollenberg, a Re-
school prayer is about the last publican, and Democrats
thing anyone will have time to David Bonior, Barbara-
worry about," said Mr. Egren, a Rose Collins, John Cony-
ers and John Dingell.
Birmingham resident.
Press secretary for Rep.
Now Mr. Egren can add one
more item to the list of things Knollenberg Trent Wise-
over which he and the senator up said the congressman
felt it was in the best in-
disagree.
Last week, when Congress terest of both Israel and
cast enough ballots to move the the United States to hold
American embassy in Israel off acting on the embassy
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by issue.
"Mr. Knollenberg be-
1999, Sen. Abraham was one of
five U.S. senators to vote against lieves the bill creates a
the measure. His mind had been risk to the peace process
and, at this time, the most
made up for a long time.
"He took a number of posi- important thing the Unit-
tions on Middle East issues dur- ed States can do is bring
ing the (1994) campaign and his both sides together," he
position has not changed," said said. "He feels moving the
Dan Senor, the senator's deputy embassy could be portrayed as
press secretary. "Jewish sup- the United States taking sides."
Rep. Knollenberg, a Bloom-
porters knew he disagreed with
them (on the embassy issue) and field Township congressman,
and Sen. Abraham have re-
he has stuck to his position."
Sen. Abraham, a Lebanese ceived mixed responses from
American, feels peace negotia- their Jewish supporters and con-
tions are too delicate now for the stituents.
Spencer Abraham says no to embassy
move.
porters who believes the U.S.
embassy should be located in
Jerusalem. But his decision to
back Sen. Abraham in general
"has more to do with long-term
U.S. EMBASSY page 10
hen Dr. Jay Novetsky
was making his intro-
ductions on Sunday,
he said the Jewish
people are prohibited from sell-
ing out any territories in Israel.
Just then, the voice of his
guest rang out, "What do you
mean, 'selling'?"
The comments came from
Likudnik Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel's opposition leader was in
town last weekend as keynote
speaker for the Holocaust
Memorial Center's annual din-
ner. He took time out in the af-
ternoon to meet with 40
supporters of the One Israel
Fund and Yesha Heartland
Campaign in the Bloomfield
Hills home of Janet and Arnold
Aronoff.
The One Israel Fund/Yesha
Heartland Campaign offer sup-
port to Jews who live in terri-
tories that have become the
focus of the Rabin
government's move
toward peace with
the Palestinians.
Mr. Netanyahu
spoke for about 25
minutes, then an-
swered a handful of
questions. He ad-
dressed what he
said was an "ero-
sion of Jewish val-
ues" in the land of
Israel. He told the
Benjamin
audience the gov-
Netanyahu
ernment is sacrific-
addressed
ing the basic tenets
in
of Torah, and the supporters
Bloomfield
Prophets are no
Hills.
longer taught in the
public-school sys-
tem. He said when a country
sees its values change in this
way, it is a threat to its very ex-
istence.
"We need to school our chil-
dren so they can extend the
hand of peace from a position of
knowledge and confidence," Mr.
Netanyahu said.
He lashed out at Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin for
weakening the core of the Zion-
ist dream, a strong Israel. The
Rabin government, he said, is
not Zionist. He added that the
government sees Zionism as a
mistake of some sort.
"The government is telling us
that we are in these places be-
cause we have committed a sin,"
Mr. Netanyahu said. "To fix the
sin is to give the land back. And
if this is a sin, how much greater
will the sin get? Arafat is say-
ing, 'Give us what you took in
1967.' Soon, he'll be talking
1947. Once Israel gives into the
pressure, it becomes difficult to
stop it.
"When a prime minister
refers to biblical land as real ps-
tate, when the foreign minister
calls the Golan 'Syrian land,' and
when Judea and Samaria are to
be given away, the momentum
under Rabin won't and can't
stop. If we have no rights on our
land, we have no rights any-
more.
"And you'll see that a people
will collapse when a vision col-
lapses, and that's the damage
you're seeing from the current
policy. All of it is feeding into
Arab nationalism, the sister fac-
tion of Islamic fimdamentalism."
When his party gains control
of the Knesset, Mr. Netanyahu
said his first move will be to
"seize the Ministry of Education.
We'll teach youths of Israel that
this land is their land."
Sunday evening, at the Holo-
caust Memorial Center dinner,
Mr. Netanyahu drew direct par-
allels between events leading to
the Holocaust and what he sees
happening now in Israel.
"Had there been a State of Is-
rael, there wouldn't have been
a Holocaust," he said. "But now
we are at risk of not having a
State of Israel. We have been
militarily successful. We've suc-
ceeded in establishing a politi-
WARNING page 10
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