Recalling The Mission Of A Prickly Sabra Rabin Legacy Holds Hope For Teens DAN ZIMMERMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS A All ax Fisher turned to the blue- uniformed soldier sitting be- side him at the Israeli Cabinet meeting. It was the spring of 1967. Egypt had closed the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping. War seemed in- evitable. "What do you think?" Mr. Fisher asked the stranger. Yitzhak Rabin, Israel's chief of staff, responded, "I hope they don't rob me of the el- ement of surprise." The Cabinet gave Gen. Rabin that option, and in June 1967 Israel retaliated in the Six- Day War, wiping out the Egyptian and Syrian sir forces and capturing Jerusalem's Old City, the West Bank and Gaza. That meeting also led to a 28-year friend- ship between then-United Jewish Appeal Pres- ident Max M. Fisher of Detroit and Israel's preeminent soldier-statesman. "Rabin always wanted to hold the post of minister of defense, even when he was prime minister," Mr. Fisher recalled this week. "He was always a soldier and he was always ob- sessed with the security of the people of Israel. That was his first task." Max Fisher and of the real leaders because he had the courage Mr. Fisher called Mr. Rabin "a typical Yitzhak Rabin at a to do this." Sabra," the Israeli cactus that is prickly on the 1977 Allied Jewish Mr. Fisher believes the peace process will outside and sweet on the inside. Campaign meeting. move forward without his friend, "but there "You always knew where you stood with him. are minefields. People think you can change And he always kept his word. Israelis knew hate into love in one easy lesson, but life they could trust him. He was a brilliant strate- gist, and his analysis of what was going to take place doesn't work that way. "Peace is an evolutionary process. was unbelievable." "Years ago, I told (former U.S. Secretary of State) During Mr. Rabin's tenures as Israeli ambassador to the United States, defense minister and prime George Schultz that peace is like a long tunnel. You can minister, he and Mr. Fisher became good friends. be in darkness for miles, but then there is a pinpoint of The two would visit during Mr. Fisher's numerous trips light that keeps getting bigger and bigger." Mr. Rabin and Shimon Peres were a good combina- to Israel on UJA or Jewish Agency business, in Wash- ington, or at Mr. Fisher's Franklin and Palm Beach tion, Mr. Fisher said. He called Mr. Peres a man of vi- sion and Mr. Rabin a pragmatist. In the aftermath of homes. • Mr. Rabin's death, Mr. Fisher thinks Mr. Peres won't "He loved to play tennis," Mr. Fisher said. have the benefit of the full support of Israelis, who don't But Mr. Rabin's serious nature was never far away. "Only when he felt Israel was secure was he willing to believe in his toughness. However, "the assassination awakened Israelis and take a chance on peace," Mr. Fisher said. "He didn't be- lieve that Israel could remain a Jewish state if it had Jews all over the world," Mr. Fisher said. "The reaction 2 million Arabs. That's why he was in favor of giving will be more support for peace. Israel is divided, but more people realize they have to carry on for peace. back land for peace." "I say there's no alternative." ❑ "I think Yitzhak Rabin will go down in history as one Feelings We Have: "He was really, really special, because he fought for peace." — Lauren Kastan, a Hillel third grader 110 PHOTO BY BOB BENYAS ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR s a Jewish teen-ager, I look at the Israeli prime minister as a role model and the leader of my people," said David Gold- enberg, a Berkley High School senior. "The things Rabin accomplished in his life will never be forgotten. He was a hero." Mr. Goldenberg, president of Michigan Region AZA, was one of many students at Berkley eager to share their thoughts Monday morning as prospects for peace in Israel, a reality just days ago, appeared threatened by the act of violence that took Mr. Rabin's life. Many young adults, leaders in their own right, were concerned. "I was extremely shocked when I heard about Rabin's assassination," said Jeremie Kass, a se- nior who, earlier this year, spent a semester in Is- rael on Project Discovery. "I was even more disgusted when I found out that a Jewish Israeli had done it. If he wanted to challenge the peace process, killing one of the men able to make changes was not the right way," he said. But Israeli-born Segev Phillips, a senior at Berkley and co-president of the Zionist youth or- ganization Habonim-Dror, knows that violence in Israel is a reality. He was horrified, but not sur- prised by the assassination. "We must remember that terrorists on both sides are extremists who will not be happy with anything but the eradication of the opposition. We must make peace for the good of the state and the people, and not allow it to be stopped by radicals," he said. The hope that peace in Israel will prevail over violence is shared by many students, non-Jews included. Chaldean student Bashar Cholagh, a partici- pant in American-Arabic and Jewish Friends ac- tivities, said, "It seemed Rabin was killed for no reason ... over land. Since he was killed by a Jew and not an Arab, the peace process shouldn't be affected. I'm sure the new prime minister will be able to work toward peace with Arafat." Though sad in the aftermath of the assassi- nation, students expressed a general feeling of confidence that the death of Mr. Rabin would not be the death of peace negotiations. On a day of remembrance for the Israeli leader, Jana Wolock, regional vice president of the Na- tional Conference of Synagogue Youth, said, "I think everyone feels the same way. As much as each of us agrees or disagrees on the peace process, it is a terrible loss when a Jew who believes so deeply in peace is killed." [:1 Dan Zimmerman is a senior at Berkley High School. "We're all human beings. Even though it's never happened, I think its unrealistic to think a Jew wouldn't kill a Jew." "It takes a mentsh of a mentsh to create peace. It takes a man of great vision and extreme trust" — Sue Becker, Oak Park — Marty Levine, adult educa- tion committee chairman, Temple Emanu-El ,-/ `-\